Living “simple”
By the title, “living simple,” I don’t mean living “simply,” although there’s an entire culture of books and articles and, for all I know, cable programs about living more simply. On the desk beside me as I write this is a copy of the Time, Inc., magazine Real Simple.
Our client Stanley Furniture adopted the theme “Simplify” when encouraging their retailer customers to choose Stanley around which to build more of their businesses. But that’s another story.
An expert on the subject is John Maeda, an MIT scholar and author of The Laws of Simplicity. In a recent talk he narrowed the 10 laws to one … to simplify the topic, of course. The video below is his presentation at last March’s TED Conference.
I love the topic, and I am truly enjoying the work we’re doing with Stanley to “simplify.”
Simplify is def. a term that will resonate with most people, in an era of “too many options” it is inescapable. For some time I was under the impression that the “living green” would be the next big wave. Then sustainability became a term that seemed more suitable. In the end I guess it just comes down to living in a much more simple manner. It becomes a rather touchy issue when dealing with advertising due to the over saturation factor. How do you brand or market a product and not add to the clutter people are forced to deal with each and every day?
The ad industry will be forced to change, it is inevitable. The old guard is used to running things in a certain way, through their networks but this new found “simple” life that many of the next in line are dealing with will force the industry to shift. Why do with more what can be done with less kind of thing. All the international focus on BRIC will cut into ad budgets that were once focused on the US and it will be at trickle down effect.
I guess we will just wait and see how it plays out over the next decade.
Posted by jeremiah on 09.28.07.ah…I forgot to mention the inevitable restructuring of the values and morals of your average american. That is the root of this new found “simple” approach to living. No more keeping up with the joneses. Hopefully this will bring about a positive shift in all aspects of life in this country, from life at home to finding brands you can truly believe in and supporting them.
Posted by jeremiah on 09.28.07.