The following is excerpted from Consumed: Rethinking Business in the Era of Mindful Spending (Palgrave Macmillan, July 2010), written by Andrew Benett and Ann O’Reilly and drawing on findings from the Euro RSCG New Consumer study:
The long, wearisome decades of hyperconsumption shaped not just the way we think and feel but the very language we use. It is now customary to refer to human beings as consumers or even as brands. And an entire lexicon has been summoned into existence just to give verbal shape to our profligate excesses: big-box store, Black Friday (and now Cyber Monday), bling, door-buster, McMansion, self-storage, shopaholic, supersized, warehouse club.
The bloated culture of excessive consumption—and its language, symbols, and styles—are so much a part of our everyday reality that it is difficult to remember that they have not always been around. But now, thankfully, much is changing. And there might well come a time, not so far off, when the language of mindfulness becomes sufficiently ingrained in consumer culture to seem perpetually intertwined with it, the way hyperconsumption has been for so long. Think how many terms connoting mindfulness have recently sprung into existence: carbon footprint, downsizing, ecotourism, ethical consumption, Fair Trade, food miles, frugalista, green collar, locavore, and sustainable, among others. Ten years ago, many of these terms would have been unfamiliar—perhaps bafflingly so. Now they are in constant use and spreading widely.
Future-focused brands are playing a role in this exciting transformation. And the more these brands contribute to the vibrant new language of rightsizing, restraint, and responsibility, the greater the likelihood of mindful consumption becoming ingrained within our collective psyches. Perhaps then we will see a new way of life emerge, one that keeps consumerism in happier and healthier balance. And perhaps then we will finally get back to enjoying more substantive fulfillment in our lives, with our families and friends, of course, but also with those brand partners that find profit not in being rapacious but in offering sensible solutions to our genuine needs.
***
“A permanent shift has taken place among consumers. They are far more engaged in every aspect of marketing and manufacturing, and brands that want to win and retain their loyalty will need to listen better, react faster, and be more nimble in everything they do. This book offers a fresh and vital perspective on those actions that will be most essential to future growth.” —Christian McMahan, Chief Marketing Officer, Heineken USA
Click here to buy the book on Amazon.
Follow us on Twitter (ERWWNewConsumer) and join us on Facebook!
Image credit: JohnLeGear@flickr.com (Chicago Cool Globes 2007)















