Self-Actualisation.

A lot of discussion around what I'd call post-branding marketing is about the need to focus on trust, socialisation and appreciation. To me these all sound like elements of self actualisation which neurology shows to be an increasingly important motivator as we age and our brain chemistry evolves.

This would explain changing attitudes to brands and businesses in what has become the largest segment of society - the baby boomers. But I wonder if cultural changes are also having a similar impact on other younger demographic groups.

Finanical wealth and material possessions are obtained at an increasingly early age in developed economies so people are discovering earlier that this is not the route to happiness. Factor in an increased secularisation in many societies and a generally fragile geopolitical and physical environment and there is little wonder that a quest for spiritual meaning is becoming pervasive.

The put-down that when you don't believe in anything, you tend to believe in everything may, in fact, be a true reflection of societal thinking. As much as there are technological disruptions and a surplus of promotional noise turning consumers away from being tradiitonal marketing fodder, it's still true that successful marketing is all in the mind and if the colllective mind is changing, it's not surpise that marketing has to change radically. Here endeth the sermon.