Doodle

Look outside the window and observe the nature around (All Mumbaikars, obviously, just imagine that there is nature outside). There is not one thing in nature that is straight lined. The concept of ‘line’ was invented by man. Shortest distance from point A to point B and long before the geometric line was invented, man had a mental line drawn for himself in his mind for convenience, speed to beat time and one-upmanship. For different people the end of the line is a different thing. 96% in boards, a million dollar job, house at Breach Candy etc etc etc. But while walking the line you miss out a lot on life the way nature intended us to lead. Real life is like a doodle and it might or might not lead us to what we want. By walking on the line you are forcing yourself to stay away from the flow of nature. Hence sometimes we wonder as to why most things that we like are not good for you. We have started to believe that things that slow us down or don’t lead us to our destination are not good for us. God or nature has not asked us to stay away from sweets, we have forced that on ourselves because, obviously, we want to live a healthier long life and stay focused…walking the line.

The image on top is how I have started seeing life lately. I know it is important to walk the line but while doing that I also realize that I am losing some real precious experience which I would have if I was free surfing and not navigating my life . This effort in navigating life and going against the force of nature causes a lot of fatigue and feeling of inconvenience which we cannot realize but is always nagging somewhere behind in our minds. That is also a reason why whenever we do things away from the line we feel relaxed not just physically or literally but also a feeling, which again we don’t realize, saying this is how it’s ought to be. Things like an impromptu trip, taking off a very important meeting to just spend some time with your kid, doing what the majority would call irrational. We think that by walking the line we will be able to fend for us and our family and live the life we want. This life that we want is also on the lineor so we believe. But we don’t realize that most of the real life is not on the line. Many people must have said this same thing in a different ways but this thought which has sparked in my mind is good for me. I have found many examples that fit this explanation. So whenever I feel that there is this nagging discomfort in my soul, instead of worrying about it and question many things in life, I calmly de-rail from the line and let nature take me where ever it wants. Then with the energy of the real life I comeback to walk the line.

Now this funda kinda can be applied to marketing also. Marketers have long tried the sell things on the line. Rather things that make your life smoother on the line or that makes the line shorter. Think of any product and they are targeted towards one of the above mentioned goals. Mutual funds, cars, insurance, sweetex, oil, coke, electronic items etc etc. The selling proposition for most of these products is based on the same foundation that the ‘line’ has been created on –convenience, speed to beat time and one-upmanship. There are very few brands that have celebrated moments that are not on the line…showcased a lifestyle outside the conventional lifestyle, the real moments…moments with no purpose. Harley Davidson, Nike and Apple are couple of such brands who have gone beyond just product benefit and showcased a lifestyle that seems nearly unreal or like my father says ‘we as middle class people cannot think of doing this’. We, as marketers, try so hard to make our brand walk the line and convince people to accept it rather than making seek for the brand. Why can’t brands sell a new concept of life to its TG rather than desperately trying to fit into the life created by man himself.

This makes perfect sense or maybe I’ve had too much to smoke. Either ways in another 5 hours I will be all geared up to walk the line and look out for anything that will help me do that.