May 15th, 2008
Have You Met Patricia Martin’ RenGen (Renaissance Generation) Cultural Consumers?
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I first heard about Patricia Martin and her book RenGen (Renaissance Generation) while I was listening to Susan Bratton’s Dishy Mix, one of my favorite podcasts.
The basic premise of RenGen is that we are about to see a cultural movement that is similar in scope and scale to the Renaissance. This movement will be spearheaded by a sophisticated and demanding group of ‘cultural consumers’ who are expressing themselves creatively and organizing themselves into communities using the powerful tools provided by social media. To succeed in this context, brands will need to transform big ideas into reality (idea brands), build compassionate relationships (compassion brands), provide the tools to remove anxiety (anxiety brands), fuse opposites into a holistic collage and provide authentic experiences.
Now, Patricia is the founder and president of LitLamp Communications Group, which specializes in building brands through art sponsorships, so it’s easy to dismiss RenGen as a rather sophisticated sales brochure for her agency.
However, even if Patricia’s case for a cultural renaissance is a little overstated, her observations on the trends that are reshaping consumption are totally spot on. These are the same trends that led me towards my off consumption experiment. Specifically, these three trends are especially worth watching out for –
