Confession, BrandCustodian, ComingOut

…and so begins a tale of injustice, for I have lost an opportunity and my years.

After facing a great deal of damage and chaos, I stand confused, dejected and shattered, being witness to the death of my brand. It is a horrible feeling that I could not foresee the disastrous consequences that were to follow. All those days and nights of burning energy, heated discussions, undue arguments and burying of hatchets, into the bin.

It did not affect me much, as I outgrew the highest and the brightest in the corporate pyramid. I got the position I always wanted to enjoy, the limelight I always wanted to carry and the charisma I always wanted to exuberate, all because my agency couldn’t utilize my full potential!

Yes, I was the chosen one, the brand custodian, a person whose ambition became to sell products, kill ideas and spank emotions. I became obsessed with the glitz and glam of being the master of the kingdom ignoring the beauty of my world – my brand. I destroyed it all and I am the one responsible.

What could have been something unimaginable for humanity, I just made it look quite usual as I followed the customs of my workplace. I had no courage to stand for my gut instinct and no vision to foresee the phenomenal. I lived up to my expectations and expected the best of the worst from my creative partners. There I was walking a false path and by the time I realized it, it was already too late.

Today I look back and see lost years, erroneous wisdom, foolish decisions and aggressive self-assessments. I know I can’t undo what has been rooted into my brand’s overall upbringing, but I can give it a few years of spirited prudence so it can live the life that I desired for it.

Yes, now I have to think more than numbers, more than graphs, more than functionality and more than value; to spark feelings that in turn become habits. These are the gut realizations, which one should weave in before being the brand custodian. Don’t live yourself in the brand instead make the consumer live your brand. You will for sure see that these confessions would transform into acknowledgements.

Even with this entire emotional ramble, I love the brand people. I know products wouldn’t have become brands if it were not for them. They actually give birth to these powerful machines that get the human race to desire for its needs and the society enters into a more meaningful phase, creating perspective for products, for what they want them to stand for. The only thing missing seems to be parental semantics for a sophisticated and cultured upbringing of those brands. These can easily set the pace if one is wise enough to experiment.

Most of the brand populace wouldn’t agree with this article, as in our part of the society the child is either born to be neglected, disabled to be adopted or illegitimate to be raised. I say this because in Pakistan everyone wants to play safe. No experiments, no use of gut instinct, no knowledge; only scientific procedures to gauge success and failure. All this takes you to the top of nowhere.

We, as brand and creative custodians, need to come together as one unit to make our brands live happily ever after. I know we will, because we as a team never give up!

Thank you for reading. Keep it light!

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The writer is Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Rauf. He defines himself as a thinker who wants peace in the world; a dreamer who wants the human race to live every moment; an innovator who wants ideas to ignite across cultures and boundaries. At 36, he stays young so that ‘the brand’ does not get old.