The Shift Age

Last week I attended an interesting lecture. The speaker was David Houle, the nationally renowned futurist and critically acclaimed author of The Shift Age.

Mr. Houle spoke about “The Transformation Decade” and made his case for what he says “will be one of the most transformative and exciting times in the history of humanity.” He made a few points that are relevant to marketing...

According to David, Intellectual Property is the new valuation and power. He explained during the Agricultural Age production came from land, during the Industrial Age production came from factories, and during the Information Age production came from technology.

Now we’ve entered The Shift Age – a period of transition that will lead to what Mr. Houle calls the Consciousness Age starting around 2020 or so. That part was kind of vague and sounded like your typical one global family, Star Trek view of the future. The interesting take-away from his point about Intellectual Property as the new valuation and power, is the fact the production now comes from the mind.

What does all of this have to do with marketing? Advertising, copywriting, design, public relations, etc. – these are all forms of Intellectual Property. In other words, the real value of Intellectual Property is defined by your brand.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting. The value of your brand is not physical or tangible in nature. Instead the value lies in the perception of your brand. Putting it another way Mr. Houle asked, “What is the emotional content of your brand?”

As you consider the answer to that question as it relates to your business, just be glad you’re not Toyota.

Until next week,
Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.