m-cause

Greed is definitely out.  Generosity is in.

Yesterday, Obama railed against greed in his inauguration speech: Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

Today, I saw a great trendreport from trendwatching.com arguing that there has ever been a better time than now to ditch greed & embrace Generation (G)enerosity.  You should go and check out the report if you have a moment, but if not, below is the key message of the report.

The most important driver behind GENERATION G is a wide variety of consumers and citizens being more generous.  We’re talking the collaborative / free / creation / crowdsourced / gift / sharing movement* that-especially online-has unlocked in entirely new ways the perennial need of individuals to be appreciated, to be loved, to feel part of the greater good, to contribute, to help… To basically find status and gratification in something other than consuming the most or the best.  The report argues that generosity is a new status symbol.

The report issues a word of caution & warning to companies simply trying to bandwagon on the Gen G trend, saying that consumers are able to sniff out (corporate) responses that are “trite”.  Instead, companies need to find a way to communicate a holistic desire to be good and generous.  Trendreport goes on to recommend 8 ways for companies to play in this new landscape…go over there and have a look.