Searching for Valiance

Every once in a while I have an epiphany, it's not often, and it's usually not that huge. But this afternoon, after spending some time talking about a client's logo with one of our design teams, and in the middle of reading an email forwarded to me on the US economic crisis, I had an awakening moment and thought I'd share...

I'm sitting in the meeting with our designers giving them direction on where we need to take the design of a new brand logo. We're discussing the personality traits and having a pretty in depth conversation regarding one of them which is Valiant, when one of the designers says, "I'm having a hard time with Valiant, give me an example of a Valiant brand." I was definitely put on the spot and admitted I hadn't ever thought about it and couldn't come up with one. His answers were Rolls Royce and Aston Martin and he said, "this is where I get hung up because it feels old and stodgy."

Leading to my epiphany...

Valiant is no way shape, form or manner wrong. To the contrary, it's the most RIGHT thing we can do in this day in age.

In 2003, the US was still wallowing in 9/11, it had been two years and we were still cocooning, feeling afraid to step out and experience the world, unsure whether it was still ours for the taking or whether we would always have to walk on egg shells.

The world was sad, we'd been shop shop shopping like George W asked us to and we'd finally realized this wasn't the answer. Shopping wasn't taking us further away from being afraid nor was it bringing us any closer to happiness. In fact, we had actually created our own happiness void.

Thank goodness someone took notice, and sure enough we started seeing brands like Jet Blue, Orbit Gum, LifeSavers, and Apple injecting smiles and little doses of happiness in places that you could literally feel a void. They brought color and vibrancy and energy that made people smile and realize that life is good.

But they did it in a modern way, they didn't recreate the wheel of the 50's when everything was sugar coated. They brought a freshness to the idea of happiness that was relevant to the times and they sold us on their ideas and their beliefs, which in turn made us want to buy their products.

Which brings me to today. The banking industry has put the final nail in the coffin of consumer trust and confidence. The last thing people were holding onto was their faith in their money and where they kept it. Banks made us promises about our money. And today we're left holding an empty bag.

NOW more than ever we need valor. We need that sense of boldness and determination that offers us a reason to be courageous. We need something or someone, that comes from among us, that will be the leader that shows us it doesn't have to be like this, you don't just have to just stand there and take it. There is a choice.

Sure Valiant is an old idea. But it's an old idea whose time has come. An idea that deserves more than a mere dusting, but an actual reshaping.
Valiancy needs a modern twist, a rebirth, just as happiness got 5 years ago.

That modern twist on VALOR lies in the power of unwavering desire to do the right thing and a dedication to setting the wheels in motion for people to manifest their own destinies. To realize the power is actually in their hands, and to reject the idea that their fate lies at the feet of the tyrannous big corporate giants.

The truth is, now days Brands need to be our beacons of hope, they need to fill the gap where the government and the churches have failed us because they're too big, and frankly too lost, to be any real help to us right now.

I truly believe the world lacks a sense of valiancy and consumers, while not completely cognizant, are searching for a modern day Robin Hood. Lets face it we need our own Braveheart! But not one that solves the problem for us, we have more trust in ourselves to solve the problems than we do in other entities given events such as those that happened today.

So we're eager to understand how we can help ourselves, but we need someone to pave the way and show us where the opportunities lie and what our choices truly are. And frankly we need someone to light a fire under our a$$ in order to get us to make these opportunities a reality in our daily lives.

And now, after thinking about it for a while, I've finally come up with a brand that is working to provide a little Valiance - Kaiser Permanente - a brand that is recognizing an issue, providing hope, and leading the way for people to live their best possible lives.

Go forth and conquer!