Joy of Less<\/a>.<\/strong> I wrote about it last summer.<\/p>\nIt started with the onset of the Recession. Like many people, with uncertainty looming, I felt a need to save more and to be more careful with my spending.<\/p>\n
But what started as an act of deprivation soon turned in to a source of joy.
Instead of shopping for clothes, I started \u00a0shopping my own closet.<\/p>\n
I cleaned out and donated the clothes I never wore that were cluttering my view of what I really had.<\/p>\n
I set a sort of color “uniform” for any future purchases. They had to go with what I already owned or I wouldn’t consider them.<\/p>\n
And I looked for fewer more quality items.<\/p>\n
Now as a brand person, at first I felt a bit I guilty about this new philosophy.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t conspicuous consumption, the oil that greases the wheels of the economy?<\/p>\n
But I’ve come to realize that this joy of less approach doesn’t mean Ive stopped spending all together.<\/p>\n
It just means I have a new relationship with the things I do purchase.<\/p>\n
I value them more.<\/p>\n
Because they were the result of a thoughtful approach and not just a whim, I feel more attached to them.<\/p>\n
And In many cases I am actually spending more per item than I would have before.\u00a0 I’m just buying less things.<\/p>\n
I have other friends who have shifted their spending to experiences (vacations, classes, etc.) and away from objects because they believe they and their families get more out of them.<\/p>\n
This holiday I am heading to the mall (though not on Black Friday!).<\/p>\n
But it will be with a more considered list of what will really bring pleasure to people I love.<\/p>\n
It will be interesting (and no doubt somewhat frightening) to observe what happens with retail trends this year.<\/p>\n
Some people say we are beginning to tip toe out of the recession.<\/p>\n
And others are more skeptical.<\/p>\n
Either way, I think consumer behavior has probably been permanently changed in ways we are just beginning to grasp.<\/p>\n
And new behaviors will outlast this current economic crisis.<\/p>\n
I believe in these harder times with harder choices, we’ve all learned new lessons about the “value” of possessions.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your twist?
I’m a marketer so of course I want people to buy things. Like (Virgin) mobile phones and domestic and trans-Atlantic flights for example. But as we approach another “Black Friday” holiday shopping season kickoff… Part of me can’t help but think – do we really need all this stuff that’s being advertised? You may recall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,93,106],"tags":[129,40,41,60,42,45,74,80,130,131,132,52,133,134,79],"class_list":["post-1365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-finding-balance","category-holidays-2","category-shopping","tag-black-friday","tag-brand","tag-brand-building","tag-brand-school","tag-branding","tag-brandtwist","tag-business","tag-business-building","tag-holiday","tag-holidays","tag-joy","tag-julie-cottineau","tag-shopping-2","tag-spending","tag-virgin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t
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