In his latest article for Brandingmag, our Director of Consulting Nick Liddell calls for brands to be emotionally honest:

"the more sadness, boredom or fear we admit into the emotional landscape of brands, the more opportunity we allow for happiness, love, adventure and humour to flourish"

The point is, we know this matters. Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation estimated that depression and anxiety costs the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity. Yet we're faced with a relentlessly positive view of our existence, whether it's Facebook bringing the world closer, Coca-Cola refreshing our minds or Starbucks nurturing the human spirit.

Perhaps not-for-profit brands are the ones to learn from. We've seen how many of our charity brand clients lead the way in emotional honesty, most recently with the Brain Tumour Charity establishing an emotional balance through blending positive advice with humour.  Or maybe we should follow British artist Grayson Perry's advice and create an 'emotional contact patch', allowing ourselves to be softer and establish an emotional grip between ourselves and the world around us.

Read Nick's full article on Brandingmag.