Learning from the Burning Man

Earlier this week I heard Tatyana Mamut from Ideo sharing her perspective on the Burning Man. Thanx to my friends in California I knew quite a bit about the Burning Man but Tatyana touched upon two very interesting aspects:

  • There are no commercial transcations – only gifting takes place. And usually if you gift something with X value – the receiver is likely to return the favour by giving back a better gift. I thought it was an interesting concept as it could very well be applied in the Marketing World.
  • Burning Man participants accepting the rights (not roles) & responsibilities (not rules) of participation. I found it very interesting because in Marketing/Advertising we seldom put forward rights that our consumers or customers have and the responsibilities that they need to shoulder. Imagine a world where our consumers are demanding but equally responsible for looking after the health & growth of our brands.

I don’t really relate to the Burning Man but the two principles mentioned above appealed to me a lot. I certainly look forward to using them in the programs that I design in the months to come. So thank you Tatyana.