By Anibal Casso

This is a sensational time to work with brands.

Really. Just think about it: we are in the midst of one of the most challenging periods that this industry has ever faced (I might be exaggerating a bit, but you get the drill) and the true value of what we do is being challenged almost every minute. Regardless, somehow, we continue to find order through the chaos and validate how much our contributions add to the overall equation.

I won’t deny it; It is damn frightening when you realize that the current environment is so volatile that it pretty much changes as we speak. It is even scarier when you admit that although many ‘experts’ out there claim to know the way out, no one really knows what the hell is going to happen next. But hey, look on the bright side (and feel free to label me as delirious), something good can actually come out of all this mess.

In the same way that we have seen a substantial reorganization of the publishing and music industries, the marketing industry is now undergoing through a [mostly technology-driven] transformation. And, that’s cool. Really. If there’s one thing we can learn from these shifts it’s that technological advances do not destroy the game. . . they just change the rules. . . and typically for the better.

Someone, rightly, once said that big changes occasionally arise from the gradual evolution of ideas and techniques. But we shouldn’t forget that many of the most striking re-inventions we know today have actually been born in times of crisis. The truth is that while uncertain events crush some people, they also liberate others. Those who instead of just dealing with the disaster, experiment and play with it. Those who allow the crisis to push them out of their comfort zones and instead of seeing it as an obstruction treat complex times as the perfect excuse to let go of fear, embrace failure and make radical moves. Ultimately, create something (physically not just ideologically) and bring it to life.

Yes, right now things are kind of unsure at many levels. But the more I think about it, the sexier the idea of not knowing what’s going to happen next becomes. At the end of the day that’s what historically has made the creative business so powerful and exciting. That’s what has encouraged our creative spirit to rise so many times before.

Things are changing. And they will continue to change. The only question we should ask ourselves is which side are we on?

Are we the ones who just sit on the bench and write a lot of clever, yet meaningless, stuff about the state/future of the industry? Or are we the ones who are actually getting our hands dirty trying to build something out of nothing?