Us & The American Dream

US & THE AMERICAN DREAM

Heidi Hackemer Strategist

@uberblond

This is a love story

Americans are dreamers and believers

OpenKind

GenerousBelieving

ClosedAngryFearfulResigned

What is the American Dream?

The American Dream, the root of our culture, is one of the greatest stories

ever

(Why not Brazil?)

(Why not Brazil?)

The American Dream is a social contract between Americans and the

government

A government of the people, by the people, for the people

The government creates the conditions so that individuals can follow their

dreams

It’s a social contract that got perverted

Brands, the government & churches

The 20th century storytellers of the Dream who defined what it is and what it should lead to

“The American Dream today is white, Christian, linear, heterosexual

and all about buying shit.”

Our promises of consumption are increasingly ringing false

It’s a social contract that is (nearly) broken.

A government of the people, by the people, for the people

We’ve learned that the Executive branch is fallible

Legislative? Yup.

But not the JUDICIAL!!!

wtf.

Income has tumbled since the recession hit, and is still 8.3% below where it was in

2007

Since 1967, Americans right in the middle of the income

curve have seen their earnings rise 19%, while those in the top 5% have

seen a 67% gain

According to Labor Department data, about 1.7 million workers earned the minimum wage or less in 2007. By 2012, the total

had surged to 3.6 million, with millions of others

earning just a few cents or dollars more

home ownershipis college even worth it?

realities of upward mobilityunemployed 20-somethings

veterans coming home with little supportboarded up Main Streets

catastrophic weather events

Heartache in the country

sense of lossloss of trustloss in something bigger to believe in

yet, despite it all...

(and this is why this is a love story)

Being an American means being a pioneer, being someone that isn’t

afraid of a challenge. Even with everything that’s going on, I’m still proud of this about us.

We’re living in America, and that’s a dream. It’s still the best country on earth.

I can’t make the politicians stop being idiots, but I can help out at the local soup kitchen and volunteer to coach my kids. So I do.

The American Dream might be in peril -the American Spirit is alive

Belief and doing is getting local & tangible... because that’s what people

feel is real

what does this have to do with us?

Like I said, this is a love story

We need to stop fucking around

We need to change our stories

Our relevance depends on it

Orient our brands around a purpose

Give our brands a reason for beingnot just a reason for selling

Make the world a better place using technological

intelligence

Let people live better lives by helping them

save money

Deliver happiness

brands with purposetell more honest, provocative, meaningful, fun

stories

brands with purposetend to make more human, thoughtful, interesting products and experiences

brands with purposedo (and not just talk)

(check out the work of Stengel and Milward Brown)

in closing...

With great power comes great responsibility

thank you.

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for

each according to ability or achievement.”

“It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall

be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they

are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

James Truslow Adams, 1931