Independent Brands Celebrate 365

Independence Day. The true designation of the July 4 holiday. Also, it’s the title of a truly entertaining sci-fi move starring, no, not Will Smith; some bad-ass aliens. Those flat-headed, big eyed unforgiving monsters were the real stars – because that’s precisely where they came from.

July 4 is meant to be a celebration of independence. Freedom. The Bill of Rights. Democracy. From the Greek, rule of the people. The common people. Rich and poor. Us. It is our freedom to celebrate. To go where we want. Vote how we want. To shop where we want. Buy what we want. Think what we want. And, in an increasingly anti-social social media, say what we want.

All based on “want.” Some brands play on that. They tell us what they think we want to hear. Then they sell us what they think we want to buy. They try to outsmart us. Plenty of times, they fail. As witnessed by Circuit City. The Sharper Image. LL Cool J for Sears. Google Glass.

The brands that succeed figure independence into their values and build on it. They target what we need. Individually. Personally. People have the freedom to choose, so here’s why you should choose us. Not just because we’re better. Any brand can make that claim. But because we were made for you. Your needs. Your lifestyle. Your personality. Like your favorite shirt, your car, your usual at the bar. We serve you. We make you comfortable. We make your life better.

Making our lives better celebrates independence. So why limit it to one day? Why on July 5 should we go back to letting someone else make the decisions? If we let brands do the thinking for us, you know what that would be like?

It would be as if the aliens won.