In the winter of 2023 my journey back into the world of Marketing started. I studied Food Marketing almost a decade or so ago. But I quickly got disillusioned by the manipulative methods and the lack of integrity. We were told how to package and tell food so it flies of the shelfs, not to question if that product should see the daylight at all. Or even worse end up as sugary addiction on the plate of five year old.
Limited headspace but curious about the Unlearning Lab?
Scroll down to the section (Un)Learning Lab - Piloting in the open
I was dreaming about doing good and creating positive impact but the marketing industry didn’t seem to be the right place for that.
My path led me further to impact innovation, design thinking, facilitation and regenerative transformations. Finally in January 2023 looping back to Marketing. Why? Because I recognized the tremendous influence marketing has on overconsumption and overproduction. Unchecked marketing practices are not only one the main drivers behind ecological destruction, they also create mental health problems, unhealthy life styles and the ratrace that hold so many on this world hostage.
After my studies I saw the Marketing Industry as this one big toxic blob. That was an unnuanced mistake. The marketing industry, like any other, is simply an interconnected web of people. These people have capacities, that can either be used for Marketing as usual, or we can completely re-imagine them and explore how they can help bring regenerative futures to life. As I think we can all agree that capacities like storytelling, creativity, empathy and deep listening are by no means inherently bad.
When I met moh al-haifi, lee fitzpatrick and Flora Rosenow they gave me the courage and positive energy I needed to start a journey as daunting as changing the marketing industry.
From day one we knew this had to be a community led journey. We gathered a community of (aspiring) regenerative practioners, impact marketeers and change makers. Slowly the Regenerative Marketing Movement started to shape. Together we started to explore “How can the capacities of marketeers play a role in the transition to regenerative futures?” and “How would marketing look like when we adopt regenerative principles?” (If you have some spare time later on, check out our first episode)
When entering uncertain territories we often feel the desire to get grip of the situation. Initially we started to explore the potential principles of regenerative marketing, we had long thought provoking roundtables and drafted many frameworks. Only to realize we fell into the trap of business-as-usual ourselves. This is when we decided to pivot and put our attention first to the invisible. The patterns, structures, worldviews and narratives that dominate and shape this industry.
Is it possible that real change starts from oxymorons? In the current reality of business-as-usual I wholeheartedly agree that Regenerative Marketing is an oxymoron. Only when I look at the capacities of Marketeers through a different lens do I start to see their regenerative potential. Oxymorons are a starting point from change when people have the ability and influence to change the system. That said, some oxymorons like, Green Growth will remain what they are, a dangerous contradiction.
I want to invite you to imagine a post-growth world, without flashy advertisement in the commons and an industry that drives artificial desires.
In this world, what can the role of (former?) Marketeers be?
How can their capacities enable the transition to regenerative futures?
We all need to unlearn to create space for deep transformations. Acknowledging the ingrained thought patterns that were programmed by a dominantly patriarchal and colonial capitalistic economic and social system, is the first step. But what then? What do you do after you see and acknowledge this?
"Should I just go live off grid in a community in the forest?" It’s a thought I had a lot over the last few years. But that felt like an ego and fear driven escape that won’t really change anything. We can't just retreat from our shared reality.
Only once I started to grief over history, the world and our future did I find ways to surrender to the unlearning. We need to unlearn and shed a lot of the old that no longer serves life, before we can truly start to imagine and realize regenerative futures.
With the Regenerative Marketing Movement we are uniting to identify, co-create and amplify the narratives, programs, questions, frameworks and resources needed to transform the role of marketing as catalyzer for positive change.
With the (Un)Learning Lab we are seeking to create a shared space to Unlearn, Imagine, Transform. A place were you can explore the uncomfortable questions to daunting to face on your own. A safe space to experiment and collaborate without the pressure of rapid innovation, kpi’s and rigid outcomes. A community that leaves room for ambiguity, for not knowing, for confusion and discomfort.
The Unlearning Marketing As Usual Program and the monthly Hive Mind sessions are the first pilots of the Unlearning Lab. They form the beginning of community of explorers, who co-create spaces, programs, experiences and resources helping Marketeers to unlearn.
The Unlearning Lab is an experimental co-creation. An invitation to identify and collaborate on what holds the potential to change the worldview and narrative shaping Marketing as usual.
All that shapes our thinking must and can be re-imagined. Let us come together to co-create new stories, artworks, guidelines, questions, methods, poetry and frameworks that help us shift horizons.
On this Substack we will share the journey of the Regenerative marketing movement. Reflection on the pilots. Surprises and questions that will arise. We will discuss our (un)learnings, successes and failures. Most importantly, we want to invite you to join us on this journey. We would love to hear from you!
Have you identified how business-as-usual thinking influencing your decision making compass?
What are the BAU narratives that are holding you back from pursuing a path of deep transformation and positive impact?
Guided Online Program: 3 June - 15 July
Application Deadline Extended to 2nd June 2024
As a Marketer, there are 100s of things we need to unlearn that don’t serve us anymore. Do you feel like your marketing toolkit is from an era that no longer fits? Do you have the urge to question and unlearn what we’ve been taught to think around how marketing should function?
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