Somethin' Like a Phenomenon

So I need a proper education on this topic - but it just sounds so interesting when it stumbles clumsily off your tongue: Phenomenology!

Boy-o-boy do I need an education on this. My enchantment with the name of the philosophical study has led me to base our first marketing campaign on the topic. You can see the images we've developed here. They are designed to intrigue, provoke thought and meaning, and be memorable. The campaign pays tribute to graffiti campaigns - both physical and internet memes - as well as our neighborhood. They're designed to be mysterious, even somewhat disconcerting - in a graffiti kinda way - juxtaposed with our color scheme, which washes all of that away. Many of you may be familiar with the themes and we hope you'll recognize and enjoy the linkage we're trying to make to graffiti campaigns across time. At the same time we hope to convey our appreciation of the medium's ability to craft powerful statements.

So go figure! I've decided to drop some coin and stake the future of our business on a line of study of which my complete comprehension is: Phenomenologists oppose the scientific view of the world that nature - and I guess they mean natural selection - has provided all the world's real objects (OK - so stop right there because I know what you're thinking and this is not some kind of creationism vs evolution debate I'm struggling with) in favor of our consciousness. The idea being that the world around us is a result of our own understandings that rock is hard, glass is clear, water is wet, and reality television shows are crap.

But really what it means to me is this: We need to think long and hard about the meaning of the objects we surround ourselves with, because they convey different messages to each of us based on our own interpretations. Everything, down to the most minute detail or most overlooked possession, conveys a meaning - and we need to be aware of that. If you're out there accumulating piles of things that don't have any meaning then the meaning of them is that you're just a pack-rat - or you're just going with the flow. It's a convenient definition for us, as it fits with our driving philosophy. So I'll take it.

But does that mean we need to build a marketing campaign around the theory? Why not - I've seen marketing campaigns built up around around far, far, and I mean faaaarrrr, poorer topics. I feel the struggle for the philosophy to take hold is a good parallel to the struggle of a guerilla marketing campaign - so all the pieces fall into place, right? Well, at least in my mind...