On the eve of Black Friday, I found myself reflecting on what a pure holiday Thanksgiving is. The only expectations are food and family – no gifts, no jingles, no tensions between the secular and holy. It is a simple time of thankfulness.
Perhaps I will eat my words as an executive one day, but I find it unfortunate that Black Friday and its inauguration of ‘consumerism season’ continue to eat away at the quaint holiday of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving should not just be the calm before the storm. Those 90 minutes around the dinner table should always trump the 4am deal for a $298 40-inch flat-screen LED Toshiba.
But we live in the age of the deal. We sit around our computers for hours just waiting for the eBay auction to finish or for the next Groupon. But what are we missing? I’m all for thrift, but isn’t our family time worth something as well?
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, it seems that the merriness of Christmas is not quite dead either, as the thing most adults still wish for during the holidays is happiness or peace. I was surprised. I was less surprised when laptops and iPads were close runners-up, but it reminded me that people still desire to know and be known by others. The eggnog with brothers may in fact be worth far more than the stereo system after all.
However, a corporation can only sell the eggnog; the brothers and sisters are not included. Nonetheless, it raises a very interesting proposition: how can corporations create goods that facilitate community? Most commercials over the next month will include either a kissing couple or a family opening presents Christmas morning, so community obviously sells widgets. But how are corporations not just marketing their goods via emotional persuasion, but also producing goods that bring friends and family together?
The food and drink industry easily has the largest market share when it comes to “community-building,” but social networking may not be far behind. As technology evolves and transportation becomes cheaper, the business of “community-building” will continue to grow. One can quickly find cross-industry success stories in this space: Chick-Fil-A, Southwest Airlines, Mattel, and Disney are just a few that come to mind as companies producing goods that facilitate community interactions alongside billions of dollars in revenue.
Hosts of people have retreated to technological innovations such as Facebook and Twitter to recreate the lost sense of kinship, but more creativity is needed to capture this market for “community.” However, anyone who thinks it will be an easy market to enter should be forewarned. After all, you are competing with turkey and eggnog.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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