Sunflowers are incredibly beautiful. I recently received a bouquet of five from my boyfriend one day after work. He came home wearing a suit carrying a bouquet of some of the most beautiful sunflowers I have ever seen. Immediately, I took to caring for the flowers, trimming their stems, placing them in a vase and positioning the vase on the dresser top where it could receive plenty of light and soak up the sun pouring into the room. They happen to still be there today as I write this post.
A few days ago, they got me thinking. Why do I love these sunflowers so much? And furthermore, what made my attachment to these flowers so strong in the first place? I mean, granted, they are a gift from someone I love very much. This does help, I realize. But take that aside, if I had just purchased them myself, wouldn’t I still have a vested interest to care for these flowers and attempt to make them last as long as possible on my dresser?
If you’re a cynic, you’ll say no. But in reality, the correct answer is yes. And the reason–because they’re real.
Let’s say my boyfriend became terribly unromantic for five minutes and decided it was sufficient enough to send me a bouquet of sunflowers on Facebook instead. Now, he might argue that there is a benefit of sharing it on this platform, because they can last forever that way. They can be shared with all of my friends who see that he’s share these beautiful flowers with me. They can then comment on them and possibly get inspired enough to share a similar bouquet with their loved ones and so on. Suddenly, thanks to his one “romantic” (or not) gesture, hundreds of people might be graced with little digital bouquets of sunflowers, daffodils, daisies and peonies on their Facebook wall. Sigh. Isn’t it romantic?
Cynics say “yes”, the rest of us who are following along with this metaphor, say “no.” And guess what, cynics? You’re not alone! Every brand manager from here to China is totally agreeing with you! Why? Because of wishful thinking. And today, if I had the money, I’d do every brand manager I know a favor–send them a bouquet of sunflowers. Then we can talk about reassessing how much money goes into your digital marketing budget for next year.