Alex Bogusky is attempting spark a consumer revolution and has recast himself as a "consumer advocate." Along with co-conspirators Rob Schuham and John Bielenberg, Bogusky has unveiled nothing less than a roadmap for reinventing capitalism. This new kind of capitalism, he believes, needs to be fueled by creative people of all stripes - the end goal is a kinder, gentler capitalism that does more than help the rich get richer.
The overall point—that consumer empowerment, growing inequality and vast structural issues facing our planet are changing economic dynamics—is provocative. Capitalism reforms based on values like transparency, collaboration and sustainability with more focus on meaning - beyond the bottom line. Sounds great in principle. Bogusky and crew plan to attempt it through a new open-source brand, 'Common', which anyone with a sustainable idea can use. The Common brand is devoted to "rapidly prototyping many progressive businesses that unleash creativity to solve social problems." It's an interesting vision and you can watch the entire presentation at Bogusky's Fearless Revolution site.
Bogusky sees a big shift under way, empowered by the Internet, where consumers take back control of what exactly they consume. "The data on the web and the creation of new tools for consumers to access that data in real time is going to change the relationship between consumers and those they consume from," he writes. "Our expectations as consumers, in what we deserve for the dollar we hand over, are way too low. All our dollars — both tax dollars and consumption dollars — should never go to waste. But today, our consumption dollars often blindly pay for products and services that appear to be cheap, but come with hidden costs." (You can hear a lot more in the video of his recent speech at conservation event "Turning the Tide". To help turn the tide, Bogusky is assembling a band of folks in the communications industry to push forward this agenda, which includes rewriting the Consumer Bill of Rights. Maybe there's a chance for us after all?
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