The Year of the Horse - What It Means To Me, To Brands

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It's the Year of the Horse, finally, after sixty years. I say finally because wow do we need it right now.

It's the Chinese New Year, so a new year has begun. Time to look forward and start anew. We are absolutely ready for that.

As I was digging into what the Year of the Horse means both personally and professionally, I found myself genuinely inspired.

The Year of the Horse is about forward movement and momentum, and it's about endurance and progress. It's about independence and breaking away from the forces that have held us back.

Sounds good, right? Like I said, wow do we need it right now.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know that I've been held back exactly, but I've definitely felt the weight. I have felt sluggish, exhausted, and burdened by everything happening in the world. It's hard to keep moving forward when the world itself feels stuck.

So yeah, the Year of the Horse? I'm here for it. I think a lot of us are. We need the momentum to break out of this rut, to feel that sense of freedom and forward motion again.

The marketer in me feels the same because brands have been in the same holding pattern, or at least a lot of them have been.

When the world feels uncertain and chaotic, what do marketers do? We often hold and we wait. "Let's see how things shake out," we tell ourselves. "Let's be cautious." Sure, some caution sometimes makes sense.

For a little while.

But "wait and see" can only last so long. Eventually, it becomes paralysis. When brands go quiet, when they retreat, they eventually go backwards. We're seeing it happen right now.

The Year of the Horse is therefore a wake up call for brands. It’s a permission slip to get back in the game.

Time to move!

It's time for brands to move forward. To get back on track with their consumers and to show up with force. Give people a reason to believe in something again, including believing in your power as a brand.

Your customers are exhausted and they're looking for optimism. They're looking for value and they’re looking for brands that believe in the future enough to show up in it.

So give them that. Earn your way back into their lives.

Here's the real lesson from the Year of the Horse: Stop being a quiet version of who you think you should be and start being who you are.

Be the version that moves forward, that takes risks, and that believes in momentum.

Be the Year of the Horse.

The world doesn't need more hesitant brands right now. It needs brands with conviction and intention.

It's the Year of the Horse, and it could not have come at a better time.

So what about you? What's your brand going to do with this year? What's your experience? JIM