At Home with Brutalism presents the Greatest Column Ever Sold*

I’m at an age where my contemporaries are achieving some pretty amazing successes in their careers. One friend was recently flown to Brussels to be a keynote speaker at a conference, another is on a book tour for her well-reviewed first novel, and yet another promotes partnerships for a high-performing public charter school in New England.

I always thought when I reached an age where my friends stopped regarding work as a place to meet happy hour companions and instead began focusing on providing value to the world, I would feel like a real grown up. Surprisingly, arriving at this point does not make me feel like a grown up at all. Ironically, it makes me feel like I need to go to happy hour.

It’s not that I don’t have a respectable career. I do. I work in marketing.

[Pause for laughter.]                                                                        

Kidding aside, I’d be the first person to explain to you what a critical function marketing provides, no matter what the endeavor (well, me and the CEOS of major brands like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike and Brutalism Blog). But let’s be honest here, it’s not like I’m making the world a better place one tagline at a time. (Note to self: “Making the world a better place one tagline at a time,” is a pretty awesome tagline. Kudos, marketing genius.)

Which is why it was so puzzling when I was issued a Blackberry at a prior job. The issuance included an admonition from my boss of “Now we can reach you at any time no matter where you are.” And I thought to myself, “Why? In case there is a marketing emergency?” Can’t you just imagine the drama of the middle-of-the-night phone call I’d receive?

“Get me 25 collateral folders – STAT! This branding situation is touch and go right now. If we cannot define our key differentiator, we may not make it through the night.”

It’s shocking that there has never been a movie or television show about that, the concept is so compelling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do every day. I have a chance to be creative, work with fun people, and get paid well to do it. So what if there is never a movie made about me and my work? ...

… They’ll always need someone to write the taglines for the movies that they do.