If products give us what we want, do brands tell us what we need?
Brands that give us both what we want and what we need are enriching
It’s 2001. Billy Beane is the manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, which has just lost an elimination game. Oakland Athletics won’t be going through to the championship. To say that Billy Beane is frustrated is an understatement. To make matters worse, rich teams like the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are poaching his players. The owner of Oakland Athletics doesn’t exactly share Billy Beane’s ambitions. “We are not going to compete against these teams that have big budgets. We are going to work within the constraints that we have. And you are going to do the best job that you can.” But what Billy Beane would like, more than anything, is to take his team through to the championship. That’s where he has set the bar. That’s what he wants. In storytelling, there is what the main character wants and there is what he needs. The two are not the same. What he wants is clear from the start, but what he needs is something he will discover as the story unfolds. As will we....
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