“The economy stinks, bees are dying, and movies are pretty much all sequels now.”
-Schmidt, “New Girl” 2013

Well, “New Girl” fans, Schmidt said it (not first, but loudly). The world is rapidly going downhill, and as a whole, we’ve lost all sense of authenticity. A term widely utilized and easily forgotten, authenticity, the state of being genuine and original, is exceedingly rare. Some might even say it is impossible. Mark Twain once said, “There is no such thing as a new idea…We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope [and] give them curious combinations.”

I for one unabashedly idolize Mark Twain, and I respectfully yet completely disagree with his claim (please don’t come back and haunt me for this, Mr. Twain). And while I love Schmidt (I mean who doesn’t love his zinging one-liners?), I think with this one, he is completely off the mark. Please, allow me to explain.

We combine our experiences and our unique perceptions to influence an idea, business or brand, creating something entirely new and unique. Something authentic.

In 2008, Pantene demonstrated just that. With 3-minute short film, they proved that it takes passion and persistence to transcend even your own expectations. In that moment of pure unadulterated emotion, is something new and completely genuine. True, the storyline may be something similar to what we’ve seen before, something we can all innately identify with (like Schmidt’s so-called-sequels), but your audience’s reaction to the brainchild is what we actively seek. As marketers, our job is to find that connection to bring you closer to your audience.

That’s our challenge, creating ideas that spark a fresh outlook, making it new. It’s our passion and our drive. Sorry, Mr. Twain, it’s not the idea, it’s outcome.