Welcome to our guest contributor, Brian Reich, marketing guru and author of SHIFT & RESET: STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING SERIOUS ISSUES IN A CONNECTED SOCIETY, who has provided the following exclusive for The Alternative Consumer:

We live in a time of incredible excitement and opportunity. Our world is globalized, smaller, tightly connected and more deeply intertwined world than ever before. Still, many of the most pressing issues that challenge our society today aren’t being properly addressed. We are standing on the sidelines, waiting for real change to occur–missing out on our opportunity to have a meaningful impact.

Let me be clear: You don’t need to wait around for an organization to be formed for you to take actions that help address today’s issues. You can begin thinking differently now. Individuals must go beyond simply expressing their desire for change or complaining about the lack of progress. We all must take responsibility for the need to shift our thinking and reset our approach.

What can you do? Stop buying crap.

We have control over what we buy, what we read, who we connect with in ways that couldn’t have been imagined just a few years ago. We have the ability to make purchases and invest in organizations that align with our values and advance an agenda we agree will improve how society operates. There is no excuse for buying crap. We know better options are available. The message you send with a purchase – to a business that cares about its customers, and to your connections who want guidance on how to act themselves – is powerful.

We all fall short. For marketers, it’s easier to think of new, far-reaching awareness campaigns–-a successful concert leads to a tour, a successful telethon leads to a telethon industry—than to develop a sustained effort to address a cause. As individuals it’s far easier to buy into hype created by marketing, believing our limited participation will lead to long-term impact. The short-term benefits can be great for all involved. But there are limits to the value and effectiveness of awareness campaigns. Awareness alone doesn’t solve anything. 

Today’s connected society provides an opportunity to do more significant things than promoting brands or collecting contributions, in large part because people are already motivated to take action and connected by tools that enable action to be easily coordinated. There are opportunities to educate people—to deepen understanding in ways that will create emotional and intellectual connections. There are opportunities to engage people and ensure their commitment will be sustained, over time and in a way that offers benefits. There are chances to mobilize audiences with discreet actions—not designed to fulfill every need an organization identifies as important, but to make connections that can be fully pursued at another time.  These opportunities have expanded only because of the reach and sophistication that digital and social media tools provide, but the understanding of how to leverage them is still lagging behind.

The world needs people who don’t fear failure, who can connect others in innovative ways. It needs people who can work hard, be smart, and commit to driving real change–people who can shift and reset everything for better results. The world needs people to start right now.

You are the person who can shift and reset everything. There is nothing preventing you from rethinking how we address serious issues in a connected society. You have to start by making a change. And one of the most significant things you can do is to stop buying crap.

more about Brian Reich … Reich is senior vice president – global editor for Edelman, where he provides editorial vision and strategy for the company. He is well known for his expertise in new media, Web 2.0, social networks, mobile, community, ecommerce, brand marketing, cause branding, and more. Brian is the author of Shift & Reset: Strategies for Addressing Serious Issues in a Connected Society (Wiley, 2011) and co-author of Media Rules!: Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect with and Keep Your Audience (Wiley, 2007). Learn more about Brian at shiftandreset.com.