Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection - the lovers, the dreamers and the local marketers ....

The reason there are so many songs about rainbows is that we all want to believe there is something at the end of them. And after all, what's so wrong with that?

Nothing. And so, finally, something at the end of the proverbial Millennial and Gen Z rainbow (or really cumulonimbus-clouded super cell). Herein lies the Millennial Silver Lining. 

So, finally. They do care. They do love. And to quote the (almost) inimitable Sally Field, "You like me!" And they will probably love you, if they don't already.

That said, let's look at this most recent of all advertising indices from AdWeek - the "Brands Millennials Hold Dear."

And you didn't think it was possible. Or even plausible. 

Here's a giant surprise. Amazon. 

And Disney. And Sephora and H&M. YouTube. XBox, Apple, Jeep and Nintendo. 

So, just let me repeat that. Amazon. 

And Disney. And Sephora and H&M. YouTube. XBox, Apple, Jeep and Nintendo. 

Huh. Hmmm. What the what? 

Yes, Gen X. Your brands. Our brands. The same brands we love and, in many cases, have loved since we were even younger than a Millennial or a Gen Z'r. 

Well, there you go. So, all this time, when we thought these newfangled generations were a giant puzzle thrust upon us. Miraculously, it turns out, we have many, many brands in common. 

As stated in the article, "Mario Natarelli, managing partner at MBLM, previously defined brand intimacy as “an essential relationship between a person and brand that transcends purchase, usage and loyalty.”

Additionally - 

"The Brand Intimacy Quotient, which is used to rank the brands, is based on the amount of consumers who intimately engage with the brand, intensity of the consumer’s relationship with the brand (on the spectrum of three stages: sharing, bonding and fusing) and character (performance on five key archetypes: fulfillment, identity, enhancement, ritual, nostalgia and indulgence)."

The practical applications to any marketer would be - "how do I get here?" and likewise, as a consumer, one might ask, "which brands are on this spectrum for me, personally?" 

And so, those are in turn the questions I would ask we, the local consumers and marketers - 

• To which local brands to I feel most loyal? Why?
• What do my favorite local brands mean to me
• What do they say about me? 

and in turn - 

• Where does my own brand stand in cultivating relationships with our customers?
• How true are we to the promise of the brand we are creating? 
• How true is our brand to the actual perception of our customers?

The great news is, the end of our rainbow is local - and all we need to do to find it is remember to look for the sun through the rain ....