How clarity of purpose is the key ingredient for navigating ‘messessary’ conversations

I love a good portmanteau. Edutainment, hangry, and mansplaining are all clever examples. I recently learned that the literary device, first attributed to the author Lewis Carroll in 1871, is etymologically based on “a traveling case having two halves joined by a hinge.” As it turns out, portmanteau is the French word for suitcase.

This inspired me to unpack a few things as it relates to the “messessary” (both messy and necessary), work of communicating through constant complexity.

The events of 2020 challenged both brands and brand communicators as we attempt to navigate ongoing issues related to ESG (environmental, social and governance). These commitments were compounded by a global pandemic, a damaged democratic process, and the injustices tied to a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), rooted in systemic racism. These conversations are “messessary” because we haven’t previously been willing or forced to confront them and, thus, have played a role in perpetuating many of these foundational issues.

A purposeful start