What are you IN IT for?

I have to admit my reaction to hearing about the new LinkedIn campaign was a touch cynical.

They sum it up as: “whatever motivates and inspires you, we’re a community that helps you realize your definition of success”.

There was something about that swarm of buzzwords that made me run for cover.

Reading the insight behind it didn’t help, either. According to a survey conducted by YouGov on LinkedIn’s behalf, 29% of British people believe that traditional perceptions of success are outdated.

All that got me thinking about was the 71% who don’t believe those perceptions are outdated.

So then I took a look. The campaign is by BMB and called ‘In It Together’. It uses LinkedIn members telling stories about their own definitions of success.

Click here to watch the main film. You’ll see the In-It’s come thick and fast:

To expand human knowledge.

To prove myself.

To be who I am.

To do what I love for a living.

To change lives for the better.

To live your best life.

To inspire.

To fix problems.

To be my own boss.

To create magic.

To be a pioneer.

The line is “Whatever you’re in it for, we’re in it together.”

It all comes across as a kind of Millennial segmentation, actually quite a good one because they’re all expressions of the same central need, to achieve success on your own terms.

The thing I noticed, though, was the effect it had on me.

There I’d been, all ready to write about how we really have reached the end of the road in marketing if we’re now doing purpose ads about purpose.

Or about how it’s nonsense because everyone actively posting or commenting on LinkedIn is basically a smartipants show-off with an inflated sense of self-importance.

Or who are LinkedIn kidding? Isn’t the site still for the vast majority of people simply a CV graveyard?

But instead I found myself warming to the campaign, its sense of optimism and hope. I liked these unlike-minded people. The sparkle in their eyes. I found myself rooting for them.

It reminded me that it’s not what you think about a new campaign that matters, it’s how you respond to it.

Scratch the skin of a cynic and you’ll always find a bruised idealist.