Achieving Bliss

During his talk on experientialism, James Wallman shares insights on how and why experiences lead to happiness, rather than material items. His talk begins by explaining how the consumer revolution was the best thing to happen in the 20th century. However, materialistic consumption eventually led to society feeling stressed, anxious and depressed.

Using the theory from his book titled ‘Stuffocation,’ Wallman explains that instead of looking for happiness in material items, people are able to find true happiness through experiences. Even if the event is utterly disastrous, it makes for a good story, but a bad product simply annoys people.

The talk on experientialism may seem obvious, but it connects a theory to an action and encourages people to be more aware of how they spend their time -- and money. From a brand perspective, this talk can help to make sense of experiential marketing. It can also explain to the general population that time spent well will amount to greater life satisfaction -- a lot more than spending money will.