Mercury Retrograde is a call to get clear on your messaging
Magic messaging does not always come easy, but when the stars and the planets ask us to get clear and go deep, it only seems right to oblige. Mercury Retrograde is here and it has a rep for unease and uncertainty, but when we work with the energy and the flow, it is a time to get clear and to speak truth, and your brand messaging is all part of that picture.
Mercury Retrograde is an act of magic itself; an optical illusion that makes it look like the planet is moving backwards from our mere mortal view on Earth. Spiritually, it can feel like communication and technology are not on our side during this spell, but when we dig a little deeper, there is very good reason for that.
For the Greeks, Mercury was God of messages; communicating between the Gods, as well as being responsible for fortune, commerce, wealth, and thievery. The finder and the fixer, Mercury was drafted in to solve problems, find paths, and to get things done. Exactly the kind of energy we can harness.
Mercury asks us to get clear.
Clear on messaging, clear on communication, clear on what it is we are saying, and it goes for brands as well.
Brands are living things, brought to life by the real humans behind them, and Mercury Retrograde is an opportunity for pure clarity.
Running from April 1 - 25, it is a period of big feelings, big emotions, big waves. For brands, it is a time when things can feel murky, lost, and a bit muddy. But, working with the energy instead of resisting it, can bring about just the right kind of messaging magic.
CLEANSE TO CREATE
To start, reconnect back to the purpose of the brand. The reason for being, for existence. When emotions are high and energy is potent, it is easy to stray away from those brand foundations and to feel self and brand floating further from those anchors.
Before you go about creating, cleanse your energy as the creator, and the space as your facilitator. Lots of emotions, lots of energy, you need to be working with a clean slate, without stagnant or remnant energy lingering.
Get clear on what your message is.
What is it that you’re trying to communicate right now? Is the core message about sustainability? Or is it about a process or procedure within the business? What’s the focal point for this season, and ask yourself how you can double down on it. Mercury Retrograde asks us to focus on a message and leave no room for miscommunication or doubt, so sticking to one clear message during this time invites in that ease and flow. We have so many messages within brands that all feel of equal importance, but the spotlight can only shine on one message, so allow the one its moment of glory.
You have the message, the belief, or the focus. Now, it is about sinking deeper into it. How can it be explained on a deeper level? Write it for a few different audiences, from a few different perspectives. Play around with language and your brand voice, and see how you can say the same thing in at least five different ways. This will connect you more deeply to the message and offer a new kind of understanding, but it also gets a more focussed and potent message as the iterations go on. They’re for you, for now, not for anyone else, so don’t be afraid to get creative with it.
How can this message be expressed in other ways? Through art? Through movement? Experiment with what is possible, all with the desire to journey deeper with the message.
When you feel you have enough material, step away. When you return, you can transmute all of these words, expressions, and iterations into clear messaging that has more depth and soul. When you come to write it for the world, think about how transparent you can be, how to the point you can be, cutting away any fluff or filler that might be there, to produce a message that is so raw yet so refined, and if you’re asking for something, remember to ask - Mercury Retrograde is a time to be as clear as you can be, so never assume that the reader will know what you mean. We only know what we know, so tell them and tell them twice.
Release -
Ambiguity
Assumptions
Fluffy words
Harness -
Clarity
Conviction
Deeper messaging
A REMINDER
Aside from the messaging, Mercury Retrograde is a time for introspection. It is not usually a time to make big moves or bold changes, so use this time to reflect and plan, rather than to action and act. That time will come and it is coming very soon.
If you feel the waves of this season, know that they will pass, and for every tech issue and feeling that it is all crumbling down, know that it is making way for something new.
Happy Mercury Retrograde, let’s get excited for the ride.