In the face of potential Oceanic meltdown, how do we use brands, technology, a sense of ownership and a good old fashioned bit of market trading to make us all ‘at one’ with the sea again?

How do we democratize the expanses of water that surround us? How do we give everyone a vested interest in the wellbeing of the 7 seas?

Simply by giving everyone an invested interest in them perhaps.

Currently the whole deep blue sea is an ocean away from people’s everyday lives. We need to put some salt water in their pocket to remake the bond. Something they sense the value of in real time and their lives.

So what if we created a commoditized and tradable asset of the oceans – purely as a virtual trading currency? And create a share issue around it. Just for fun.

Then we draw people towards them, exploring them, seeking capital gains and dividends from the complexity and the stratifications inherent in our oceans .

If we have a digital 3 dimensional map of the oceans that we can pixelate, we can plot them, and draw people into their world with the offer of ownership, even if it is only virtual. (We do it with teddy bears and stars for God’s sake, so why not oceans?) Why not create billions of pixel kilometers of ocean that then get virtually traded? An oceanic version of equities.

Lets call them Seaquities.

Let’s create a global virtual trade in Seaquities. And as with global Equities, the big fish take the big block buys and distribute as they see fit to their stakeholders – right down to the everyday people buying the odd one here and there

These would create a central fund of immutable mutuality around our oceans with multiple dimensions where everyone can play. Parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts could purchase small swathes of water for their little sailors to virtually sail and trade.

Communities and Corporations with a vested interest in the sea, either on which they ply or base their trade or from which they seek their livelihood could buy up blocks as a legacy statement of intent.

And we could grade them – with the deepest ocean Seaquity pixels being the most valuable (rich as they are with any marine life left that we haven’t killed off yet, as well as the underwater mineral riches embedded in the underwater mountain ranges) – and with those from the shallowest waters being offered to the fashion industry (only joking).

Brands could then use their global voice, constituency and distribution channels (on pack on shelf on mobile on line) to spread the word. And technology can build the trading platform where everyone plays.

Gamification would be critical to the success of this. Bringing play into this most serious of issues in such a way as to appeal to the Planet Me sense of personal rewards and relevance as opposed to the Planet We ‘cupped hands stroking polar bears’ version is vital for it to fly.

If Zynga can create a sense of market force around Farmville and virtual coins: and bit coin can trade things of immeasurable value simply using virtual algorithms then surely Oceanville and the market trading of shares in it cannot be beyond the wit and the intellect of us all?

And the educational aspect that the exploration of ones own portfolio of Seaquities would bring could be mindblowing.

Who knows; if we could get a few Vampire Squid traders go long on ocean Seaquities while they short everything else, now that could be transformative.

That really would be a new form of Trading Futures!

Part 2 of Big Fish, Little Pond & the art of oceanic happiness.