OUGD401 - Final Essay

“What is the relationship between branding and The Consumer Self?”

Since the early 19^th century, branding has developed into almost every product, service, or company on the planet. This rapid increase has speculated various questions on why branding exists, what it can do to benefit a company, and what relationship it has with the consumers. To distinguish a product or business with a symbol and a name, is similar to the name of a human being, it creates a reference which can spread their acknowledgement. An individuals given name can make them significant, identified and systematic. Similar terms apply when creating a brand, it can establish an identity within a product which can form bonds with the consumer. It can also become organizable within the vast array of similar competitor products, allowing the customer to search for, and locate their trusted brand. This essay plans to explore all of the elements which compose a brand and the effects which it poses on any given consumer.

In the book ‘Klein, N. (1999) No Logo, Canada: Knopf Canada, Picador’, the author is trying to summarize her negative emotions on the subject of branding by exploring her own personal experiences and memory's. She does this very effectively in an informal manor which makes the read more personal and chatty towards the reader. Her past experiences are explained very clearly, immersing the audience into the authors shoes very effectively and helping them relate to the authors point of view.

Naomi describes that in her lifetime, she has viewed culture being manipulated by branding more as the years have gone by. The authors tone of voice suggests that she is very bias in a negative way towards the idea of branding. She believes that it is suffocating real forms of culture such as artwork, sculpture and dance. But then the idea can be argued, who says branding hasn't become a vital part of modern culture? Who says that an Adidas shoe isn't a piece of artwork in our modern day and age? Just because branding is a new form of culture doesn't mean that it is bad however, the authors biased point of view suggests that she feels that it is pushing other forms of culture to the sidelines. Now, there is hardly anything which isn't branded, even down to online websites such as YouTube which is a platform for sharing culture as a whole. Naomi wants to go back to a simpler time where people weren't judged by the branding which they wore. This can be analyzed from this quote

'Tommy Hilfiger, who has managed to pioneer a clothing style that transforms its faithful adherents into walking, talking, life-sized Tommy dolls, mummified in fully branded Tommy worlds.' (Klein 1999)

Throughout the book, Naomi uses negative metaphors and adjectives such as 'mummified' in order to explain the negative implications which consumerism has on society. She dislikes the way which branding now informs language, attitude and division between groups of people. In some cases, It could be interpreted as new form of racism where people are discriminated against because of the branding they wear.

This new form of racism can be related through into ‘Lloyd Morgan, C. (1999) Logo, Identity, Brand, Culture, London: Roto-Vision’ which depicts the origins of brand wear to hold a correlation associated with the Jews and concentration camps in the second world war. Wearing the sign relates to

' establish rights or even to act as a form of public warning, as in the physical branding of criminals or the Nazis deliberate humiliation of the Jews through the wearing of the Star of David'. (Lloyd Morgan 1999)

This statement underpins the strength of branding which is often overlooked by society as being just a commodity. This representation of the Star was implemented as a bilingual symbol which could be understood by English, German, Polish and any other language in the war to universally dehumanize a group of people. At multiple times throughout history, branding has grouped people and divided them into different life threatening categories, another representation which has relevance to this issue is the 'Bloods and Cripps' where the colours of an outfit became the branding and identity itself. When branding is thought of, it is often just associated with just the symbol however, it is what defines a company or a group of people as a whole. A corporate identity is formed throughout functions such as symbol, uniforms, colour and even hand signs.

There is the counter argument that the branding of the star was not a underlining factor in the humiliation of the Jews and that things would have been the same with or without it however, the Nazis implemented the star onto the clothes of the Jews for symbolic and organizational purposes. It was meant to segregate the Jews from society and mock what they believed in. This in turn made this branding a strong factor in easily discriminating against the Jews and was intended to make the Jewish people ashamed of their religion and not want to wear their symbol with pride. The scheme then helped successfully administer the Jewish people to the concentration camps.

The 'Lebron James Shoes' which Nike produce are a perfect example of how branding is still a significant factor in the segregation of cultures, races, genders and religions in todays modern environment. The power of stereotypical advertising has again created barriers between races, just like the Star of David did in World War 2, this time however, they are more subtle. These shoes create a symbol of black culture using advertising which is restricted and purely aimed at black people as the target audience. In many cases, this has lead to bullying of other ethnic groups if they wear these shoes and further creates the impediment of diverse cultures. To seek the prospect of how a brand can own a specific group of people, the terminology and history of branding must be explored. Before branding in clothing, cars and companies, there was the branding of animals which farmers used to determine who owned a specific group of sheep or cattle. This was manly done with paint, symbol or a branding iron so that the ownership of the herd can be recognized by other farmers.

This idea has been developed into clothing and directly relates to the theory that a brand can own a group of people much like a farmer owns a group of sheep. Ironically, this can define humans who follow fashion trends as sheep which just follow the heard and have no real individuality. To this day, people who purchase an item of clothing with a brand believe that they own that brand however, when observed from this perspective, is it the brand who in fact owns them? In a way, even though the consumer has bought the product, the product has previously convinced the customer into purchasing their brand by using marketing techniques and advertising. The typography of the image has also been targeted by using similar connotations of black family TV shows such as ‘The Cosby’s’. The similarity in the font tries to subconsciously reach out to the black community who may notice the familiar font without even realizing.

The book ‘Olins, W. (2003) On Brand, London : Thames & Hudson.’ takes a more neutral stand point on the issue by exploring the possibilities of branding in charity and politics, as well as contradicting the notion that all of the conglomerate groups are money exploiting companies. The author directly calls out to Naomi Klein’s book ‘No Logo’ for overlooking the fact that

‘Nobody would seriously suggest that Oxfam, Save the Children, the WWF or the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation are sullied because they successfully use all the techniques of branding to go about their business.’ (Olins 2003)

This counter argues that branding and logos can be used in a positive and constructive manor when utilized correctly. In a charity organization, they can be used as a symbol to represent a link between the consumer, the organization and the person in need of aid. Having a relationship or status within a charitable group can often be a somewhat unobservable brand but nether the less can make people feel like part of a community that is helping. Not being grouped with a visible brand mark almost implies that the consumer owns the brand, they have the free will to share their brand status with other people or to keep the brand private. When comparing this to the likes of Tommy Hilfiger or even Austin Martin, it seems as though consumers are more interested in using brands to boast about their wealth or financial status, rather than their humanitarian acts of kindness. After all, there aren’t Oxfam or Save the Children cars driving on the roads.

Later on in his book, Wally Olins explores the notion of where brands materialize from, along with how they reach out to the consumer. The author lists a few simple steps which he believes all commercial brands use as a formula for success in the brand identity of their product,

‘ (i) This product is better because it contains x (secret, magic, new, miracle): the ingredient that will make a radical difference to your life.

(ii) If (when) you use it, your home will look more beautiful, or your food will taste better, or your clothes will be brighter and whiter, or you yourself will look even more glamorous than ever before.’ (Olins 2003)

These statements have similarity’s with the work of the neurologist Sigmund Freud who believed that advertising our human desires and instincts can subconsciously persuade a consumer to buy into a brand. By selling an emotion of importance or desirability with the opposite sex for example, a company can sell the illusion of happiness within their brand identity. This relationship between the consumer, and the brand selling an emotion or desire, can create a false sense of personal identity. Corporations can use propaganda and media to manipulate this false identity into a product, the Lynx brand for example, has created a relationship between their product, and the ideology to be sexually desired. This promise is what draws a targeted audience towards the brand and can start to form the barriers of what type of person is going to be segregated into the brands identity. As can be seen from the advertisement below, the company has used a common hairy undesirable man to create a relationship between the majority of the population of males, and their brand. In order to create a relationship with their target audience, they have used a relatable figure which engages with many of the accolades which a common man holds. They sell the idea of desirability in their brand identity which promises the common man that all women will suddenly find them attractive. This is obviously not the case however it solidifies some of Sigmund Freud’s key principles on the theory of selling human desires within a product. These elements of advertising and propaganda are also backed up in ‘Packard, V. (1957) The Hidden Persuaders, America : Pelican Books’ where the author describes eight psychological laws that corporations use to manipulate their desired audience. These eight laws are said to be all of the desires that human beings hold and by promising these needs into a product, a consumer’s mind can be manipulated into wanting the intended product.

Once these eight laws are identified and applied to a subject, almost anything can be sold and portrayed towards its desired audience. A strong example for this is the way in which the brand ‘Timberland’ combined the compelling needs of love objects and a sense of power in order to direct their work boots towards a whole new target audience. By integrating a powerful object such as work boots within the fashion industry, they managed to open up their product to a whole new audience within the female fashion world.

Moving onto broader examples of branding, Wally Olins suggests that countries use patriotic branding techniques in order to bestow a sense of national identity within their products. He speculates that

‘nationality is some kind of seal of quality. Nobody in the right mind would buy Italian whisky or for that matter Scottish olive oil.’ (Olins 2003)

This stereotypical standpoint raises the issues of the placebo effect, are we tricked into believing that the Scottish whisky tastes better just because it is Scottish? Never the less, this branding technique can be seen utilized in companies all over the world, a prime example of this is the German company which now owns the Rolls Royce franchise. They have preserved the British nationality of the brand as the key marketing technique of their advertisements. The relationship between the brand and the consumer has always been to keep the tradition, class and performance within their products. Over the years, this assurance from the company has cemented a loyalty with the customer, disruption within the factory line could put this bond in jeopardy. The key elements to sustaining a brand for a long period of time is to keep consistency with the customer. By changing a factor such as the nation in the brand, this can create the illusion that the product will also change. Therefore, a brand can be analyzed as a reassurance of consistency within a product, using a logo as a universal approach of portraying this continuity.

In the case of the Italian olive oil, the brand can acknowledge the stereotype of fresh olives in Italy and use this authentic appeal to their advantage. The olive oil could be produced in England however, by representing the oil as Italian, the company can embellish a sense of authenticity with their product. The book ‘Dinnie, K. (2014) Nation Branding, New York : Routledge’ touches on similar issues, he states

‘Nations are making increasingly conscious efforts to hone their country branding In recognition of the need to fulfill three major objectives: to attract tourists, to simulate inward investment and to boost imports.’ (Dinnie 2014)

By targeting a nation as a whole, companies can make an individual feel singled out as the brand is targeting a group which the individual already belongs to. The England football kit for example, already creates the misconception that the viewer is part of the brand, the consumer will then buy into the brand identity as they notice the coherence with their own identity. The accolade of being English is exploited by the company in order to increase sales within their product. Points which seem to re occur within all forms of branding whether it be product, service or nation branding are usually to boost popularity within their company which in turn will increase money and fame.

In the book ‘Verma, H. (2010) Branding Demystified, New Delhi : Sage Publications’ the author states,

‘On the one hand brands are devices and new navigational tools for the marketers. On the other hand, brands have emerged as new trusted compasses that help consumers spot the correct way through the dense and dangerous marketing jungle .’ (Verma 2010)

Relating back to the Rolls Royce, brands have become a visual tool to spot a trusted service or product upon the vast array of competitor companies and corporations. The author is attempting to state that brands have become a powerful money making tool for companies however, they have also greatly benefitted the customer who can use brands as a guide to make an informed decision on their purchase. This is in contrast with Naomi Klein, has a very anti capitalist approach on the matter. From this point of view, it can be approximated that branding has greatly improved the customers perspective when choosing a product, therefore the higher quality products will exceed in business whereas the poor products will fail. This creates a universal language based on trust on previous customers judgment, the more successful products such as Coca-Cola or McDonalds, obviously have an edge over the competition which makes the brand so successful. This can be recognized by a new customer who might never have tried the product before, this then allows them to make a more informed decision that Coca-Cola is the more desirable brand by the public and therefore the best quality.

However, this is not always the case, some high quality products can be pulled back by unsuccessful branding which can then restrain their product from being noticeable and successful. Some products which may be of a higher quality than Coca-Cola can be abandoned by consumers who get sucked into the status of the popular brand therefore, making the rich companies get richer, and stopping the smaller companies from ever taking off. Creating consistent high quality products which are labeled within a specific brand can create a justified brand equity with a companies merchandise. These processes can allow a product like Adidas, to create alternative products which are purchased purely on the trust in the brand. For example, if Adidas manufactured a new drink, their stability and popularity as a clothes manufacturer would transfer across giving the impression that the drink superior to its competitors, even though Adidas have no prior experience in producing drinks.

The author solidifies the theory about brand equity within a company by stating that

‘A manager once observed that if Coca Cola were to loose all of its production related assets in a disaster, the company would survive, whereas if all of its consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca Cola, the company would go out of business.’ (Verma 2010)

The authors concept provides supporting evidence that the consumer has imprinted memory based on their trust with a specific brand which influences their every day decisions. Were this memory to be erased, Coca Cola would become insignificant in a consumers purchasing decisions, therefore making the brand obsolete against the trusted competitor brands such as Pepsi. This proposal also identifies the significance of the customers power, Naomi Klein overlooks the fact that brands are meaningless without consumers. She theorizes that the public is powerless towards the dominant brands however, the willingness for these corporations to succeed is in the hands of the consumers. The unidentified relationship which the consumer has towards the brand is the ability to decide the fate of these multi million pound corporations. Without their loyal customers, they would be worthless and probably go bankrupt. If products such as the Xbox made a fault in a new console which disabled internet access for  a whole year, competitors such as PlayStation would take over the market and gain the trust of the loyal Xbox fans. In the supply and demand market which exists today, a brand could become meaningless over night due to lost trust and security within their products.

The relationship which the brand has with the consumer is a reoccurring  prominent factor in all sources of information studied. Whether the brand is helping build an improved civilization is down to personal preference however, one thing is clear, every author notices the substantial effect which brands have on the consumers opinion today. The rapid expanse of branding and human population in the westernized capitalist world is such an outlying factor that it points towards even more growth. Possibly the introduction of conglomerate corporations in third world countries could start to appear but one thing is clear, the way in which branding influences the money intake of companies or the decisions and influence of the population suggests that branding will never stop. Whether or not there is a limit to how much branding can be acknowledged and therefore exist, only time will tell. Branding defines every physical and digital product which is manufactured today, as long as the internet, phones, televisions or cars continue to be produced, branding will continue to influence the decisions of almost every person on the planet.