The Stuff You Buy and What It Reveals to the World
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In his book called “Emotional Branding : How Successful Brands Gain the Irrational Edge”, Daryl Travis takes a look at the emotional side of business and explains that a brand name is an emotional symbol.
In order to tap into the methodology needed to make this emotional connection between brand and customer requires a little intuitive thinking.
Autos are a great example of how emotional branding operates on consumers. If all we wanted was to travel from one place to the next, why is there such a multitude of autos in different makes and models? While price indeed is a factor, there is still something else at work here.
How do you feel about a Cadallaic or Acura? Why does a Jeep scream adventure or a Porsche precision? Each form of transportation we choose really does say something about us because of the emotional connection we make with that brand.
Where Did You Say You’re From?
The concept of emotional branding stretches even further to include such things such as geography. We are branded by the State we come from.I’m branded a “Californian” and handled appropriatly according to how people see Californians to be. Being an American, I am branded and treated as such when I travel outside of the country. The same also applies to cities. As an example, while chit-chatting with an attentive, talkative cashier in a pricey, elite boutique in San Francisco, we let it be known we were semi-locals from the “East Bay” (Oakland area). The cashier’s nose instantly shot to the air and the cordial pleasantries stopped.
Branding of the Social Classes
This notion of associating tangible products with intangible emotions reminds me of what Paul Fussell stated in his 1983 publication “Class, A Guide Through the American Status System”. In it he describes that while the idea of class distinction may be seen by some as an adverse comment on American life, it is nonetheless present whether we care to admit it or not.
The application of class distinction is a universal concept. In every culture, there are people that are more abundant in power and money than others. Even the wealthy discriminate against people within their own class.
“Social class” cannot really be defined. It’s not unlike the concept of what tells us that something is “obscene”. Like Justice Potter Stewart, we as individuals can’t exactly draw the line, “but we know it when we see it”. Class distinction is not just determined by wealth but more importantly by the whole image an individual reveals about themselves.
You Can Not Hide - There Is No Escape
Everything in our life divulges information about who we really are. From where we live, to the place we work, the clothes we wear, the car we drive and even how we talk. In fact, one business designed to help students with their reading used this concept in their slogan: “People judge us by the words we use.” Maybe you’ve heard of it: “Hooked On Phonics”.
You are familiar with the saying: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” However, it could be said that the insurance industry earns huge profits by “judging covers”. They are not even remotely curious about “turning our pages” to find out who we truly are. On the surface it may appear that their method of gauging risk is based on prejudiced. If you are a male, age 42, living in rural Kansas your auto insurance premiums will be far less than let’s say, a female, age 16 living in New York. If the city you live in has 150,000 people or more living there you will pay higher premiums than if you lived in a city of just 10,000. If you drive a small Ford your insurance payments will be much lower than if you drove an Aston Martin. Although Insurance fills a need, Insurance companies exists to turn a profit. By using accurate statistics they are guaranteed the profits they seek.
Insurance companies are not alone. You do it as well every time you expect, or select something. You have an opinion and therfore, you are biased. If at the grociery store you reject peaches with bruises in favor of non-bruised peaches you are practicing segregation and discrimination. To be acurate, you have a assumption that soft spots on fruit are bad. It is who you are that determines what you do and what products you bring home all based on category thinking.
Branding also has the same function, designed to promote expectations and hopefully, positive behavior such as purchasing. The brand Porche declares “Precision Engineering”. The Budweiser brand sells it myth by essentially saying: “Here’s to you, for being strong, for coming through. The brand creates a myth designed to resonate with their target market. Marketing is all about connecting you with the myth in the hopes of directing your behavior.
The simple conclusion to all of this is: What we do, and what we have are all inseparable from who we are.
