Essay Points and Accompanying Quotations

Essay Question: “What is the relationship between branding and The Consumer Self?"

Point One: Brands are Representative of Identity.

Through point one I wish to address the perspectives of each source concerned with the notion that brands are representative of identity.

• "Branding enables us to define ourselves in terms of a shorthand that is immediately comprehensible to the world around us." (Olins. 2003: 14, 27)

• "(Brands are) everything that enables human beings to help define themselves. Brands represent identity."  (Olins. 2003: 27)

• ‘I believed that by the sheer virtue of acquiring these objects, they would magically convert me into a dramatically different person — the person I longed to be.’ (Millman. 2011: 2)

• ‘Design, by its very nature, can cast ideas about who we are and how we should behave…it has an especially important role in the visualisation of class positions and status.’ (Miles. 1998: 39)

• 'People identify strongly with cultural icons, and often rely on these symbols in their everyday lives.’ (Holt. 2004: 1)

Point Two: Consumers decide which Brands will Succeed.

Through point two I wish to explore the ideology that is is the consumers who decide which brands will succeed, as opposed to the marketing companies and brands themselves targeting particular groups and lifestyles to ultimately ensure success.

• "We like brands. If we didn't like them, we wouldn't buy them. It is we consumers who decide which brands will succeed and which will fail." (Olins. 2003: 15)

• ‘Brands are no longer internally managed “objects.” They are managed by consumers despite what a company’s P&L or annual report might otherwise state.’ (Millman. 2011)

• ‘Power in this relationship,  from one point of view, is with the consumer.’ (Miles, 1998: 38)

• ‘Most consumer brands need a cultural strategy as part of their branding tool kits. Often enough, brands require hybrid strategies.’ (Holt. 2004: 8)  

Point Three: They Key to a Successful Brand is Emotion and Social Content.

Point three is to identify the ideas of the sources concerned with what they believe the key to a successful brand to be.

• It's not just what they are, but also what they represent that makes them powerful. (Olins. 2003: 18)

• ‘The most important aspect of creating a brand is the ability of the brand to make a difference in someone’s life.’ (Millman. 2011)

• ‘Companies must inevitably operate as part of the industry as a whole and thus must, at east to a certain extent, prioritise financial profits before ecological concerns.’  (Miles. 1998: 45)

• ‘Iconic brands provide extraordinary identity value because they address the collective anxieties and desires of a nation.’ (Holt. 2004: 10)

Point Four: The Future of Brands.

Point four is concerned with capturing the predictions and forecasts from the sources on the future of branding. 

• ‘We will see brands coming from cultures and countries we did not previously take seriously.’ (Olins. 2011: 21)

• 'Consumer habits are subject to shifts.' (Millman, 2011: 5)

• "Nations and niche products are striving to brand their individuality.’ (Millman, 2011: 5)

• ‘Branding should in effect become more of a negotiation between the designer and the consumer.’ (Miles. 1998: 50)

• ‘A set of tactic strategic principles I call the cultural branding model’ (Holt. 2004: 22)