Are Brands Living Entities?

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As part of a marketing assignment, we were asked whether brands are living entities. The question by itself suggested an answer. It is fantastic to perceive brands as living entities with unique characters. Brands have the ability to communicate, carry reputation, earn loyalty and become friends for life.

Have you ever heard brands talk to you? For instance, BMW instills power in its driver by calling its car an Ultimate Driving Machine, Toyota in turn drives the aspiring class by saying let’s go places. They not only trigger thought but motivate through strong messages. Nike elevates an adrenaline-rush pushing us to just do it, while Reebok invokes confidence by assuring impossible is nothing. Do we care little about these phrases? Or do we care less as they are all just right?

Sometimes – subconsciously though – we are moved by colours that brands wear. Coca Cola introduced a green coloured packaging for its new Coca Cola Life. Research indicated that green as a colour would induce a go signal and project a pro-health appeal. The creamy-white clothing and white interiors on the backdrop of a Dove TV commercial reinstates the milk-cream moisturising message that the soap brand conveys – with a mainly white packaging.

The ‘H’ on the logo of Hyundai and that on Honda surely makes us capture them distinctly.

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Brands work hard to earn value over their lifetimes, but some fall prey to self-inflicted trouble.  Without talking much about Enron, let’s look into brands that have had holy communions rather than obituaries. We all know that brands have a life of their own.

Who personifies a brand? A manufacturer uses chemicals, fabric, leather, metal and glue to produce bags; but it is in style, glamour, attitude, prestige and fashion that we embody a Prada. Brands carry a character, making space in our psyche, constantly competing against each other to win our attention.

We may wear Zara, smell Davidoff, buy SuperValu, read Jeffery Archer, drink Guinness, see through Specsave, or wake up to a Clocky..! Brands are everywhere. They ‘‘live’’ amongst us.

Brands are so lively that they have made it to this UCD Smufit Blog in which their fanciful personification has kept you reading it to the end. Wait, do you have an Apple? As in…

Sreekanth Nagabhushana ~ Full-Time MBA