How Seriously Should You Take a Brand?

One of the simpler things that keep me going are good conversations. There are times when I get a high before calling it a day, should I have had something great (subjective of course) to discuss with my friends, family or acquaintances.

Of late, many such conversations with some amazing people are eventually drifting to a more materialistic approach where success is being quantified in terms of ability to afford luxuries, or at times necessities. It appears as if the capital rich companies have successfully eliminated our ancestral ideas of saving up, or fighting for a cause, or controlling the impulse to spend on something that one might not need in a next few weeks.

An exploratory research would help understand that the younger landscape of India is not ashamed or afraid of being in debt for a significant part of their youth; in pursuit of that experience, those amazing stories to share with friends - instantly or at a later phase in life.

All this and a lot more ideas (mostly created/portrayed) have together given enough incentives to these cash rich firms to go after our disposable income - at least to the crowd which has gone beyond a few third world problems such as three meals a day, shelter, access to clean drinking water and sanitation. If you have ever gone through Maslow's hierarchy, you would understand how the human mind tends to yearn for more once the bottom line has been fulfilled. (In case you're not aware of this, a quick read might help relate to this post better.)

So how and why are we relating brands to all these thoughts? For one, a brand has become an identity of oneself. Awareness has been created at a level where opinions are formed, judgments made by what we wear, use and believe is the best brand in that category. After a point, the brand and it's association becomes an obsession, to an extent where we start looking down upon other brands/products as inferior or incompetent substitutes.

While I am no stranger to brand preferences, of late, the discussions on ownership of products has lead to some serious thinking. So what if a brand is not doing well, or has been tainted in the media? At the end of the day it is another business - which means, it is a set of people coming together to present a product, which in their minds in the best fit for their consumers/customers. With that being the case, should we really take all this so seriously? Should we go out of the way to defend a brand during a friendly discussion with people you actually care about? It is important to note that the brand you are so desperately trying to portray as your well wisher has been successful in creating that mindset and cleverly parted your disposable income without any guilt, all while making you feel good. That is a win-win situation for both, from a marketer's perspective - happy customer, maximum earnings.

Looking at the situation pragmatically, it is impossible to set aside (brand) preferences and look at a product objectively. Even without any selective awareness of the product category, there might be a bias based on cognition, recall or just visual appeal. In the middle of an already noisy world, products must be chosen with a perspective of achieving the larger objective.

A marketing enthusiast myself, I would feel a sense of pride and achievement when my customers fight over my brand in a hyper competitive space, but as a human being, it is a humble request to respect others' opinions and let them choose what they feel serves their needs best. Though brands rise and fall, the world will not stop turning and our Sun will continue to do it's job for us, so let's move on. Let's achieve something more than what others tell us is possible. Let's fight for causes that actually need our attention and maybe, our collective efforts would help improve things some day.