Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Brands Mean Less as We Get Older

Brands are an important part of the business world, and they’re important to us as consumers.  I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to say that brands don’t mean anything to me anymore, or that I am immune to their power and influence.  However, I have noticed that they don’t matter to me as much anymore.  I think it’s because I’ve been disappointed enough times by crap produced by brands I used to like, used to praise, and used to believe could do no wrong.

Perhaps you’ve noticed this in your own lives.  Do you remember when you were a teenager how strongly you felt about this celebrity or that celebrity?  Do you remember how dogmatic you could be about a particular brand and knew, down to your bones, that it was the best.   You might even literally have been unable to understand how anyone with intelligence wouldn’t consider that celebrity to be the best, and the brand in question to be the best thing on the market.  If that doesn’t seem to apply to you at all, I can tell you that it certainly used to be the way I thought about things.

I used to love flight simulators by a software house called Microprose.  They could do no wrong.  If it was from Microprose, I “knew” right away it would be good stuff.

I used to love BMWs with absolute certainty about their superiority over every other thing that rolleth on the roads.  They were the ultimate driving machine, with unquestioned superiority over anything in their respective classes.

I used to love Palmer paintball guns with the smug knowledge that they were handcrafted by artisans with magical abilities and pixie dust.  If it was Palmer, I knew sight unseen that it would be nail-drivingly accurate and would have reliability on par with any hammer from Home Depot.

Since then, Microprose has gone out of business because their simulations couldn’t keep up with the offerings from other software houses.  I lamented their passing, but now when I think about it, they were beaten by superior products and superior marketing.  BMWs are still my favorite cars to drive, but I now acknowledge they aren’t the most reliable beasts on the road and might not be as fun to own as they are to drive.  Some Palmer paintguns are built by magical elves of the highest order, and others are built by gnarly gnomes from the depths of the underworld.

I used to believe in brands with fervor.  I know that teenagers around the world behave as I did when I was their age, so I know it isn’t just me.  In fact, celebrities (who are really human brands) and consumer brands survive and thrive on this very fact.  But somehow, somewhere along the way, I think most of us learn that brands aren’t as reliable as we might have once believed.  Brands we used to think were bulletproof, with products made by gods, lose their lustre.  We begin to see that they have serious shortcomings and weaknesses, and we see that those who make them are businesspeople who sometimes produce great products but can also produce absolute crap.

Logically, I know that brands have power.  Markets around the world are living proof of that.  I also know, however, from thinking about my personal experience that many of us who are no longer teenagers are far, far less brand-aware and brand-loyal than marketers and business writers may believe.

Having said that, I drink Coca Cola and would never choose Pepsi if given the choice.  The problem now is that I probably wouldn’t choose a cola at all.  Oh well, c’est la vie for marketers, I suppose!

What has your experience been like?