Design Discourse 1

The Case for Brands
by the editors of the Economist

Key Points:
• brands
• advertising
• billboards
• McDonald's
• Budweiser instead of local tipple
• ditch nameless shirts for Gap
• prefer Marlboros to homegrown smokes
• pawn theory
• Naomi Klein author of No Logo
• brand advertising
• local alternatives
• consumer protection- a brand provided a guarantee of reliability and quality
• Amazon
• Evian
• Consumer trust is the basis of all brand values
• competition
• good marketing
• brands fade as tastes change- Nescafe has fallen, while Starbucks has risen
• Microsoft vs Apple
• Companies exploit people's emotional needs as well as their desires to consume
• Nike's- personal achievement
• Coca Cola's- carefree fun
• Story around their service or product
• Social cachet
• A failed advertising campaign, a drop-off in quality or a hint of scandal can all quickly send customers fleeing.



Here are some of the most famous and recognizable brands that we might see now a days or we used to see very much before. Many of these can be recognized from far away just because of the colors. Even little kids learn the McDonald's logo before they know how to really talk, they recognize it without problems. We know the Coca Cola, Disney, Heineken, and many others from miles away. Even if we just see the colors in something completely different we relate it to these brands.



These commercials and ads about PC vs. Macs have been very good. We recognize these characters and immediately connect them to these commercials. Now a days most of the people are going with Macs and if they do go with a PC they usually go for a Dell because it is a well known brand. Many people would think about it twice if they where to buy a brand that was not well known but was a lot cheaper. Here is a good example when the article says that it is all related to social cachet. We want the best products or better known brand names just to be more accepted and have a higher stand. This happens a lot more with car brands.



This is another example of what brands can do. Here we have the original Robitussin brand and the Walgreens brand. Both have the same thing and work the same way, but one is cheaper than the other. Many people might think that just because the Walgreens one is cheaper it will not do the same and just to go safe they might take the Robitussin and pay more. Brands play a big role now a days because we are surrounded by them. No one wants something that doesn't have a name, we all want a known brand. Same thing happens when we go buy for clothes. We might see a shirt very similar to the one we liked in Armani, but just because of the name we get the expensive one.