I StumbledUpon the following post on Frontline's website. It was written by a Douglas Atkin. It's just a fascinating take on brands and the way we look at common everyday products nowadays:
Frankly, advertising is not good enough to deserve the status Miller gives it. But I agree with his general drift. Consumerism has become a defining characteristic of our culture. But it was only when I interviewed my research subjects did I understand the true extent of its influence…one that would horrify many. For some people, brands are becoming the new religion…or at least giving some of the traditional institutions a run for their money. Brands are becoming credible centers of community and meaning. 45,000 Saturn car owners visited a factory in 1992 where their vehicle was made, and spent days together sharing barbeque, listening to country music and enjoying finger-painting. Did they go because they wanted to see the birthplace of a technological wonder? No, it's really quite an ordinary car. But it enjoys extraordinary devotion. Why? They told me that they identified with its worldview (that everyone, no-matter what their status, deserves respect.) And that they simply want to meet other people like themselves who share the same values and the same enthusiasms.
Brands are increasingly adopting the roles traditionally occupied by social and religious institutions…the making of meaning and community. We eat a brand's meaning when we spoon Ben and Jerry's political agenda into our mouths, or cut off an SUV in our Mini. We feel a brotherhood when we roar down the road with a pack of other Harley riders. A passenger told me that he would start a conversation with his neighbor on a JetBlue plane as they're taking off, but only when they're landing on other carriers. In other words he has the feeling that he's flying with `like-others' on JetBlue, but not with other brands.
How or why have brands been elevated to this position?
That brands can be taken seriously in this role is because our culture has allowed it. Modern society has seen the traditional forms of fellowship erode. The things that have enabled contemporary life have also undermined our collective idea of what is at its heart: geographically based communities. Mobility, modern communications and the media have chipped away at our picket-fence concept of neighborhood.
But simultaneously they have made possible non-geographically anchored equivalents. Now communities are transcending towns and villages, language and ethnicity and are evolving into groups of dispersed individuals connected by shared interests, values and identity. Community has not gone away, as some of our leaders complain. Like any successful organism, it's just adapted to changed circumstances. And communities are now forming around brands. Brands are, after all, the natural offspring of this trend. Well financed and conceived, succored by media, communications and mobility, they are becoming loci for strong communities and express credible worldviews.
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2 comments:
Think about it. TV, magazines, Internet, and newspapers are all fueled by commercialization. They are "in our homes" with their labels. The pros and cons of commercialism are taught in school. "Reading comprehension skills" include teaching discernment to children. They learn how to be a skeptical consumer. These skills enable individuals to "read through" the psychological ploys of the advertisers. The advertisers use psychologists to help them expertly put together seductive or threatening come-ons to break through educated skepticism. Americans: the skeptics who are constantly being tantalized or cajoled by advertizers. I don't see it as a religion, though. Just the fallout of behaviors naturally occurring through the practice of capitalizem and corporations. I think that just as technology has made brand names more prevalent, it has also enabled relationships and "village" through technology. Some people would not have even met and married had they not had access to the same technology that also invades with brand names. Education enables individuals to avoid connection and identity with brand names. Now I need to go turn on my Worldpool stove top burner. :)
Yay! A comment! I think the article was just pointing out that in past generationss a church was the social network that brought people together, while today, because of technology and consumerism, we are brought together by the things we buy or the techology we use.
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