Brands

 Since modern man started roaming the planet he has obsessed with the idea of brand.  It is a representation of oneself, whether a single entity or a collective.

Humans with their ego like to have a way to identify with something and a brand helps them do so.

Large governments are brands that people know about and can easily associate by virtue of the country's flag for example.  The flag is the brand.  Or their money.  Also called Fiat (not the car although that is an example of a brand) it represents the stored value that can be easily exchanged for goods and services.

The first major birthing of private sector branding came about with the creation of the British East India Company circa 1600. A private enterprise with a sole aim of garnering and maximizing revenues from the jewel in its colonial crown, India.  They looted and plundered under various CEOs or its equivalent titles and the world knew what the East India Company meant then and now.

The Dutch copied that model and created their own version during their conquests in Asia.  Later came the industrial revolution and the creation of many a brand that are still known today.  Family names became brands.  Partly to ensure the legacy of the name continued and partly it was easy to find a brand name.  Who wants to hire a consultant (not in those days) to come up with some cockamamie story and branding?

Thus the Ford and Tata were born.  These names transcend geographies and are known globally.  And they do so over the ravages of time.  Not all things good come from the brands that people have come to know. One might remember the fiascos that Ford has had over the years and many a dismal business outcome with the Tatas.  But the brands have something more.  A resiliency to them.  It is shown in a balance sheet as Goodwill.

Then the information revolution or the electronics and telco revolution happened.  Interbrand actually tracks these brands for their value and has Apple, Google, McDonald's and Coke as some of the most valued brands in the world.

But how does one come up with brand names these days?  I for one am always baffled.

I have read quite a few stories about many of them but what gets me is the ones that are beyond any logic and yet are pushed and peddled by their owners on unsuspecting and gullible denizens.

Take everyday items like soaps and shampoos.  The world is awash in them.  Yet do you oft wonder if Irish Spring would have been less zesty if it was called Turkish Spring?  Or Zambian?  I know Fiji water has some cachet.  I mean first of all what the heck is an Irish Spring?  Why not just spring for 'Spring' signifying fragrance for a washing accouterment?

Then there is something called 'Pantene'.  Whoa.  Reminds me of panties.  And is that a good thing?  I don't know about you but these people need to be sat down and whacked on their noggin.  Just because you have tons of marketing budgets to burn does not mean you dish out any nonsense.  I mean Dial it down.  Yeah right  - Dial is also a soap.  LOL.

If this makes you crazy think of those drugs you need to consume to calm the heck down.  Americans are loaded.  With legally sold drugs.  Each a tongue twister to address ailments that range from a variety of anxieties, to heart and blood medication to malfunctioning genitalia (esp penis related), and finally a vast array of rashes and fungal growth in parts unknown.

So you have your Xanax and your Otezla.  You could also get a Zoloft or an Entyvio and a Humira.  Or you could choose between Mylanta and Viagra depending on which part of the anatomy needed fixin.

Just when I thought that the last few letters of the alphabet had no use and could be retired the pharmas jumped on this unused section and had a field day.  All of a sudden the typographers had found use for their unused blocks and were fast printing crap for consumers to read with plenty of X, Y, Zs.

That is branding for you folks and hope you know what to do with it.