I am serious. I am not brand loyal, I like a product, not the name on it. But what does this mean: I do variety seeking but there is nearly nothing left if you want to avoid brands. Everything is branded today and often you do not even know to which concern your favorite brand belongs to. Brands are everywhere, and I will tell you how to avoid them or the bad side effects of branding.

Brands from company’s’ point of view

Brands are beneficial for companies as the emotional connection to the customer adds a value to the products of the company. Moreover a strong awareness due to branding activities raise the sales figures because products might enter the relevant set of consumer options as people first of all have to know about a product even if they are not brand loyal at all.

At the point, when customers want to stick to a certain brand they are willing to pay more than for a competitor’s product because of the perceived added value. Problem here is that a company makes profit out of this. They might have spent the same amount on branding activities but still, this is unnecessary money transfer that does not help anybody.

How to avoid brands?

You cannot. Brands are everywhere and even products of a supermarket are somehow branded. But there is no problem if you can control yourself: it is about consumer choice and on which level you let them influence your choice. Stay open-minded and try to judge on more objective criteria. Be willing to try something new from time to time, products being in advertising are a good opportunity to try variety seeking.

What do brands to your life?

If you are already catched by brand and totally loyal, you might not be able to get rid of it. Humans are creatures of habit ad something you have grown up with is hard to fight. Try it if you want to.

To be honest: it is easier to just stay with what you have done so far but when will you stop your loyalty?

The Wave Branding

The wave is originally a book about an american high school trying to build a new society similar to the National Socialist society of the third Reich. It is one of the worst example of branding and loyalty. I am not saying that companies try to bring us to kill for our convictions. But where does brand loyalty end? When a company produces nice looking weapons to encourage people to like or play down violence.

The wave had a symbol and strong associations, there have been rules and appropriate responses towards the development. Others wanted to join the group due to the cool and fair image. Sounds familiar to building a brand? Definitely.

Do not fear brands!

Fearing brads and try tohide away from them does not protect you, it is about own measurement how far you can go. Balancing your choice and making unusual ones from time to time. Do not be a sheep in a herd.

“In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep.”

Albert Einstein