Kevin Roberts, CEO Saatchi & Saatchi
When I first started this book project, I was adamant that it would not turn into a simplistic, all-out brand bashing exercise. I thought (and still do) that the arguments raised by people like Naomi Klein were just a little bit simplistic, and that I would use this book/ documentary/ blog to argue for some sort of third way. The fact is that branded consumerism sustains competition in the marketplace. With no competition, there is no impulse for manufacturers to producer better products with greater value for money. Brands are wealth creators; they provide employment across the globe, and ultimately they make our lives infinitely more comfortable. So I have been keen to avoid the No Logo supporters' calls to 'bring it all down'. Yes, I am burning all my own branded possessions, and I will be attempting to live my new life brand-free, but the book is really an experiment to see if it is actually possible to disconnect from branded consumerism.
Would I prefer to live in a world without this sort of advert? Yes. Would I choose to live in a world without any branding whatsoever? For the aforementioned reasons, absolutely not. But when you read the above quote from Saatchi's Kevin Roberts, you have to wonder.
Anyone who's seen 'Videodrome' or 'They Live' knows that subliminal marketing techniques make for good conspiracy movies. Most sensible people would rationalise that advertising does have the potential to manipulate us in some way, but ultimately we are free to look away. But the more I read about the science of PR, marketing, and branding, the more I understand that the psychological triggers these industries use are incredibly powerful, and save for a few basic laws governing subliminal advertising, the emotional manipulation largely goes unchecked.
Say you meet a new lover. As you get to know each other, the person tells you how exciting and sexy you are, how right you are for each other. Being with that person, you feel more secure, emotionally, your ego getting a much-needed boost. You wake up beside them and feel a new sense of vigour, like you can take on the world.
Then one day you find out that the person has been stealing money from you. Come to think of it, you've been paying for all the meals and nights out since you both met. It dawns on you. this person is only in it for the money. Who could do such a thing? Who could be so cold and calculating and manipulative that they would feign intimacy, sensuality, in order to make a fast buck? Kevin Roberts is worldwide CEO of Saatchi because he is an expert in doing just that.
Marketing and Ad creatives don't evangelise about emotional branding just because it sounds good on their website, or sells self-help business management books. They talk about it because it works.
22 Comments:
I must say that I would rather you sell the items on Craig's List or Ebay and donate the monies to Charity.
But, it's your book to market.
They Live - I haven't heard that referrenced in a long time. Shepard Fairey totally ripped that off. That's another thing everyone is ripping of everyone. I won't get started.
Something to think about. Thanks, Neil. Don't forget to take lots of pictures of your branding inferno.
Do you think souls will fly out of your belongings as they burn?
Dear Neil,
My name is Flávia, I'm a Brazilian journalist and I would like to interview you. How do I get in touch? Please, send me an email, even if to decline, ok? Take care, Flávia
(flaviatavares@hotmail.com)
Hi Neil,
Those horrid people at Adrants say that you're only burning brands to sell your own brand. What's your reponse to that?
(Don't get too upset, it's only because of their mention that I came across your blog.)
YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!
Go you Neil, to the bonfire!
Hey Neil
Saw your comment on my blog oneangrycustomer.org. Wondered for a while if I should tag it as spam, but approved it nonetheless.
I am not sure if Bonfire is such a good idea, but the way you are marketing the book seemed interesting.
I don't know if you have been reading Grant at Cultureby. Some of his recent posts could be relevent to what you have ben thinking about.
http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/2006/05/the_new_passat_.html
in the metaphor you use, i fail to see how a brand could drop the ball on recipricated "intimacy or sensuality"- you, afterall did continue to purchase the product. and i'm assuming that apart from branded products being black-listed and scrutinized so much lately (and rightly so), they do consistently satisfy some of these basic "needs" consumers have.
even so, the best of luck to you and your book. godspeed.
Wow - I find it fascinating that apparently intelligent people can buy into the nonsense of classical economics when it comes to ideas like branding and its role in markets.
"The fact is that branded consumerism sustains competition in the marketplace."
Huh? Are you saying that without brands we can't compete on quality or price?
"With no competition, there is no impulse for manufacturers to producer better products with greater value for money."
Eh? You think manufacturers are motivated by providing value for money? Do you believe in Santa too?
"Brands are wealth creators; they provide employment across the globe, and ultimately they make our lives infinitely more comfortable."
Hehe! You are presumably aware of the irony in your statement that brands provide employment across the globe (Nike? sweat shops?). Brands are not wealth creators per se. Many of them are simply wasteful of our limited resources, which I believe is the opposite of wealth creation (unless you think that money is the only form of wealth).
We don't need 26 types of rice cake in the supermarket. The money, packaging and natural resources used to manipulate me into buying brand X not brand Y could be better spent. Brands create too much choice for the rich, which dramatically reduces choice for the poor.
Sorry to sound No Logoish (I am not, BTW) but the paragraph to which I refer is extraordinary in its lack of understanding that consumer capitalism is just one among many ways of organising markets.
Anyway, burn away - hope you enjoy it!
Hey Neil -- Saw you on The Consumerist. I like your idea of trying to live "brand free"; I'm really interested to see what that'll do to you psychologically. Will you become like that guy in that one movie with the special sunglasses that lets him see ugly aliens where everybody else sees beautiful rich people?
I do have to say, though, that the burning itself seems a terrible waste to me. Why not give these no-longer-wanted items away to people who need them, and burn them in effigy instead? I know if I was going without shoes tonight, I'd be pretty angry that you're burning a perfectly good pair.
Will follow the blog with interest, and good luck on that book! -PD
Lots of questions were posted in the last few days, so I'll keep the answers brief and to the point. Boy, did that mail out last week work!
Dear Anonymous
This comment comes up a lot. In B.O.B, I am attempting to raise questions around the futility and wastefulness of modern branded consumerism. Me taking my stuff down to the local charity store might raise a few bucks for the local orphanage, but it isn't going to change a whole lot. Creating a public stunt that will hit the newspapers and feature on a TV documentary and be published in a book across the world will.
Considering how much junk we throw away in the world each day, how much pollution we release into the atmosphere each day, my little bonfire is a drop in the ocean. It really is only a waste when you value the products higher than their practical worth. A supermarket shopping bag and a Louis vuitton bag do the same job. It's just the aspirational and emotional value tied up with the LV brand (and the cheap leather) that makes them more valuable.
Dear National Dinner Tour
Who's Shepard Fairey?
Dear Angela Natividad
Well, the soles of all my sneakers are sure to burn away but, as I mention on the first blog page, I'm hoping the old me will burn away to reveal someone with a little more substance.
Dear Tim Footman
Any press is good press eh? I suppose there is an ironic twist to all this in that (assuming people buy the book) I end up re-branding myself as some sort of neo Naomi Klein. Half the people that quote No Logo clearly haven't read the book cover to cover and tend to misconstrue some of its intentions. I dare say a few Adrants readers may do the same here. Which is a little worrying.
Dear Anonymous
Why are the aggressive comments always posted anonymously? I am indeed going to the fire. It would be very odd if I didn't turn up, would it not?
Dear ithink
Just logged on to that site. Thanks for the tip…its great.
Dear Monica
Well, after giving so much love to these brands, I began to want something back; anyone in a relationship needs some reciprocation. But of course they cannot reciprocate. That is how brands' drop the ball'; by eliciting real emotions from people when they can offer nothing in return.
I am not denying that brands satisfy basic needs, far from it, I believe they have helped bring us an amazing quality of life. I simply take issue with the emotional / aspirational branding we have today, that creates want instead of need.
Dear Lee…
I'm all ears for alternative economic models. But can you keep the proposals in the realms of reality... i.e. something that would stand a realistic chance of superseding free market economics?
Are you saying that without brands we can't compete on quality or price?
If competing manufacturers cannot identify their products in the marketplace, how do you propose they compete at all? How do you choose between products when they all look the same? How do you know which one is best for you?
You think manufacturers are motivated by providing value for money? Do you believe in Santa too?
Save for the odd monopoly and cartel, my food/ phone/ clothes bills have been coming down for years because companies compete for my custom on price. This is schoolboy economics no? Developing communities and the environment might suffer as a result, but that's not what you were arguing.
Dear PureDoxyk…
Thanks for the comments of support. Already I feel like the disenfranchised loner in They Live. And I agree, it is a terrible waste me burning all this stuff, but if the book spurns only a handful of people to consume less, the waste will have been worth it.
Hey Neil -- So you are saying, in your response to my above comment, that your being the center of attention is more important than the guy who's going shoeless tonight? Your argument sounds like a barely-concealed "ends justify the means". If you really feel bad about not doing the right thing with these extra items you're lucky enough to own--if you really realize that sacrificing something someone *needs* for your own publicity is more than a little sick--then prove it. Go buy one of everything you're burning--branded or not--and give it to someone in need. If you do that, I'll link you on my blog. Otherwise I shall taunt you a second time. ;)
-PD
hi ;-D
i´m from brazil, and i i only can say, that idea it's very simple. I need to say that im trying do the same.
so take care, and go on!
;)
Neil, you may feel like Rowdy Roddy Piper but you sure as shi'ite don't act or look like him; nice name-check though! I enjoyed that movie a great deal when it came out and the scrap with Keith David is an acknowledged classic. I'll look for a signed photo for you.
I have some kind of innate aversion to branded clothing. In college, I got rid of all of it because I just never wore it. It was easy to round it all up because it was all smushed up in the side of the closet that was hard to get to.
In fact, I got rid of every shirt I had with any picture or writing on it whatsoever--this includes band shirts that I purchased at shows, etc.
Currently, the only branded shirts I own are a few work shirts with my company logo and one Old Navy shirt that my wife bought me for St. Patrick's (our anniversary). Something about the circumstances for that shirt avert my aversion--I wear it as much as any other tee.
It would be nice if we could get companies to pay us for marketing their brand. Not everyone like me has some kind of weird OCD issue with non-plain clothes. But, I could do for a less branded world (not a brand-free world).
it seems to me that taking on 'the brand' in order to change the economic order is like ending racism by getting a haircut - superficial and pointless. brands have their purpose and you may correctly identify the role they play, but they are ultimately flimsy and disposable. Look at MCI-WorldCom or Phillip Morris or Lucent (now known as Verizon, Altria, and Avaya, respectively). A rose by any other name is still a rose.
Interesting that the previous commenter brings up the brand laundering of Phillip Morris/Altria.
That rose stinks even worse with a new name, hiding behind food brands, strategic marketed philanthropy and a global brand that sounds like "Altruism", all the while increasing almost all of their business through international tobacco sales. This is what you support when you buy Kraft Dinner.
Brand advertising is mostly about replacing critical thought with instinctive consumpion. This is powerful black magic that these people are toying with for no good end.
On a global scale brands are not wealth creators. That’s not an easy to swallow unsupported statement.
This is a message for Puredoxyk and other anonymoous posters. Neil wants to burn his brands in a bonfire. That's what the blog is about. It's not called 'clothe and feed the poor'. It's abundantly clear, for good and bad reasons, why he is doing this. Anyone who posts about how he should be turning this into some sort of act of charity should go elsewhere. Go and watch your Live8 DVD and worry about how all the noxious fumes from the bonfire are going to effect climate change.
Wow, thanks that is much appreciated.
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