Branding

I find myself disagreeing slightly with the “Captive Audience: Advertising invades the classroom” video. The video shows that brand advertising has penetrated schools. Several people in the video say that brand advertising being allowed simply so the school can make an extra buck is deplorable and should not be allowed. Let’s be realistic here. How many profitable public schools do we know of. Sure there are some schools that have more than others, but I think it’s far-fetched to assume that the teachers and principal are sipping cappuchinos while they sit in their leather recliners watching the plasma TV in theteachers lounge. Rather, I think that brand companies take advantage of the fact that most schools are underfunded and will allow a logo on their scoreboard in exchange for some much needed funding. Posters with the Nike swoosh serve as good wall art for schools that can’t even afford paper for handouts. I think the problem here is systemic. Should educators be held accountable for insufficient resources

I want to mention one other thing about this article. In the video, a university professor said that children are targeted from the time they wake up until they go to sleep with advertising. True. But it is important to note that people of ALL ages are targeted in this same way. Adults are not immune to these hailing via advertisement. I would imagine that the professor who made the comment is guilty of falling to the tradition that brand can start. What would be interesting is to see how the people who globally make the product feel about the brand. Have they been introduced to the brand’s culture in the same way that we have? The globalization video suggested that multiple countries could have a hand in making a pair of shoes. How does each country interpret the brand and culture surrounding the shoes? Do the people who make the shoes feel like they could be a part of the crowd that would wear the shoes? Or rather than a sense of inclusion, do companies try to evoke a sense of disclusion to third world workers?

I was intrigued by Naomi Klein’s article describing how the creation of brands can be likened to religious ceremonies. I think that this soul search for a brand is well reflected in consumption habits. Successful brands will have consumers full heartedly brand themselves with the brand of the company. I have said on numerous occassions that I am a Weber man. I like cooking on a charcoal grill and I think that Weber makes a high quality grill. It really becomes a part of the family culture. My father started us on Weber grills, and myself as well as my brothers swear by them. Nothing compares to a Weber. Now ask me how many other grills I have tried. Zero. That is successful branding.

When Klein first mentioned how companies like Starbucks tried to market themselves as an experience, I just rolled my eyes. I knew it was true, and thought they were stupid for it. But here I have fallen in the same trap. It makes me wonder how many other things have become of my family tradition and personal culture that are a result of branding.