Contemporary Societys Obsession with Brands in Relation to Identity - Coursework Example

Branded sales Introduction In the modern business world, the competition has increased and there are several companies vying for the same product and the market share. Therefore, it has become important for a business to project itself as something different or make the consumers feel that they offer more value to them than the other players in the industry. Branding for the companies have been important for the survival and the performance in the highly competitive world. It is a marketing tool that is used to attract the customers to the product of the company. It has to be noted here that the company creates am brand and the brand is different form the product. Microsoft and Dell is a brand and the customers perceive that the products form these companies offer a unique proposition and value to them. Naturally the companies do not have to work hard to sell the products. The brands have to be created by the companies and this is created when the companies offer a unique value to the consumers and there is a definite strategy to position the company in the market. For example, Dell positioned itself as the leader in the customization. Brand is also created by the visual perception of the consumers and the image of the company in the market. In the case of branding the company is targeting a definite group of customers. For example, the Rolls Royce brand is created on the engineering excellence of the car. The prices of the cars are high and the target customers of the company are the individuals who has a large income and is usually an entrepreneur. The Rolls Royce throughout its history has taken into account the credentials of the customer before granting him the privilege of the car. The branding of the Rolls Royce make the individuals crave for the car for the recognition he gets in the society. This has created an obsession for the brand. This paper will deal in the obsession of the customers with the branding with a special emphasis on the seductive and sexual branding in graphic design. (Randall, 2001; Pp 2-7; Marbury, 28th January 2008) Advertisement- a tool of branding As we know that the modern business world is competitive, it has become imperative that the companies make the products known to the largest number of people. This is primarily done with the help of the advertisements. The advertisements are aimed to make the people know about the products and affect the sales of the company. It is one of the most important tools of branding- to make the company separate itself from the rest. Advertising is necessary to draw the attention of the customers to the products. One of the basic and primitive acts of the man to inform is the “word of mouth” publicity. However, in the modern world it has become irrelevant, as with this type of publicity large number of people cannot be attracted. Therefore, the companies have turned to the advertisements as it helps to inform a large number of people at the same time. In the modern world, the advertisements can range from the print ads in the newspapers, magazines, posters, leaflets etc. or in other mediums like the radio and the television. The advertisements are helpful in providing the information about the products and the company. In the modern business environment, there has been a debate over the effects of the advertisement. The advertisements are supposed to be exaggerated and this makes the notion of the right information to the people redundant. However, it has to be said that like all other systems in the modern generation the advertisements are also subject to the choices of the customers. From the above paragraphs, it can be seen that the value of the advertisements have increased in the modern world and it has become an important tool for the branding of the company. The advertisements provide the first impressions of the company by giving information about the products and the features. It is the first phase of the brand building activity of the company. In the modern business environment, the advertisements have assumed an art form. The advertisements in the modern world are featured with the storylines and the use of the graphics and the pictures. The advertisements in the televisions and the radios have a definite storyline to make the customers understand them essence of the brand. The use of the graphics and the pictures are predominant in the print media ads. The advertisements have to be attractive, humorous and it should be filled with content to attract the people. Like the products in the mass-market generation, people today are barged with a plethora of ads. It is not uncommon to see the consumers to change the channels during the advertisements or tear the leaflets with the advertisements. It is important, therefore, for the companies to make the advertisements attractive. An industry has grown for the development of the advertisements, which underlines the importance of the medium in the modern world. There are many artists and the directors involved in the medium. They are working hard for the advertisements to attract the consumers. The main essence of the business is to make profits and this can be achieved with higher sales. This target can be fulfilled by attracting the consumers to the products and the company. Advertisements play a huge role in this. Some of the companies advertise the value of the companies rather than the products. This is aimed at providing the values of the company. This is helpful in the brand building measures. (Dyer, 1982, Pp 1-12) Sign- branded selves The business organizations of the modern world have understood the essence of branding. Companies round the world have employed various types of ads with the help of the imagery. The images of the advertisements are connected to the renowned personalities of the world. For example, Nike used Michael Jordan in their ads, which increased their sales to a new level. The competition in the industry meant that there were fights over the right of the imagery. However, the companies in the modern environment have understood that the use of the imagery is a temporary fascination for the customers and this will fade away eventually. The development of the signs in the advertisements took place. Research shows that the consumers can understand the signs more easily and they can relate to the products. The customers are attracted to the intelligent use of the signs, which portray the essence of the products. In the case of the Sprite advertisements, there was a clear-cut statement of the uselessness of the imagery and the main point is the essence and the utility of the products. The companies shifted to the signs as this helps in building the brand, which conveys the features of the products. The signage of the advertisements becomes successful when a confluence is reached between the position of the products or the company and the consumer. In other words, the consumers should relate to the products. The successful advertisement campaigns of the companies are replenished with the help of the signs. For example, the publicity campaign of Kellogg’s laid emphasis on the “K” sign and the health benefits of the cereal. The use of the figure of a slim woman was combined with the figure of a slim woman and the consumers related to the essence of the product. In the case of Nike, the company used a symbol of the Greek Goddess of victory which is now known as the “swoosh”. This is in relation to the motto of the company which is named after the Goddess of victory. The logo was simplified with the development of the company and it has now become popular. The sign gives the customers the essence of victory and this has been the major factor behind the good performance of the company. It helped in the creation of the brand of the company. The symbol of the brand appealed universally. The benefits of using symbol in the advertisements are that it can cross the barriers of language and the ethnicity. The people all over the world distinguish the brand universally. (Goldman & Papson,1996 ; Pp 2-8; Nike Logo: Design and History, n.d.) Therefore, for the creation of the brands the development of symbols is necessary. The symbols are known as the logos in the common business parlance. The logos have been instrumental in the creation of the brands. The logo must be distinct and should be remembered by the customers in the future. The color and imagery of the logo should be recognizable. Logos may be subject to evolution in the future but it should retain the identity so that the customers can relate to it. The branding of the company depend on the logos and the logos should cover the values and the functions of the company. In the case of Erikson institute of learning the logo was changed for a specific math curriculum with the use of the symbols. This helps the customers to relate to the logo and the use of it. (Dabner, Calbert & Casey,2009 ; Pp 168-169). These features help the logos work and are helpful in the creation of the brands. The customers should relate to the brand and make them crave for the brand. In the case of Nike, then customers wanted the brand as they wanted to be associated with victory. After the use of the logo, the performance of Nike has developed. This has been a success story for the logos. Seductive branding in graphic designing From the history of the humanity, we can see that there has been a restriction on the subject of sex. The modern world has not changed much and the teenagers and the children do not get the proper information on the subject. This has increased the curiosity of the people to know about the sex and the media have been a gateway for the teenagers to meet their thirst about the subject. The business world has awakened to the opportunity and they have made advertisements, which are sexually implicit to attract the consumers. The average viewing of the advertisements has decreased and the general notion is to hold the customers to view the ads. One of the most useful formulas is to supply the consumers with sexual content because sex is always an interesting topic for the consumers. The television today is filled with sexual content, which provide the consumers with the sexual information and graphics. (Carroll, 2009, Pp 2-4) The business world has also used the sexual content to their advantage. The graphics and the pictures of the advertisements are used to display the sexual content and attract the consumers. An example in this regard can be the old advertisement of the Health Education Authority (HEA) regarding the use of the condoms. The advertisement was aired first at the cinema halls and it was popular among the masses. Most of the people recalled the ad and seeing the popularity HEA decided to broadcast it in the televisions. This proves that the sexual content is useful in the popularity of the ads among the people. The advertisement used a certain Miss Dawson and her production of the condoms. She represented the general psychology of the people in the society about the condoms and the fact that she was a woman added to its popularity. (Nava et al, 1997; Pp 157-158) In the advertisements of the business organizations today we can see numerous evidences of half naked women in the television, billboards, magazines etc. One of the most successful campaigns filled with the sexual content is in the field of the magazines. The introduction of “Maxim” and the “Playboy” with their hard-hitting covers filled with sexual graphics revolutionized the magazine industry of the US. Playboy was intended to be porn magazine. The logo of the playboy is the rabbit which is the representation of the “humorous sexual connotation” and mischievous. The logo is a representation of the character of the magazine and the black color represents the stature of the corporate structure. The new age generation connected with the logo and this has been the helpful in the construction of the brand. The logo has found a place in the other products in the market like the t-shirts and tattoos. This has been a crossover for the brand in the other market segments. (Playboy logo, n.d.) In the modern world, most of the magazines have changed the content of the covers. They have understood that they have to supply the consumers with a representation of what lies behind the covers and the visuals are the most apt method to do that. The consumers feel obsessed with the visuals and there is a psychological feeling of the consumers to need the content. They purchase the magazine and the result is more sales. This underlines the old adage of the sexual desire for the men in the society and the need to feed their thirst. The subject of sex is not talked about openly and this adds to the obsession and the desire for these magazines. (Reichert & Lambiase, 2006; Pp 5-7) Conclusion The advertisement has been useful in the development of the brands. The brands become successful when they relate to the consumers and the business houses around the world have been working towards it. This has resulted in the increase of the brand loyalty and there are instances where people use a particular brand. This may be because the consumers want to feel the way the brand is projected or he may relate to the brand. Branding is a useful method in building up a consumer base. Another important part is the sexual obsession and the organizations around the world use the sexual desire of the consumers to good effect. People desire for sex and sexual content and the organizations like the playboy supplies the consumers with it. This has resulted in the development of some of the brands. References: 1. Randell, G. (2001). Branding. Kogan Page Limited. 2. Marbury,N. (28th January, 2008). Rolls Royce. Slideshare. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/nermar1/rolls-royce-brand-analysis (Accessed on 24th April, 2010) 3. Reichert, T and Lambiase,J. (2006). Sex in consumer culture. The erotic content of media and marketing. 4. Nava, M. et al. (1997). Buy This Book: Studies in Advertising and Consumption. London: Routledge. 5. Carroll, J. (2009). Sexuality now. Cengage Learning. 6. Goldman, R. (1996). Sign Wars: the Cluttered Landscape of Advertising Design. New York; Guildford Press 7. Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as Communication. London; Methuen. 8. Dabner.D, Calvert.S and Casey.A. (2009). The new Graphic design School. Wiley. 9. Nike Logo: design and history. (n.d.). Dinesh.com. Available at: http://www.dinesh.com/history_of_logos/miscellaneous_logos_-_design_and_history/nike_logo_-_design_and_history.html (Accessed on 26th April, 2010) 10. Playboy logo. (n.d.). Famous logos. Available at: http://www.famouslogos.org/playboy-logo (Accessed on 26th April, 2010) Read More