In his book called “Emotional Branding : How Successful Brands Gain the Irrational Edge”, Daryl Travis takes a look at the emotional side of business and explains that a brand name is an emotional symbol.
In order to tap into the methodology needed to make this emotional connection between brand and customer requires a little intuitive thinking.
Cars are a perfect example of how the myth of a brand works on the buying public. If all we wanted was to travel from one place to the next, why is there such a multitude of autos in different makes and models? While price certainly plays a role, still there is something else at play here.
How does a BMW or Jaguar make you feel? Why does a Jeep scream adventure or a Porsche precision? Each form of transportation we choose really does say something about us because of the emotional connection we make with that brand.
Geography Brands Us
The idea of emotional branding even includes geography (city, state, province, country, region etc.). We are often branded by others based upon the State we live in.I am branded a “Californian” and will be handled in a particular way by the bias of other non-Californians. Being an American, I am branded and treated as such when I travel outside of the country.The very same would apply to cities. Here’s an example. While chatting with a very nice, talkative salesperson in an upscale department store in San Francisco, it leaked out that my wife and I were from the Oakland area. The clerk’s nose immediately ascended and the friendly small talk stopped.
Social Class Branding
This notion of associating tangible products with intangible emotions reminds me of what Paul Fussell stated in his 1983 publication “Class, A Guide Through the American Status System”. In it he explains that while the concept of class distinction may be viewed by some as a repugnant commentary on American life, it is nonetheless present whether we care to admit it or not.
The use of class distinction is a universal concept. Regardless of the culture, there are those with more power and more money than others. The wealthy discriminate within their own class distincion.
“Social class” is ultimately indefinable. It’s similar to the idea of what makes something “obscene”. Like Justice Potter Stewart, we as individuals can’t exactly draw the line, “but we know it when we see it”. Class distinction is not just determined by wealth but more importantly by the whole image an individual reveals about themselves.
Try As You Might, You Just Can’t Hide
Everything in our life divulges information about who we really are. What car we drive, the clothes we wear, where we live and work and even how we talk. Incidentally, a business that helps students increase their reading skill used this idea within their own business slogan: “People judge us by the words we use.” Perhaps you have heard of them: “Hooked On Phonics”.
No doubt you remember the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” However, it could be said that the insurance industry earns huge profits by “judging covers”. As to discovering who we really are as individuals and checking out our “Table of Contents” they are not even interested. It does seem at first glance that the insurance industry is using prejudice as their method of measuring risk. If you are a male, age 42, living in rural Kansas your auto insurance premiums will be far less than let’s say, a female, age 16 living in New York. If the city you live in has 150,000 people or more living there you will pay higher premiums than if you lived in a city of just 10,000. If you own a Pontiac your insurance premiums will be lower than if you owned a Jaguar. Indeed insurance companies are usefull but the sole reason they stay in business is to make money. Using factual and accurate statistical data they are ensured in attaining those profits.
It’s not solely the insurance industry who engages in this. And you do it as well. In fact, we all think in terms of branding based upon what we “think we know“. You have an opinion (we all do) and because of it you are biased. If you turn down peaches with bruises, you are discriminating against them and practicing segregation by selecting peaches that don’t. In actuality you discriminate against brown, soft spots on fruit. It is who you are that determines what you do and what products you bring home all based on category thinking.
Branding also has the same function, designed to promote expectations and hopefully, positive behavior such as purchasing. Porche is the brand that says: “This is Precision Engineering”. The Budweiser brand sells it myth by essentially saying: “Here’s to you, for being strong, for coming through. The brand creates a myth designed to resonate with their target market. Marketing is all about connecting you with the myth in the hopes of directing your behavior.
The simple conclusion to all of this is: What we do, and what we have are all inseparable from who we are.