Introduction
Branding is a critical component of marketing that firms use to get to customers and provide their products which they market as authentic with the aim of persuading people to purchase them. Consumers today get more than ten thousand branded message every single day in various media platforms; both social and mainstream (Partin, 2018). However, a paradox has emerged where consumers are getting more attracted to brand less brands at the expense of the much hyped branded messages that they receive on a daily basis. Imperatively, from a critical perspective, this essay evaluates an article on the impact of brandless brands and why they are becoming more attractive to consumers.
Summary of the Article: What a brandless brand is selling you
In this article, the author presents a critical perspective on the development of a company called Brandless that provides products that are not branded or where it does not engage consumers to help it in its branding initiatives. Accordingly, the organization offers its household goods at reduced prices because cuts down the cost of branding and does not pass it to the consumers (Partin, 2018). The brand tax is the amount of money on products that consumers pay for a retail brand when purchasing and using it. Through the article, the author seeks to understand and demonstrate the genuineness behind Brandless’s efforts and approach to reaching consumers to buy its goods without the traditional branding followed by all brands. As such, the author believes that the success of organizations like Brandless is a manifestation of the dissatisfaction that consumers have because of the overly-branded world (Partin, 2018). However, the question that the article poses is will consumer engrained acceptance of branded goods give in to the so-called brandless ones; and if yes; what will be the impact on branding?
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Analysis
The author’s argument demonstrates that branding has a strong association with capitalism and consumerism that emerged with the factory system. A central strength of this argument is the historical account of branding that the author presents in this article. The author advances that the concept of branding is synonymous with consumer capitalism that emerged at the turn of the last century as a result of man’s ability to produce more than he could consume (Partin, 2018). Because of the surplus production of goods, firms engineered branding as a way of ensuring that their products stand out in a crowded marketplace. Through this perspective, brands were focused on building trust between consumers and producers that were increasingly becoming distant from them. Through this approach, the author is categorical that producers shifted their responsibility to consumers to help them get the connection between the two. Today, branding now serves more purposes that include being a lifestyle and showing one’s social status in the community. Brands are now treated separately from the products; brands are the outside yet products are the content.
Response Argument
The success of brandless brands and change of consumer perceptions to buying brands that are not branded at an extra cost to them presents a new way of countering consumer capitalism. Further, brandless brands will help consumers to reduce the cost associated with known brands that have evolved to be part of one’s life. As posited by the author, buying a product based on a brand is considered as an aspect of demonstrating not just one’s social status but also social values and virtues. Therefore, brandless brands may not change the consumer perception about branding but provides an alternative for those who do not want to be used for consumer capitalism by those who believe and propagate the social factory system. As observed by the article, the elevation of branding to the apex of industrial capitalism meant that the means of production were separated to the literal factories and consumption spaces (Partin, 2018). However, this distinction has faded today and the factory now rules even the social lives of people for its own benefits. As subtly put by the article, social media networks like Facebook and Twitter demonstrate the dominating effect of the factory on people’s lives. For instance, when people fail to use Facebook today, the brand called Facebook ceases to exist because it depends on the consumption of people.
Imperatively, branding is an aspect of working for the factory so that they can build empires and gain more from people yet the content of their products may not offer value for money. The author provides an example of Abercrombie & Fitch, which has positioned its brand as part of a culture of exclusivity by focusing on certain demographical composition of the population. Brands have become the main source of attaining a meaning in society and it’s upon the consumers to make them meaningful which leads to value creation for those who have invested in them through their capital. The logic of targeting a certain class in society provides an opportunity for brandless brands to flourish because they do not impose on consumers a lifestyle and social identity for those who use them. The main aim is to offer content in their products and not selling outside features. Branding has blurred the line between production and consumption (Partin, 2018). By making sure that certain people consume their product, branding make people work for them and places all our social lives to serve the capitalistic interests of others in the name of consuming “quality” products. As such, brandless brands will succeed in demystifying and changing the current marketing and advertising approaches through branding.
Conclusion
It is evident that brandless brands may not change the situation as fast as consumers would wish with the aim of lowering the cost of consumption if not production. In addition, the arguments presented by the article are valid and demonstrate how consumer capitalism is well entrenched in people’s social lives; blurring the distinction between consumption and production. The recent performance of brandless brands; including Brandless LLC, illustrates that consumers are increasingly getting dissatisfied with branding of products in the market.
References
Partin, W. (2018). What a brandless brand is selling you.
