NO LOGO by Naomi Klein

In terms of marketing, production, and branding, I knew very little. This article by Naomi Klein gave me some insight as to how they worked together, or, how they don't work together. It rarely occurred to me that there would be some big distinction between these two because I always saw them as the same thing. It is good to know that difference because it lets me as a designer understand what works for the consumer, the company, and the designers themselves. The issue arises, however, of what counts more: the quality of the product or the brand.

A brand creates a world, or an idea, that welcomes people into that world. There is a debate over whether the brand marketing is a way of tricking or luring people into their brand or it is just a pure form of expression. As a designer, I believe that there is some intent in grabbing the consumer's attention during the process of expressing the product's identity. After all, it must strive for survival.

The brand is a world that people live in; it is an identity in which they can express themselves. For the brand to survive, there must be consistency in the positive link between the consumers and the products, especially when starting off. When I say positive link, I mean that the product is what the consumer wants and likes. The brand would eventually live up to this consistency and quality, making itself increasingly known. Lately, however, it seems as if the attention has been concentrated more on the image of the product, rather than the quality. This has become a contentious issue since the budgets of many brands have changed according to this situation.

As quoted by Peter Schweitzer (president of the J. Walter Thompson), "A product is something that is made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by a customer." When I first read this, my immediate impression was that this could be a good thing because there is interaction between the brand and the consumer; the brand expands through the consumer while the consumer uses the brand to identify themselves. However, it is also be considered a dilemma because the brand has become more reliant on itself than the actual product. This is because of competition between different brands of similar products.

Brand marketing involves the sponsoring of celebrities, the way in which the product is displayed in windows, commercials, etc. Every brand looks to others to find better ways to sell themselves or appeal to the consumers. This is similar to networking sites such as facebook, twitter, and myspace. Even though they don't sell any corporeal product, these three in particular strive to stay mainstream that they feed off one another's ideas to update the structures and visuals of their layouts. The more better-looking and functional it is, the more apt people will stay.

Designers must face this everywhere--especially with their audiences. This pull between product and image tells us just how strong the influence of design is.