Lost that Branded feeling?

By Andrea Geeson | Public Relations Executive, Vox Pops International

The last decade has seen an avalanche of branded and logo goods on offer, with the number of brands available growing steadily. Millions of pounds are spent every year on brand campaigns and strategies as brand managers make valiant efforts to keep their brand as popular as possible. As Marketers and research analysts try to make sense of our current purchasing patterns,Vox Pops International conducted qualitative video research to investigate the emotional attachments towards brands.

The latest thinking to emerge attempts to explain loyalty towards certain brands as emotional rather than rational. The theories that have been put forward suggest that purchasing behaviour is affected by emotional connections to brands, rather than practical assessments of the product on offer.

By conducting qualitative, video research with members of the public across Britain we wanted to discover whether this was true. We wanted to know whether people felt genuine affection and loyalty towards the brands they buy. (Respondents ranged in age and included all socio economic sectors).

The responses indicated fervent laxity and rampant brand infidelity. Not one of the respondents demonstrated an unbreakable bond or emotional attachment to a particular brand. Only the promise and repeated delivery of quality meant respondents continued to buy branded goods. Brand reputation or emotional associations were uninfluencial as consumers become more savvy and demand more for their money, weighing up the cost of paying for a name against palpable product benefits.

The inability to stay loyal to one particular brand is the result of growing competition and the breath of information now available. Brands are becoming increasingly vulnerable as consumers become more informed; the internet and blogs, where consumers can compare product reliability, have been fundamentally instrumental in devaluing the perceived superiority of branded goods. Brand reputation is no longer the safety net it once was and the staying power of brands is faltering as the market swells with imitation products that offer the same standards of quality for reduced prices. Heightened competition means that there is no longer the promise of tangible product superiority when you buy a brand and consumers are aware of that.

Therefore only the ability to continually produce products that markedly eclipse in terms of performance, the competitors, or constantly demonstrate outstanding innovation are enough to retain consumers.

However, big brands can be said to have emotional effects in terms of the feeling of satisfaction and security that buying them brings. Our poll admitted to turning to established names such as Sony when making expensive purchases like televisions, for emotional as well as practical reasons. A combination of ‘look at what I’ve got’ smugness and wanting to feel like they had the best products available meant they were prepared to pay more for a brand like Sony but none admitted to feeling an emotional connection to Sony itself.

Its predominately social, not emotional factors that determine brand allegiance for younger respondents. There are social connotations attached to wearing certain brands and brands are used to delineate inclusion in social groupings and sub-cultures.

Everything from the type of music a person likes to listen to, to their political preferences can be expressed by the clothes they wear and brands are intrinsic to this process. Respondents admitted that clothing brands are used a yardstick to gauge a person’s personality and whether they are worth approaching. The much cited example of Burberry being synonymous with ‘chavs’ does not go far enough into explaining the intricate socially labelling and microcosms brands create.

Certain brands are associated with hip hop, R & B and indie music and wearing them is an indication of wanting to be defined as part of a particular music culture and the values they hold. Choosing not to wear branded goods is also a way of signifying personal values and cultural preferences.

So brands as well as allowing everyone to look the same and not feel out of place, can also be employed to demonstrate severance from mainstream culture. Brands are adopted by sub-cultures and are therefore faithfully consumed by those who wish to be identified as part of that group. Brand loyalty, therefore, is practised when a brand and its values are incorporated and used to define a social segment. But as fashion and culture constantly evolve, brand loyalty is increasing ephemeral.

It seems that just as we no longer expect to stay in the same job for our entire careers, we don’t plan to wear the same brand of trousers or buy the same brand of soup for the rest of our lives. There is a strong trend of brand inertia developing and the shift from brand devotion has been propagated by a saturated market place of brand imitators that offer similar products and standards of quality for reduced prices. We do not want to pay brand price premiums because we no longer have to, to guarantee durability and quality.

Emotional responses to brands lessen as the strength of the consumer grows; Many of the respondents admitted to taking a company’s values into consideration before buying a product and brand values are becoming increasingly important as young consumers use or boycott brands to exemplify their identity.

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