This week a lecturer
asked me ‘If you were a brand what would you be?’
Believe it or not, this was one of the more ordinary seminar tasks of my week –
a week that has involved making a model larynx out of paper, discussions about
the identity of a child soldier, and a comparison of the neural pathways of
humans and macaques! I thought that this would be a good starting question for
my first blog entry as it would tell you a bit about me (but not too much!) as
well as allowing me to try out my first basic review.
So, after a bit of thought, I came to the conclusion that I
would be innocent (smoothie’s, juices etc.). innocent have an image of being
fresh, playful, moral, creative and healthy. I can only aspire to those traits,
but in reality I chose this brand because their smoothies are delicious and
great for a grab-and-go lifestyle. innocent have been one of my Lovemarks (Saatchi & Saatchi) for
some time now and I know everyone can relate to this characterisation because
they have such a loyal following! The down to earth founders are festival goers, snowboarders and campers which are my
favourite kinds of people. I like the little story about how one of the
founders, Jon, was hung-over one morning and shook his smoothie with the lid
off – giving birth to the instruction ‘Shake before opening (not after)’. I
love innocent and I tend to be pretty faithful to them when I am not making my
own healthy treats.
This brings me to a dilemma - are brands controlling our
lives? Well, yes a bit – after all who can say no to an innocent smoothie
wearing a festive bobble hat? Alternatively, it could be that brands are
becoming more vulnerable to public opinion as we can spit out those brands that
don’t live up to our ethical standards. In that way we are all contributing to
the creation a better world! But that’s my positive outlook!
What brand would you be? Red Bull? Lush cosmetics? Zara?