BRAND PLANNING
18
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from the outside world, and it is within this
separation that we find our identity.
This ego draws power from the identity
“ Could the Harmonious Collective end
charge brands invest in products and services.
up replacing the American Dream as an
We choose Apple over Dell because of the
brand’s promise of individuality; we wear
organising principle for consumerism?
Nike to indulge in our action hero personae,
the Just-Do-It facets of our personality; we
Could the future of brands lie in bringing
fly Virgin to stick two fingers up to the
corporate fat cats. Whether by accident or
us together, rather than separating us?”
design, brands and advertising have fuelled our
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‘hunger for self’ brilliantly.
and India. Could the Harmonious Collective seen as being in the public’s interests, success
C
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ULTURAL INfLUeNCeS end up replacing the American Dream as an was measured only in terms of GDP, and the
organising principle for consumerism? Could aggressive expansion of Anglo-American capit-
However, there is another school of thought the future of brands lie in bringing us together, alism led the world into an interconnected
that believes separation and individualism is rather than separating us? mess. Hertz proposes ‘Co-op capitalism’ as a
not our default mode, but an inheritance left new model, drawing on anthropology, physics,
to us by our Greek forefathers.
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THe RISe of Co-oP CAPITALISM
geopolitics and neurology in an attempt to
Ancient Greece was built on shipping, synthesise successful business practice with a
and this maritime culture no doubt brought Globalisation is about much more than healthier planet, and a happier human race.
a sense of separation into sharp focus; the merely allowing companies to trade freely
Greeks also placed a great deal of stock in around the world. It is also about the rights
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CoNCLUSIoN
reason, rationality and individual responsibil- and responsibilities that come with that
ity. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle established freedom. The global financial crisis has moved What, then, for the future of brands? Will
organising principles for our view of this debate around how to balance the rights brands evolve from symbols of ownership
how things work in this world that were and responsibilities of global business to imbued by advertising with individualist
incorporated into Judeo-Christian philosophy, centre-stage, and brands may come to play a identity charges to badges of social con-
where significant emphasis is placed on the critical role in this balancing act. science? Will a strong brand name become
roles of spiritual leaders and their vertical Noreena Hertz – an economist more than just a promise of added value,
relationship with God. proposing a new, kinder form of capitalism becoming instead a statement of a company’s
eastern culture has a very different take. based on co-operation, collaboration and wider contribution to society as a whole?
The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius collective interests – believes economics and How an economy functions is aboutmuch
saw society as an orchestra, with harmony business need to be put back into the human more than markets anonymously distributing
achieved only through everyone understand- social context. She claims that the past 30 goods and services. It is also about how people
ing their role in the greater scheme of things. years has seen economics develop into a nar- relate to each other, how beliefs are shaped, and
Individualism was not as important as group row field, completely out of touch with reality, how power is distributed in society. Brands may
thinking. Mark earls explores this brilliantly in reducing the world to a mathematical formula evolve from a language based on consumption
his book Herd; we are an inherently social that overlooks vast complexities and allowing to one based more on contribution.
species, dependent on each other for our corporations to operate in bubbles based on Ultimately, the future will probably be less
identity. The classical African concept of overly simplistic Adam Smith principles. She about stuff, and more about providing services
Ubuntu sums up this truth beautifully, a suggests anger at banks for getting us into this that add value on an individual and collective
philosophy of interconnectedness proposing mess will soon turn into anger at big business level simultaneously. As the socially accept-
we are human only through each other – a in general, as corporations seek to remain able face of big business, brands will act as the
person is a person through other people. competitive by paying out millions to top glue binding together many of the disparate
China may have abandoned Marxism and executives while outsourcing to cut costs. In a elements Hertz talks about.
Maoism due to their bankruptcy as economic media landscape where people are informed The future of brands is fundamentally
models, but its emergence as a true superpow- and connected like never before, this anger secure, but it will be about creating synergy
er – and the subsequent rise of big, powerful may find a new way of organising itself into between the rights and, critically, the
brands born outside the West – may well force directed, affirmative action. responsibilities of global trade.
the theory of branding into sharp debate. In the wake of the financial meltdown,
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Anglo-American market dominance will Hertz coined the phrase ‘Gucci Capitalism’ to more on brand
increasingly be contested by not only China, sum up an era in which unregulated markets planning at
but other emerging economies, such as Brazil had more power than governments, risk was www.warc.com
ADMAP FebruAry 2010
DE 16-18 Cordiner LAYOUT 2.indd 3 1/22/2010 14:00:17
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