Here’s a little thought piece for you all before I get some sleep. It’s about where the term branding came from and what are the implications of prominently featuring your logo on your merchandise. Before you pass it off for pinko-commie propaganda, however, consider how one of the fastest growing (and logo-less) brand names in America responded to the clip:
So we recently had a tour group here at the factory from Manual Arts High School. In the Q&A, one of students the asked me when American Apparel would start featuring logos. My answer was that it was unlikely. If someone wants to advertise on my ass, they better be paying rent.
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We spend a lot of time around here thinking about how to get the word out about our stuff in a way that is natural and un-obtrusive, and personally, I like to be reminded from time to time about how much logos impact our lives.
The point seems to be that if you really know branding and marketing, then you don’t have to stamp your logo on everything you make. Rather, branding is about creating a personality to which your customers can relate — i.e. shared values and attitudes. Perhaps one of the few redeeming qualities of the social media marketing machine will be that it’ll be able to erode the consumer tradition of tacky logos. Then again, it may only digitize them…