more branding

I saw a this guy, Lucas Conley, on Colbert last night, plugging his book, “OBD: OBSESSIVE BRANDING DISORDER The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion”.

The world is more branded than ever before: Americans encounter anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 ads a day. Increasingly, brands vie for our attention from insidious angles that target our emotional responses (scent, taste, sound, and touch). In an ever-faster, more competitive global landscape fueled both by the rise of cheaper, foreign brands and by so-called house-brands (the eponymous brands of Wal-Mart, Target, and the like), American companies are in a mad dash to keep up. Branding, or identity-making, has begun to replace the research and development of yore.

The problem with seeing something substantive on The Colbert Report is Colbert’s unwillingness to break character; the shtick trumps the substance every time. But, I was able to get some of Conley’s message and, I think he is clarifying some of the things I’ve been trying to get at with all of this branding talk.

If it’s true that the focus on branding has begun to replace research and development, where does this road lead?

Do a little reverse engineering to find the answer. Think about the brands that you would consider to be the most successful, the most valuable brand names. Not your favorite brand necessarily but, the biggest, most prevalent brand names, ones that are everywhere.

Now, are any of these brands ones that you would instantly associate with the word “quality”?