DESIGN REBORN
QUALITY + ETHICS + INNOVATIVE DESIGN = GREAT PRODUCTS
Yet as consumers, seldom are we offered this winning combination. Instead we are being controlled by the power of global corporations – the power of the BRAND.
Say NO to the implanted ‘idea’
Multinational Brands have an agenda to control our minds and therefore our credit cards. Brands have us all figured out: they generate an emotional attachment; they implant an idea and construct a wanted lifestyle from their product. They control our consumer choices by convincing us our lives will be better with their sparkly, sexy, slickly marketed products. Once seduced, we happily buy into those implanted ideas and purchase.“Companies are switching from producing products to marketing aspirations, images and lifestyles” (Zoock, Smith, 2016, p. 63).
Say NO to being controlled by implanted ideas - look carefully at what a Brand is really selling you.
Say NO to repetitive manipulation
Brands are inescapable – broadcasted on billboards, magazines and commercials, they are omnipresent and omnipotent in contemporary society. Repetition is powerful and the recurrence of Brands is a successful way to keep that Brand active in the consumers mind.
This repetition by cleverly marketed Brands, persuasively captures our attention and creates the illusion of Brand superiority. We are being brainwashed through the “use of subliminal perception to get the desired response from the consumer” (Kaptan, 2002, p. 46).
Say NO to being manipulated by repetitive marketing – remember that exposure does not equal product superiority.
Say NO to Brand over ethics
The elite Brands are omnipresent in society due to their massive advertising budgets fueled by even larger profit margins. High profile Brands are outsourcing their products “to nameless producers kept on a tight leash”, (Bello, 2000) with the economic strategy being to save money in order to invest more into marketing the Brand. This industry model means many of our most glamorous and well known Brands are produced without ethics in poorly paid sweatshop conditions.
Say NO to unethical profit gains – refuse to support Brands who use an underpaid, over worked and abused work force to increase their empires.
Say YES to consumer awareness
As consumers we are all guilty of making purchases based on the “brand name, its logo, design, packaging, advertising or sponsorship, image and name recognition” (Anttiroiko, 2014, p. 58). We need to take control of our consumer choices, buy with purpose and say YES to great products rather than being manipulated by influential branding. We need to educate consumers to look beyond the tinsel of advertising and to analyse the products quality, design and company ethics. We must dismiss the hierarchy of the ‘superior’ global Brands and refuse to continue making uneducated choices based solely on persuasive propaganda and a printed logo. Collectively our consumer behaviour can force change that could see ethical design reborn.
Say YES to consumer awareness - choose quality, ethics and innovative design before brands, choose DESIGN REBORN.
References:
Anttiroiko, A. (2014). The Political Economy of City Branding. London, United kingdom: Routledge.
Bello, W. (2001). Book review: No logo. Retrieved from http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/technology-who-chooses/book-review-no-logo/
Kaptan, S. (2002). Advertising, New Concepts. New Delhi, India: Sarup & Sons.
Zook, Z., & Smith, P. (2016). Marketing Communications: Offline and Online Integration, Engagement and Analytics. United States: Kogan Page Limited
