There are two different schools of thought who advocate the above statement in two entirely different lights. One sect is known as the Incremental Theorists and other as the Entity Theorists.
Now, Incremental Theorists believe that their personal qualities can be affected (or improved) through their own efforts. It doesn't matter to them if they use a Visconti or a Parker, for them they are both just pens. However, it would make a whole lot of difference to an Entity theorist who believes his personal qualities to be pretty static. Brands most definitely impacts his amour propre. Most of us fall into this category.
Researchers from University of Minnesota discovered from a survey that women walking in a shopping mall carrying a Victoria's Secret bag feel more confident and glamorous as compared to those carrying a simple shopping bag. Same holds true for an MBA student who considers himself more intelligent and has a high self-esteem as compared to a History Graduate.
In most of the cases, Brands do change the way one feels about himself. In fact, some incremental theorists too have a brand preference, either because they identify with the brand personality or in order to send a message across (to others). So it doesn''t really matter what school of thought your target customers belongs to, as long as your brand endorses the personality he wants to be associated with!
I guess the victoria's secret bag does hold some weight, I see such pride on their faces. I guess the store really enjoys being the only store with such a iconic bag.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised more places don't copy their style.
It's true that VS has iconic bags and strange that no one else has copied it so far. Something similar which is equally successful and has not been copied yet is the concept of olfactory logo (scent branding) followed by Abercrombie & Fitch. My next article will cover that :)
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