An Unbranded Life

I counted 11 brands on the counter at that exact moment: Dr. Hauschka, Orabrush, Common Good (soap), Kohler (sink), Bongio (faucet), Philips (toothbrush), Rembrandt, Royal Velvet (toothpaste), Sonos, Neorest (toilet), and Tom’s of Maine (mouthwash). My iPhone was on the counter but the Apple was covered in a WordPress iPhone case, I guess a 12th brand, but the only one I chose to be there. But for regular, everyday goods, how can we get all of the advertising off them? — Matt Mullenweg writes on his blog.

It is hard to live life in 2013 and not be assaulted by brands. The whole society exists to market something. Twitter and Facebook has made everyone a brand.  The brands work on simple human need — to belong to a pack/herd. 

The pack (or herd)  is what makes the brand, and brand is what makes the pack (or herd.) Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Burberry are brands because they created their own herds and herds needed their symbolism to mean something.

In reality, you don’t need a brand or brand association to define yourself. What it needs is awareness of self, willingness to be different and break from the pack. It also means, one needs to whittle down things one needs to own, find one’s level of greed. 

As I have found that when you start making stark choices on what you want and what you don’t, you start to make the branding invisible. That said, I am three steps into this mile long journey. 

Musings
10 comments

Subscribe to discover Om’s fresh perspectives on the present and future.

Om Malik is a San Francisco based writer, photographer and investor. Read More

10 thoughts on this post

  2. Hear! hear! If I had a choice, nothing that I would buy would have a logo (at least not a visible one). A few years ago, I owned an unusual SUV – it was beautiful, except for all of the logos. I went so far as to remove them. The car design didn’t need them. I knew what I was driving, so I didn’t need them. Only the manufacturer needed them as an advertisement. The funny thing is that the car was more noticeable (and better looking) because of the lack of logos, not less. People noticed the substance, not the superficiality.

    1. Well done, David. I think it is exactly the point Matt was trying to make. of course, the challenge is that how does one find out about something worth owning/using. It used to be a lot more difficult, but hopefully an interconnected planet is going to help us surface the unbranded/quality stuff sooner.

  3. When I first saw your Blog I did a double-take. I sign my blog O Malik so for a second I was pretty confused 🙂

    I really enjoyed this post, you are spot on with the message you’re trying to get across. Hope to read more from you!

    Amazing Life – https://amazingislife.com

  4. I’m more of a hyena…so I don’t like being in herds. It’s a variation on the “wolf mentality”, except I don’t go after the sheep so much as I like messing with them, the sheep dogs, and the wolves as well.

  5. Om, I like the spirit of being willing to break from the pack and making your own choices but I don’t see that in conflict with enjoying brands — brands aren’t the problem; an unhealthy, uninformed, unthoughtful dependence upon them is. — denise lee yohn

  6. Brands, few or frequent are not the problem. They help nor hinder ones quest to live life simply if one elects to pursue that path. The term “greed” is being used in a context to assume one as judged by others lives their life embracing useless excess at the expense of others. We live in a beautiful global community that provides us the opportunity to access an array of products needed to coexist as defined by us as individuals not based on standards imposed by another. Therefore brands are not the villains. Those that judge others by utilizing their set of ideals, imposing their values are rapscallions. Every man human has the liberty to define their own journey in life without the discernment of others.

Comments are closed.