Blog II

Blog II by Jeremy Pape

I think that the “New American Dream” has got it right on, about consumerism and how it will shift in the future with our recession. Back in the early 90’s in the era of what you own is the person you are. Consumer behavior was all about spending, whether you had it or not, to show off how well you were doing. Now, since we are within a recession and everybody is broke, we look to other things to make our life fulfilling. The moments that we share with our friends and family are the reasons for us to make it through the day. We now save up for a month, skipping out of getting that new car, clothes, what have you, just so that we can go to a concert with our friends or enjoy a weekend fishing trip with your dad.

From the readings my deciphering of brand truth was a little muddled but my conclusion was it is the brand’s DSI. For Nike and its NikeID program it is all about the user designing their own product. Design clearly helps in the morphing of the online or computer aspect of the shoe creation and the actual store environment. The decision to place screens on the store front out site seduces street walking people to stop and create a show without ever having to enter the store. I would imagine just the fact that you don’t even have to open a door to build your own custom shoe shows the brand truth, you can make what ever you like, with clever design of the easy access of the screens. In the case of MasterCard, the simple design and tag line of their commercials promotes that good quality of life is “priceless”, however you must use your MasterCard to purchase the goods that make your life good.

I think that yes there is a difference between producing happiness and producing brand loyalty. However I do think there is a strong connection between the two. If you are consistently achieving happiness from a brand’s goods then eventually you will give a certain brand your loyalty. However, a good can deliver happiness, i.e. Bud Light or even more happiness Patron. People generally gain happiness from their drinking habits and bad decision making, but I don’t think there is much brand loyalty there purely based upon Patron producing happiness. I would not spend forty dollars on one bottle when i could spend twenty on Jose. I will get the same amount of happiness from each beverage, just one gives me a little bit more trendiness. Therefore Patron due to its expensive qualities looses my brand loyalty at this point in my life. I think a perfect example of that is MasterCards marketing program.

$40- One bottle of Patron.

$20- On a cab ride.

$3- On a side walk hot dog vendor

Sleeping with your hot college math teacher, while your buddies are passed out beside you

PRICELESS

This story produces happiness for sure, however no matter what beverage you put in place of Patron still produces the same happiness. As a result no brand loyalty has been produced.