Brand: Meaning is the New Black
The Rationality Project: One Man’s Quest to Ignore His Gut Instinct is an entertaining look at the biological reasons why humans are often not rational about how and why we attach meaning to rituals, untruths and ultimately the Brands we allow into our lives. The article has a neurotic bit about toothpaste, which makes my manifesto seem calm. The article makes me think about Robert Raible and speaking with him at the NRF Big Show earlier this year. Raible said, “People want more of the same only with better features, but that isn’t why we buy. We buy as a form of self-actualization. People in our consumer-centric culture no longer purchase merely on the basis of need or utility. Consumption has become meaningful and Brands are often used as building blocks for the construction and maintenance of our personal identity.”
Given the current economic conditions I am not surprised to see most major retailers behaving like they don’t believe this “Commie-Pinko-West-Coast Drivel.”