Brands on the Brain

Graham McCullam of the Branding agency Kemistry has been writing about the brain and brands. I've had the pleasure of working with Graham and respect him thoroughly. He says that brand names and logos give us an instant emotional fix. Children as young as 18 months have come to associate the MacDonalds golden arches with comfort food and toys.

Our relationship with brands is, as I have come to understand, less about the products and more about perceptions and emotions. The value of a brand has absolutely nothing to do with the thing in the bottle it's a mind thing.

Here's a story from his article:

During the Korean War the Coca Cola Company decided to send every US soldier a free bottle of Coke. Some of them took the bottle to bed with them, many wrote home to their parents and loved ones about it, while others kept it for a special celebration. To these soldiers it was more than just another drink. The brand meant home and raised memories of sitting in the soda bar with their first girlfriend, summer days with friends and all the other life experiences in which Coke had played a part.

Full article by Graham McCallum