Branding

Last year one of my thesis advisee was doing her topic on relationship between capitalism and materialism. One of my favorite, if you ask me. The interesting feedback that she'd gotten back from her research was that, let name him John Doe. If John Doe wasn't wearing 5,000 B. Paul Smith T-shirt and a pair of way over price D&G (22,000 B) He wasn't confidence enough to leave home with his whole self. So I looked onto how objects and brand play a role in our culture, along with this I've written a short essay.


These days products are no longer appreciate by its function value but rather in its exchange value. Once, prestige product, glare with superb craftsmanship, now becomes a trend which will offer similar product with much lower quality at inexpensive prices. This lead to mass-produced and BRANDING strategies that will require large investment, rather than just concentrate with investing on and how to make their products better.

If the Branding strategy is achieved, the products hold a sign value. The values that becomes status of the users. This phenomenon has gone so far that people struggled to grasped the products just for their sign value. This resulted in the working class are trying to take short cuts and put themselves in the higher status by owning these products. Of course, in exchange with these products are money therefore, shot cuts of how to make money are invented. This could be the beginning of the problem of underage and students who perused prostitution path.

The materialistic culture and the counterfeit phenomenon (another whole discussions) has gone beyond fashion, cosmetics. It has reshaped our socio-culture-sports, schools, activities, space, open air and culture are turned into commodities. This could be view clearly in Thailand.

(To Be Continued)