Comments on: On branding, cattle, and broken marketing http://www.farbey.co.uk/index.php/2009/09/on-branding-cattle-and-broken-marketing/ on technical writing, content strategy, information design, and all the whitespace in between Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:16:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Conrad Taylor http://www.farbey.co.uk/index.php/2009/09/on-branding-cattle-and-broken-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-219 Conrad Taylor Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:45:08 +0000 http://www.farbey.co.uk/?p=305#comment-219 In the Victorian era, the populace suffered greatly from adulterated foodstuffs, dodgy medications and other packaged and bottled goods, sold without brands. The innovation at that time of branding and trade marks was a way in which trusted manufacturers such as Bass & Co, Pears, Reckitt & Colman could build up a loyal following; the adverts might urge the consumer to ‘accept no substitute’ – and it made sense. I think this *can* still work today. As a user of technical equipment, I trust brands like Nikon or Sony because I've always had good reliable performance from their products. Where branding and rebranding is a nonsense, however, is when it is like putting lipstick on a pig. In the Victorian era, the populace suffered greatly from adulterated foodstuffs, dodgy medications and other packaged and bottled goods, sold without brands. The innovation at that time of branding and trade marks was a way in which trusted manufacturers such as Bass & Co, Pears, Reckitt & Colman could build up a loyal following; the adverts might urge the consumer to ‘accept no substitute’ – and it made sense.

I think this *can* still work today. As a user of technical equipment, I trust brands like Nikon or Sony because I’ve always had good reliable performance from their products.

Where branding and rebranding is a nonsense, however, is when it is like putting lipstick on a pig.

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