Regardless of product or service category, brands signal something about you. Consider the shirt that you wear. If you are wearing a Carhartt shirt, what does that say about you? Do you live in a large city or out in the country? Do you spend a lot of time outdoors? Do you pursue physical activity outside of a gym? How about Under Armour? Columbia? Patagonia? The North Face? Loudmouth? lululemon? Eton? Calvin Kline? Robert Graham? Vans? Versace?
Now think about cars. What does driving a Tesla say about you? How about a Mercedes-Benz? BMW? Toyota? Honda? Hyundai? Mini-Cooper? What are your motivations for buying the car that you drive? To get you from point A to point B and that's it? To haul a trailer or a boat? To enjoy the drive itself? To maximize gas milage? To reduce carbon emissions? To signal your social status? To show that you are cut from a more interesting mold than most people?
How about schools? What does going to a community college say about you? What does going to UC Berkeley say about you? Are you smart? Are you liberal? How about Liberty University? Brigham Young University? Reed College? MIT? University of Kansas? University of Florida? Rhode Island School of Design? US Military Academy at West Point? Naropa University? Hampshire College? Williams College? Stanford University?
What are some of your favorite brands of wines? Carlo Rossi? Reunite? Trader Joe's Charles Shaw? Yellow Tail? Barefoot? Duckhorn? Stag's Leap? Caymus? Silver Oak? Hall's? Sloan? Maybach? Screaming Eagle? Chateau Lafite Rothschild? Chateau d'Yquem? Or do you drink beer instead? Or perhaps craft cocktails? Or maybe you don't drink alcohol at all.
For each of these brands, think about what you are signaling to others whether you want to or not? Are you signaling social-economic status, region of country, religious affiliation, personality type, social consciousness, urban versus suburban versus rural residence, IQ, political point of view, profession, hobbies, family size, age, gender, how well traveled you are, how well read you are, how fashion conscious you are, how self-actualized you are...and I could go on and on.
Now think about what YOUR brand is signaling and to whom.
Brands are often used as self-expression vehicles. And baseball caps are a simple way to do this.
People use baseball caps to communicate their interests and affiliations. They use them to demonstrate their support or pride. Baseball caps can project a certain image or social status. People use them to connect with other like minded individuals. Baseball caps can also communicate personal accomplishments and personal passions.
I thought it would be fun to present you with a variety of baseball caps. Think through the type of individual who would wear each cap. What are his passions? What is he trying to communicate? Why did he buy a cap with this brand on it? What is his likely social and economic status? Will it identify him as a certain type of person? Will the baseball cap attract certain people and turn others off? What are each brand's associations? Are you familiar with some of these brands and not others? Does that say something about you? Are some of these brands insider brands? Think about how much a brand can say about a person who uses that brand as a badge.
"Well, that's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."
For your brand to effectively tout a self-expressive benefit, you must first understand the different paths people take to self-esteem. These are the messages people want to express about themselves. Here are some of the more common paths to self-esteem:
- I am competent in my job or profession.
- I am a good mother.
- I am a good husband or wife.
- I am attractive, handsome or beautiful.
- I am a good person.
- I am a likable person.
- I am a good friend.
- I am making a positive difference in the world.
- I have high social status.
- I am sophisticated.
- I am smart.
- I am rich.
- I am powerful.
- I am a person to be reckoned with.
- I am unique/different from everyone else.
- I am my own person.
- I am creative.
- I am stylish.
- I am well educated.
- I am well read.
- I am well traveled.
- I am better than you.
Research has shown that at least some people choose specific automobile brands to reinforce their self-image, project a certain social status, and enhance their self-esteem. They also choose them to “fit in” with their chosen social group. Other factors contribute to choice, including constraints such as income and capacity to acquire.1
Think about this. What might each of these brands say about the purchaser’s self-image and intended social group/status:
- Audi
- BMW
- Chevy
- HUMMER
- Jeep
- Mercedes-Benz
- MINI Cooper
- Subaru
- Tesla
- Toyota
- Volvo
1. Source: Liza-Jane Sowden and Martin Grimmer, "Symbolic Consumption and Consumer Identity: An Application of Social Identity Theory to Car Purchase Behavior" (Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference 2009), http://www.duplication.net.au/ANZMAC09/papers/ANZMAC2009-206.pdf.
