BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

Branding: Is it good or bad

Peter Dutscheck
Park University/EN106
September 18, 2015

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

2
Abstract

In todays world everyone is trying to have the best things and be the cool person on the block.
Companies have found that out and the way that they are selling their products to everyone is
through branding. Companies use neuroscience to find out the best way to brand the companys
product so that people will buy the companys product. Now the true questions, is branding good
or bad? In this article you will read about how companies use neuroscience, and what machine
they use, to help their company use the proper branding to sell the companys product. You will
read about the good and bad of branding and how branding affects people in their decision to by
a product. The information in this paper will help you to view both sides of branding. But in the
end, the decision of branding being good or bad to todays society is up to you.

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

In todays world everyone is trying to fit in and be the cool person on the block. The
person with the cool car, the person with the cool clothes, even the person with the cool house.
Marketing firms today have found that out and have found different ways to make it so that
buying their product makes you the cool person on the block. But the questions is how do they
do that, how do they find a way to start a new trending line of clothes, or make their car the cool
car that everyone wants to buy. There is a simple answer for that Branding! The real question
is, Is branding good or bad?
In todays society branding is everything. Fast food restaurants, shoes, cars, even the
government. But how do companies become so affective with branding? How do they find out
what will be a big hit on the streets? That all starts when they hire neuroscience firms to run
studies and find out what makes a person want to buy a specific item. Now I know what youre
thinking, Neuroscience firms running studies? That must cost a lot! Why dont the companies
just go to the streets and start asking people what they like. To tell you that truth yes going to
the street would be cheaper and people could tell you what they want, but they wouldnt be able
to tell you why they truly want it.
Neuroscience helps provide the companies with data showing what moves a customer to
want to buy their items so they can use it in their marketing ads. As Uma R. Karmakar states,
People are fairly good at expressing what they want, what they like, or even how much they
will pay for an item....But they arent very good at accessing where that value comes from, or
how and when it is influenced by factors like store displays or brands. [Neuroscience] can help
us understand those hidden elements of the decision process (Nobel, 2012).
One of the machines that Neuroscientist use to collect this data is call the fMRI. The
fMRI uses a giant magnet, often 3 Teslas strong, to track the blood flow throughout the brain as

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

test subjects respond to visual, audio, or even taste cues (Nobel 2012). By using this machine,
Neuroscientist can get a better look into the pleasure center of the brain and find out what song
they should put in their new commercial or who they should put on the companys billboard,
wearing the companys product. Karmarkar states, Studies have shown activity in that brain
area can predict the future popularity of a product or experience (Nobel, 2012).
When it comes to brand marketing you have to be able to move your customers to their
very soul to be able to become a big marketing powerhouse and thats where neuroscience comes
in. Let take Nike for example. Nike used neuroscience to find out want would make someone
want to keep coming back and buying their product. From those studies they created their
Niketown stores. The Niketown stores are places in which to see and try the latest products
while, at the same time, being places to be seen. They have been able to do this by creating
complete sensory experiences that are not just about the Nike Swoosh being visible on every
available space. Instead the design of the interiors, the uniforms and training of the staff, the
exhibitions about Nikes involvement in sport and the sounds for the space, whether music or
ambient, all work together to create a truly immersive and appealing experience that eventually
leads to customer loyalty (Fulberg, 2003). Since Nike was able to create this moving experience
for their customers in their store, their customers are loyal and now they always buy Nike
product because it moves them emotionally to their very soul.
Now is using things like neuroscience the right thing to use when it comes to market
branding? If someone know how a person will react to a specific song or to a specific person. A
company can manipulate a person into buying one of their products even if they do not need it.
Lets take Nike for example. If you go to a Nike store you can buy a pair of running shoes
anywhere from $90 to $190, but if you go to payless you could pick up a pair of off brand

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

running shoes for around $40. Many people do not go to Nike to buy a pair of running shoes
because of the shoes being the best shoes in the world. Many people go to Nike and buy their
shoes because a popular celebrity wears the shoes and the person thinks that if they wear those
shoes they will be popular in school just like that celebrity. Because of this Nike can charge
someone $190 for a pair of shoes because they know the person will buy those shoes in the quest
to be popular. As Naomi Klein states in No Logo. : The products that will flourish in the
future will be the ones presented not as commodities but as concepts: the brand as experience,
as lifestyle (Klein, 2002).
Another product that is sold by branding are pianos. Many pianos are sold to people
because they love to play pianos but another chunk of the sales of piano come from people trying
to up hold a lifestyle. Many people believe that in order for you to up hold a proper lifestyle your
house most have a music room. So even though a person of wealth didnt know how to play the
piano. They still have a piano in their house to show they live a proper lifestyle. All of this shows
that companies just take advantage of trends to sell their product to people who do not need them
But there is a good side to Branding too! When companies use things like neuroscience to
find what is popular in the world, companies can produce a product that everyone will like. With
doing this when a kid buys their product it can help the kid throughout life. Lets take
Underarmor for example. A freshman is going out for football this year and he wants to make the
varsity team. He goes out and buys Underarmor cleats, Underarmor socks, and Underarmor
practice shirts. All because he knows all the professional football players wear Underarmor. Then
day one of practice comes and he is so confident in himself because he is wearing all this gear.
He has the best practice he could have had and gets selected for varsity. It was the Brand

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

marketing that helped give him the confidences in himself to have a great practice and get
selected for varsity.
Another way that Branding helps is when someone is trying to make a decision on what
to buy for someone else. As Marcia Yudkin states, When someone feels under pressure to make
a wise decision, he or she tends to choose the brand-name supplier over the no-name one
(Yudkin 2012). Having that safety net of knowing what is popular because of branding makes it
easier when you are buying something for someone else, for example a birthday gift or wedding
gift.
As you can see, branding affects us in multiple ways. Good and bad! But now you have
to decide if the ways that companies use branding and how it affects the society today is a good
thing or a bad thing.

BRANDING: IS IT GOOD OR BAD

REFERENCE
Fulberg, P. (2003). Using sonic branding in the retail environment: An easy and effective way to
create consumer brand loyalty while enhancing the in-store experience. Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 3(2), 193-198. Retrieved from:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.471.9831&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Klein, N (2002) No Logo. In S. Greene & A. Lidinsky (Eds.), From inquiry to academic writing:
A text and reader (2nd ed.) (pp. 776-788). Boston, MA
Nobel, C. (2012). What Neuroscience Tells Us about Consumer Desire. HBS Working
Knowledge, Harvard Business School. Retrieved from:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6950.html
Yudkin, M., & Stork, H. (2005). The Benefits of Branding. Name At Last.. Retrieved from:
http://www. namedatlast. com/branding3.