The Batman Story
The story is of course how Batman comes to be the symbol of the "Dark knight" that strikes terror in the heart of criminals. As the movie would have it, Bruce Wayne travels to a far away land in presumably Asia, to train in the art of fighting 600 men. To be given the "means to fight injustice". There he is told that as a man fighting injustice, he can be killed, corruptible and the ideals die with him. But if he becomes more than a man, a symbol, then he could truly strike terror in the hearts of criminals. He would in effect become, a legend. And of course the rest of the story has Bruce Wayne becoming the Dark knight to save his beloved Gotham city.
Of Batman & Brands
The parrallels of this subject to branding seems pretty obvious to me. Brands these days seek to become more than a mere product, more than a tangible produce that would "decay" with wear and tear. But if marketers would instead sell an ideal, a symbol, an experience, then the product is no longer a product, it is in effect an icon. The product becomes embedded into the symbol, the image. Like Starbucks selling the experience rather than the coffee, Nike selling the spirit of sports rather than mere sport apparell; the product is no longer a product, it become an ideal that the consumer aspires to.
Of Brands & Consumption
The end result of course, as many advertisers and numerous media critics like Naomi Klein (No Logo) have clearly stated, is a movement away from emphasizing tangible, functional value, but rather, an image. The end results on the market are numerous consumers rallying around (just like Gotham would) this new symbol, because it represents their aspirations, what they hope to be, their archetype ideal of themselves. The product, becomes very much secondary to the brand. Conspicous consumption therefore occurs right here. They consume to potray the image on themselves from which the brand symbolizes. The brand looks cool, I want to be cool, so I buy the brand so that that "coolness" of the brand rubs off on me. So I hope.
Implication to Society - Authencity & Rationality
Ultimately what is the effect of all these marketing of images and symbolism mean to society. To begin, conspicous consumption has always been around. People have always consumed what represents themselves. Since the time of the aristorcrats, people have flaunt their wealth through pomp audacious fashion just to seperate themselves from the masses.
With this moving into the masses, what will all this mean? Now everyone wants to mean something, be something. If I want to be this image, I will buy this brand, if I want to be that, I will buy that brand. The spin becomes the primary, a chasing after the intangible.
Need for Authencity
But what of authencity?
What of true functionality of a product?
What of true usefulness of a product?
Might we all become blind to what is really of use to us. What if a product is only so so, but another is of better quality but is shunned because its not as 'cool' or 'chic' for lack of a better word.
What happens if the product isn't really good for you? But you buy it and consume it because of the image it portrays? Like Macdonald's (Fast Food Nation by Eric Shlosser).
Need for rationality
From the above, I have assumed a level of rationality in image consumption. Advertising's impact on us is definitely more than a one sided affair. We can be molded by the media and in its commercial alter ego, the ads. If so, then where do we move towards in a social space increasingly encroached by the ad man.
So what then is the impact of all that symbolism, images and experience branding on our society? What happens to our minds and rational choice once bombarded with all of these. I'm not too sure, but my Professor once postulated its impact on democracy. That we become so caught up with images, we forget how to assess something rationally. Taking it further, our choices in social progress then becomes confined and bounded by the ad man's spin. Would we then ever be truly rational to choose? Or as Batman would have it, our choices bounded and based on legends?
Yongchang
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