I’ve seen plenty of claims over the years about how “marketing” or “branding” is pretty fake and manipulative.
Sort of how people lament that you’ve only brought something for the name or the badge written on it. That you got jipped buying something overpriced or the same quality as an “off-brand” version.
Which is a good topic to go into down the road.
To some extent those claims aren’t completely baseless or anything. Branding is about perception and expectation. The logos, the colors, mottos, slogans, jingles, and the myriad other ways a brand is portrayed and remembered can sometimes come off as fake and contrived.
The problem is that with a brand perception also comes an expectation.
And when those expectations aren’t met, the brand is almost permanently tarnished. Enough blown expectations and the brand is toast. At least to that individual but it happens on grander scales too.
Like when you go to Starbucks you expect a certain level of quality. I do anyway.
My point is that branding isn’t always fake. A brand you can be proud of is earned and it takes dedication to keep it going and growing.
More on that later - the “fake” part. Join the free newsletter to get that