Branding, Culture, Politics, and Everything in Between

I’ve been reading Joseph Pine’s and James Gilmore’s “Authenticity”, which was published to much fanfare last year. I’m in the very beginning, and I doubt that I will read it cover to cover any time soon as I’m now basically picking stuff from it for my thesis. But so far it seems like a very good read and a worthy heir to their previous book, “The Experience Economy”.

One thing got me thinking, though. In the beginning of the book they outline that consumers have 4 “dominant sensibilities” when it comes to products:

1. Availability
2. Cost
3. Quality
4. Authenticity

Also, the authors state that we now live in a world of “abundance over scarcity”, meaning that we have more choice in product categories than ever before. Also, through services like Amazon, eBay and price comparing search engines availability has become democratized. Everything is available, anywhere in the world. This of course puts pressure on price, but I guess the main price driver has been copycat brands (and especially in groceries, retail brands and the like). Quality is also pretty much democratized, as lean and supplier-based organizations can deliver equal or comparable quality.

So it seems like items 1-3 have been sort of taken care of for the consumer. So what about number 4? Why are consumers craving for authenticity? The trend of chastising people who buy, for example, fake Louis Vuitton bags in places like Thailand is increasing. People want the real deal, even if it costs them more. Why?

Because if you could get a Mac for a lower price, with similar quality, and obtain it easily, where’s the identity value? Where’s the bragging rights? Consumers are creating scarcity by labeling products and brands in ways that other brands can’t simply can’t copy. They are creating stories around products that make them valuable to show off to their friends. In a way, consumers have rushed to defend the brands they use to express themselves with, which I think is fascinating and very counter-intuitive to the current anti-marketing atmosphere.

That’s why a Mac is still a Mac, and you wouldn’t even DREAM of showing a cheap knock-off.

PS. I don’t know if Pine & Gilmore touch on this idea of consumers creating scarcity to re-attain the identity value of their brands, but it was just the first idea that came to mind when I started reading the book.fucking tight pussy and tits
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