Branding, Culture, Politics, and Everything in Between

I thought I’d follow up on an earlier post a bit. In it I argued that strong brands act like statesmen, not populists in that they show a conviction and don’t cater to the people’s every impulse or wish. That’s what makes them respected and iconic, where as the populist is always doomed to fizzle away and not leave a permanent mark in culture.

I talk frequently with my cousin (who is studying and lecturing on philosophy) on a variety of topics, and one topic we frequent heavily is politics. We ended up debating the virtues and follies of democracy in that it sometimes fails to deliver us the optimal result in decision making. I found that there were again powerful parables between politics and branding, especially the metaphor I had used earlier about statesmen and populists.

I think I can draw from the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau to back my claim (modest, aren’t I?). He argued that there’s a disconnect between volonte de tous (the combined “wants” of the populace) and volonte generale (the “general will, roughly translated). To my understanding, Rousseau never directly stated as much, but he strongly hinted the he felt that the people don’t always know what’s good for them, and the combined “will” of their wants is not better than the “general will”.

So in other words, it’s not about listening to the people and doing their exact bidding, it’s about listening to them and understanding them deeply, a more patient and harder approach.