Company branding and your business identity
At university I looked at identity and its power over the consumer; I was asking questions like are we simply sheep following a Shepard, or maybe a species that is hard to please! How much research does it take and how difficult is it for advertising to communicate with such a large assaulted audience?
I wanted to understand the feel good factor and marketing strategies. I looked at three companies, these being Microsoft, Nike and Disney, all three companies are all slightly different but each has a strong individual identity. Each is also playing a part in the physical moulding of the world we live in today. I wished to explore there advertising campaigns then come to a conclusion on how they have changed the world we live in. Could we live without the need for something new in our life, goals and targets, what else is there? Weather it is religion you seek, romance, a new pair of trainers, a computer game, or even simply a type of food you love to eat. All are desires that give a person the feel good factor! Maybe it could simply be clever advertising?
I hope to shed some light on this topic by researching globalization and global advertising, also by looking at product development I hope to find out how identities can have such power.
Extracts from my research on business branding
So here we are, the year 2005, ads have become a part of the streets we walk, the television we watch, even the clothes we wear. The big companies reign supreme but is it because we have all let a means of manipulation into our homes? POPULAR TELEVISION AND FILM, edited by Tony Bennett, Susan Boyd-Bowman, Colin Mercer and Janet Woollacott, BFI Publishing 1981. (p.328) it says:
“It is not uncommon for a majority of viewers to see, regularly, as much as two to three hours of drama, of various kinds, every day. The implications of this have scarcely begun to be considered.” (Williams 1974.)
Now thirty years later you would have watched 21,900 hours, that’s around two and a half years of your life watching television. During that time your brain would off recorded many images, even more news, sports coverage, and historic events. But without its presence in our life’s, what would we of missed? In fact how much less would we rely know? An argument that could go on for ever I hear you say, but these companies I have decided to look at have made there presence felt world wide, big money and bigger advertising campaigns that turn a product into a god like figure. I now ask you to sit back and think when did you last buy a product with the stamp of Microsoft, Nike, or Disney? Well just say you had not, I would say the odds are high that at some point in the future you may? What I would like to find is a pattern, three different companies with similar identities and power, all from America, involved in globalisation, but most importantly each are dominating in there industries. In what way do they communicate to the public, and how did they achieve this “God like status?” I don’t wish to compare these companies, or find out which is the most powerful, which has the bigger following or who makes the most money, each of the three identities is known world wide.
Globalization is meant to signify integration and unity. The thin line between globalization's supporters and critics run not only between countries but also the identities of companies within countries. As we have seen in the write ups on Nike, Microsoft and Disney, America is shown to be one of these countries with the companies in the driving seat. So is the planet becoming more and more like a catwalk than a home, a world being sewn together by the identities of super companies, each designer fighting for global recognition? We could all be victims of corporate domination? The debate over globalization's true nature has divided opinions world wide, but with many American companies proving to dominate there markets what options do smaller companies or countries have?
I have realised globalization is not only good for the rich but it is also benefiting the poor, just think could any nation develop without trade. East Asia is a recent example, since the mid-1970's, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and their neighbours have lifted 300 million people out of poverty, this was put down to world wide trading. And in the past the US, Germany, France and Japan all became wealthy and powerful nations behind the barriers of protectionism. East Asia built its export industry by protecting its markets and banks from foreign competition and requiring investors to buy local products and build local know-how. These all discouraged or made illegal by the rules of trade today.
Although today laws and regulations are set to make the world a safer place, fair play is sadly not always going on around us, it does seem to be an unbalanced institution largely controlled by America. There branding is reaching out to ever corner of this earth, Globalization is about the flow of these goods and money, but we must realise that this is only made possible by the increasing, rapid spread of technology. This may be good for America but isn’t it increasing global inequality? You would believe the rich countries are getting richer and the poor getting poorer? I have thought a lot about this but the statistics do suggest that even the poorer countries benefit as much as the rich. It even suggests globalization does not only benefit the poor countries but also the poorer people in rich countries.
If it is that simple then why is there anti-globalization? Maybe people just dislike the idea of any Americanization to there culture. The companies I chose to look at in this dissertation are all part of something as historic as a war. These identities I believe will live along side generation after generation. You could describe them as tattoos on time, an identity with enough power to live forever. I believe that the history of these products can also tell you a lot about man kind, just think that many years from now when you and I have gone, these three companies will probably be as strong as they are now. I think of them as the largest trees in the deepest forest that have grown and grown becoming too big for the mother natures wind or rain to bother, deep routed they are, here to stay I think so. Passing the test of time is the biggest and most important task for any major brand, and each of these companies have proven themselves to there public and there creators.
I don’t think anyone can be sure on how globalization will affect these companies; America is a country that has the shadow of Iraq upon it, will this affect the companies inside America? Maybe these companies could even be America’s saviour?
The problems that have occurred in America since Globalization could also include the tragic September 11th Twin Tower plain crashes. Anti Americanization is taken to extreme levels and many people have died both in America and in Iraq because of this! The products and how they are marketed across the world may cause upset, but we must not ignore there power and individual achievements, the television, news, the amazing power that the media along with these products have over all of us! In some cases we have even become depend on them! I myself admit that if I did not have access to the internet, I would miss it a great deal, locating information, images, employment, contacting friends and family, it has all been made so much easier.
The need to look our best is more important to some than others, just as Globalization can mean different things to different people. Some say it is people with an idea of a united world, both cultural along with production, and then others will see it as the dominant corporations expanding on such a great scale it may be causing the destruction of other cultural identities.
Below is a quote from a journal titled, A Philosophy for Globalization, author Richard Kustin.
“In order to operate effectively in an environment of borderless markets, standard products and globalization marketing global multinational corporations have to function under a corporate philosophy which can sustain such concepts. In support of globalization theory, suggests that a holistic corporate philosophy approach is capable of maintaining congruence within the global multinational organization. Derives the basis of this approach from two major theoretical assertions. American and Japanese corporations are based on historically different conceptual foundations of business - American companies tend to be analytical, while Japanese companies are holistic…”
My conclusion is that these three companies are doing a difficult job, and not fearing expansion or failure is a good thing for the company but not necessarily the country. A strong identity will always make its mark just as Nike, Microsoft, and Disney did. These are simply a few of the companies that have now expanded from America, how could anyone forget the fact that there is a McDonalds in almost every town in every country, or even the smaller things like cans of Coke in countries like Asia.
America companies are moulding our society with there adverts and catchy slogans, and these companies have succeeded like no other and this was all made possible by communicating to a world wide audience...
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