Financial Value: Branded Gratification.

Every object has two ways of measuring its value. One is financially the other is emotionally, the latter will be discussed as part of the double-bill finale, the former will be discussed now.

If I was to show up to a business meeting driving a BMW, wearing a Prada skirt and jacket, Monolo Blanihk shoes, and brandishing a leather bag with the word Dior engraved subtly on the metal catch, I would be emitting sings of financial success and therefore, professionalism, ability and confidence. Whether this was my intention or not, it will happen. This is because there are certain brands that everyone knows, and understands the financial cost of, whether it’s cheap or expensive.

I drive a Ford Ka, it’s small, impractical for large loads of people or luggage, but it does the job, it’s served me well during the four years that I’ve owned it. But I am aware that I will have to upgrade one day, as I earn more money and I can afford more, the social implications of the consumer world will encourage me to change my car, to upgrade it to one that reflects how I feel I have progressed in life. This is a form of self-gratification.

According to the social implications of branding I have not ‘made it’ in life until I own a car, or a house, or any other branded object that holds such successful symbolism. The brands that cost the most, that have the best advertising and that apparently produce the best quality objects are the ones that reward the consumer by physically emanating success.

Without a healthy advertising campaign and brand presence the object’s social value will be worth nothing. It is through preconceptions of a brand and the stereotypical opinions of those owning it and not owning it that its financial value exists.

However, unless there are cars like mine on the road, with dents, and rust, then the new BMW or Porsche would be worth nothing. Our gratification and personal financial success might be emanated to the external environment by our brand purchasing decisions, but the true value only exists when it is compared to another object, when we know we are better off than our neighbours and our friends because of the kind of car we drive, the brand of jeans we wear, the supermarket we use.

This results in psychological damage, when we end up over-worked, seeing our friends and families less and less, and becoming too stressed about the things in life that are less-important. Success is measured from the inside, but it is so easy to be caught up in the social hype that demands us to buy out of our means in order to feel like we are achieving, and to feel like we are meeting the goals, demands and expectations of our neighbours, peers, and colleagues.

It’s hard to break such expectations; it takes a lot of inner self-confidence and the knowledge to exist in the consumer world by standing out and going against the grain; by questioning the social expectations and blatantly challenging them.