Eight functions of brands

“Mythological symbols touch and exhilarate centers of life beyond the reach of vocabularies and coercion.”
- Joseph Campbell, Masks of God, Vol. 4
There are a lot of brand gurus out there, but, as in the quote above about symbols, the function of brands is almost impossible to explain fully.

I've been reading a lot about the role of brands lately and have put together this short list of the many functions of brands below. One thing to remember in any discussion on brands is to distinguish between high-involvement and low-involvement products, consumer and business-to-business products, product-heavy and service-heavy products. A weakness in many books about branding is that they tend to look mainly at the well-known brands (celebrity brands) and ignore just about everything else. Another thing to remember is that many of the roles outlined below overlap.


Another day on the farm

So what are some of the functions of brands? These all take the perspective of the consumer:

1. They reconcile our craving for individual identity and the desire to belong to something beyond ourselves.
2. They act as an umbilical chord to something or somebody else.
3. They influence and reflect our quest for meaning.
4. They are dream catalysts (They allow us to tell ourselves lies that we want to believe).
5. They present a world as it ought to be rather than it is. (Deception?)
6. They simplify the buying process and they simplify our world.
7. They broadcast our values and signal group affiliations.
8. They ignite our memories of past experiences, thereby influencing today's choices.

The common theme is the notion of transcendence beyond the material. Plus, as mentioned before, there are multiple functions, many of which are deeply personal (think iPod) and not fully controlled by the firms behind the brand. Anyway, the list reflects some of the thinking about brands from various sources. If you have any comments/ideas, I'd love to hear from you!