HOW
BRANDS BUY US

Topics: Appetites; Belonging; Choices; Culture; Entertainment; Idolatry; Lifestyle; Possessions; Satisfaction; Self-centeredness; Self-worth

References: Psalm 86:11; 115:4–8; Proverbs 8:10–11

When you buy something, you can join any number of tribes on any number of days and feel part of something bigger than yourself. You can belong to the Callaway tribe when you play golf, the VW tribe when you drive to work, and the Williams-Sonoma tribe when you cook a meal. You’re part of a select clan (or so you feel) when you buy products from these clearly differentiated companies. So says Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap.

Brands are the little gods of modern life, each ruling a different need, activity, mood, or situation. Yet you’re in control, Neumeier says. If your latest god falls from Olympus, you can switch to another one.

—Based on Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap (AIGA, 2006)