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Plenty of factors are helping humans to move on from brand worship: 1. More information. The iconning brands like Harley or Marlboro are from pre-internet era

by lebaux 6y ago

Plenty of factors are helping humans to move on from brand worship: 1. More information. The iconning brands like Harley or Marlboro are from pre-internet era and heavily relied on freedom image. It was just accepted as an expression of culture. This doesn't really work when wages are not rising with GDP. In other words, people care less about brand and more about utility and price. 2. Better and more accessible competition from around the world. 3. Influencers. I know it is cool to hate them, but there are many building a brand around "one of us". As an example, one of the most popular female youtubers is doing shopping "hauls" in regular shops. You probably don't know that, why would HN watch beauty youtubers. But consider this. Linus Tech Tips is also influence marketing and you can see him talking about Linux, cheap peripherals, bashing Intel. Every category has its Linus. These people have tremendous pull, especially since younger people don't watch TV at all. 4. COVID-19. I speculate that the pandemic exposed how many companies have no reserves (either to low profits or simple because the executives are draining profits). 5. ...and many more, feel free to add.

wahern 6y ago
> Plenty of factors are helping humans to move on from brand worship I only buy major brand-named items on Amazon, and only with Amazon as the seller. The one indispensable characteristic of branding, reputation, is more important than ever even though most brands' reputations are in the dumpster. Knock-offs of unknown or unreliable provenance just happen to be even worse. And even when you find a good non-branded item, reputation is still worse as non-branded items seem to change suppliers more regularly than the branded versions, and supply chain integrity is less trustworthy. In brick & mortar stores I always reach for the generic, in-house brand (assuming the price is lower) knowing that invariably they're made by the same manufacturer as one of the major brands. But contrast that with Amazon's in-house brands, where it's unlikely they source from the same manufacturer as the major brands, and also seem to change suppliers more regularly. American gun manufacturers have been outsourcing production for years. But that doesn't mean people no longer care about brands. Rather, many of those suppliers have made a name for themselves outright, or improved upon their previously lackluster reputation; those are the brands you often hear about today when people give recommendations.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  This has mostly been my experience (discounting the guns, as I don't have any interest in them). Amazon's actual brands like AmazonBasics seem to be relatively consistent in quality, but they have an awful lot of stuff sold by resellers whose names are clearly random capital letters strung together. During the pandemic, I've shifted more and more of my online shopping to Walmart.com, which -- while it has an increasing share of weird third-party sellers -- doesn't seem to have nearly the same level of out-and-out scams, and to ordering from manufacturers directly. Not only do I feel I'm more likely to get the real thing when I'm ordering that way, it's become surprisingly common for me to find cheaper prices than Amazon's.
goatinaboat 6y ago
More information. The iconning brands like Harley or Marlboro are from pre-internet era and heavily relied on freedom image. It was just accepted as an expression of culture. This doesn't really work when wages are not rising with GDP. In other words, people care less about brand and more about utility and price. It's also a factor that so many companies nowadays see their brand built over decades by previous generations of workers and management as just another resource to suck dry. Shareholders are blinded to this but they ought to be angry, that is the long-term value of their investment being burnt to paper over management's lack of strategic vision.
wonderwonder 6y ago
I love amazon for the ability to buy unbranded cheap clothes. Tshirt costs me 10 bucks, and they are better quality than anything I find in a brick and mortar store for double that price. All I wear is plain tshirts so they are great. Same with the basketball style shorts I wear sitting around the house all day (I work remotely) I still buy branded jeans though, but 1 pair of jeans for $100 lasts me 5 years. I will probably try an amazon pair of jeans one of these days.

by lebaux 6y ago

wahern 6y ago

> Plenty of factors are helping humans to move on from brand worship I only buy major brand-named items on Amazon, and only with Amazon as the seller. The one indispensable characteristic of branding, reputation, is more important than ever even though most brands' reputations are in the dumpster. Knock-offs of unknown or unreliable provenance just happen to be even worse. And even when you find a good non-branded item, reputation is still worse as non-branded items seem to change suppliers more regularly than the branded versions, and supply chain integrity is less trustworthy. In brick & mortar stores I always reach for the generic, in-house brand (assuming the price is lower) knowing that invariably they're made by the same manufacturer as one of the major brands. But contrast that with Amazon's in-house brands, where it's unlikely they source from the same manufacturer as the major brands, and also seem to change suppliers more regularly. American gun manufacturers have been outsourcing production for years. But that doesn't mean people no longer care about brands. Rather, many of those suppliers have made a name for themselves outright, or improved upon their previously lackluster reputation; those are the brands you often hear about today when people give recommendations.

chipotle_coyote 6y ago
This has mostly been my experience (discounting the guns, as I don't have any interest in them). Amazon's actual brands like AmazonBasics seem to be relatively consistent in quality, but they have an awful lot of stuff sold by resellers whose names are clearly random capital letters strung together. During the pandemic, I've shifted more and more of my online shopping to Walmart.com, which -- while it has an increasing share of weird third-party sellers -- doesn't seem to have nearly the same level of out-and-out scams, and to ordering from manufacturers directly. Not only do I feel I'm more likely to get the real thing when I'm ordering that way, it's become surprisingly common for me to find cheaper prices than Amazon's.

goatinaboat 6y ago

More information. The iconning brands like Harley or Marlboro are from pre-internet era and heavily relied on freedom image. It was just accepted as an expression of culture. This doesn't really work when wages are not rising with GDP. In other words, people care less about brand and more about utility and price. It's also a factor that so many companies nowadays see their brand built over decades by previous generations of workers and management as just another resource to suck dry. Shareholders are blinded to this but they ought to be angry, that is the long-term value of their investment being burnt to paper over management's lack of strategic vision.

wonderwonder 6y ago

I love amazon for the ability to buy unbranded cheap clothes. Tshirt costs me 10 bucks, and they are better quality than anything I find in a brick and mortar store for double that price. All I wear is plain tshirts so they are great. Same with the basketball style shorts I wear sitting around the house all day (I work remotely) I still buy branded jeans though, but 1 pair of jeans for $100 lasts me 5 years. I will probably try an amazon pair of jeans one of these days.