¶ … Branding is one of the ways in which marketing impacts consumer identity, often in a very personal way. Growing up, whether an adolescent wears Nike sneakers or a less premium brand of shoe 'says' something about his or her coolness and status. Wearing Lucky or Seven jeans vs. jeans from Sears communicates a wearer's sense of style, concern about fashion, and her economic class. Although all of these articles of clothing fulfill the same basic function of covering the human body, because of the social resonance given to these names by successful advertising and marketing, the brand names of particular products come to say something about the individual wearing them, and thus people develop brand loyalty.
For some very resonant brand names, just to say that someone 'shops at Whole Foods and sips lattes from Starbucks' suggests that the individual comes from a different demographic and has different ethical concerns than an individual who shops at Wal-Mart and drinks Dunkin' Doughnuts coffee every morning. However, even the most successful brand must change with the times or lose its brand equity, the real and perceived value of its brand 'stock.' Even if the brand has an indelible image, if tastes change, the company must vary its formula and change its brand associations. Because of the increased concern about obesity, which has come to outweigh concerns about convenience, McDonald's image as a family-forward, all-American company has become tarnished, and now the fast food giant features healthy options as well as its large portions. Its commercials proclaim the cheapness of its dollar menu rather than feature images of families eating under the golden arches. Instead of seeming hypocritical by stressing family values, McDonald's stresses the ability of consumers to save money by eating its food and makes a token nod to obesity concerns by offering salads.
However, equally dangerous as not varying the brand image to change with consumer tastes is expanding too quickly and diluting the successful image of one's brand, as some feel may have occurred when Starbucks began to offer sandwiches and teas. Also, offering inconsistent products under the image of a brand carefully honed over years of marketing is dangerous, one reason why luxury brands like Cartier do not have discount lines of products.
