# How Important Is "Branding" To You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433 "2004-04-28T04:16:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/41 "2004-04-29T04:06:06Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > In regards as to whether I’m concerned with what image a certain product brings to me, no, not very much. > > However, there are some specific products that I won’t live without: Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, Diet Coke, and Lesueur Peas. All other products along these lines are inferior. Case closed. 😉 [Lesueur Peas](http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/products/product.asp?id=1170) [Jif Creamy Peanut Butter](http://www.jif.com/products/details.asp?prodID=325), the only food I have a psychological craving for… sorta like my wife and chocolate. My life is better for its existence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/42 "2004-04-29T05:39:59Z")
My brother is very trendy. (He is gay and lives in Atlanta) I am not trendy at all. Labels don’t do anything for me. Give me a cheap gray T-shirt and a pair of jeans and I am happy. The funny thing is, he used to work for Polo and would get a tremendous discount. Around the holidays, Polo would offer workers a 70 percent discount for one day. Needless to say, I wear a lot of Polo clothes. I may be wearing an $80 shirt, but I got it for free, so I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/43 "2004-04-29T14:40:51Z")
Like many others here, I avoid clothing that has an obvious logo. Paying a company to advertise their product? Not if I can help it. I tried asking an auto dealership once to remove their logo (the dealer’s logo, not the manufacturer’s logo) from the new car I wanted to buy off their lot. Their refusal was based on the “damage to the finish” that would result from removing it. They did take another $100 off the price, which made no real difference to either of us. On the other hand, I do depend on brands to reflect quality and/or taste. I buy certain brands of some food/drinks because I prefer their flavor. I look for certain brands of clothing because they fit me well but don’t restrict myself to them. I have preferred brands when it comes to electronics and cameras, etc., because I know and trust their quality - and they’re significant investments. I find that I also have a negative attitude toward people who do flaunt designer clothes, accessories, etc. I’ve never tried to explain it before, but I guess my feeling is that they’re not quite up to understanding that they’re being scammed and used by the corporations whose overpriced products they buy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/44 "2004-04-29T19:04:44Z")
I shop for value and quality. As someone who spent the lion’s share of his life (so far) being a penny-pinching cheapskate I will admit that sometimes the best value and quality is the “name brand”. Not always, but sometimes this is true. I am fortunate enough to now have an income that allows me to pretty much buy whatever I want/need. I used to only buy what was cheapest, generally. Lately, however, I have realized that the only person I’m cheating is myself and my family. If there is no descernable difference between “name brand” and generic, I get generic. However, in many cases this is not true. Sometimes better is just, well “better”. Coke is better than “Big K”. Levi’s are better than (whatever) from K-mart. Newcastle Brown Ale is better than Hamm’s. I’m not buying this stuff to impress anybody, I’m buying it because I enjoy it more than I would an inferior product. I drive a BMW because it is simply a superior automobile (and I got a deal you wouldn’t believe! 😉 ). My old man used to always tell me, “The most expensive thing in the world is a cheap tool”. Too many times have I understood exactly what he meant. I’ve learned that money is simply a tool. I choose to use mine wisely. P.S.- I have a pair of $300 sunglasses. I found them while skiing! Bonus! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/45 "2004-04-30T05:38:50Z")
Well, I must confess to enjoying “brand” stuff. However, maybe not in the sense the OP meant, in that I want people to look at me and think I’m cool… Heck, I’m at work right now wearing a Boss suit. Why am I wearing a Boss suit? Because it fits me perfectly, it looks great, it’s made of wonderful fabric, and I got it on sale at 60% off the price! Can people tell that I’m wearing a Boss suit? Possibly, if you’ve got the eye for it, but not necessarily. To most people it would just look like “nice looking suit”. So, to sum up my opinion, I agree with some previous posters regarding brand-name stuff; as long as it gives you value for money then it’s preferred. If I know that by spending $xxx extra on a shirt will give me a) more enjoyment and b) a longer lifetime for the shirt itself, then why not? Oh, and speaking of brand names (and specifically clothes now), there’s a difference between brands that SHOUT OUT TO THE WORLD WHAT YOU’RE WEARING (i.e. “Look at me I’m so cool, I wear DumbAss like everyone else”) - these I tend to stay away from; high-quality products from renowned name brands usually don’t advertise their names or logos at all! ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/46 "2004-04-30T12:16:23Z")
I see a pattern in some responses here. I would buy “BrandX” if it were better quality than “NameBrand”, but NameBrand is better so I buy it. I challenge this because many people assume “NameBrand” is better **because** it costs more. Read Consumer’s reports and you’ll see quite often that a NameBrand is equal or perhaps slightly better quality than Brand X; but rarely better enough to justify the price discrepency. Basically, you wind up paying for their advertising campaigns. Maybe I have more time on my hands, or I’m just anal about this, but a BrandName has to prove to me that they are worth the extra expense. So I do my research. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/47 "2004-04-30T12:17:29Z")
Ooops. That second line in my previous post was meant to be in quotation marks. It was not meant to be reflect my opionion. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433/48 "2004-04-30T13:04:03Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > “I would buy “BrandX” if it were better quality than “NameBrand”, but NameBrand is better so I buy it.” > > I challenge this because many people assume “NameBrand” is better **because** it costs more. Perhaps, but I don’t think this applies in the choice of foodstuffs where choice is far more subjective than in, say, jeans, autos or other products that have easily-measured standards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-branding-to-you/242433.md?page=2)