Brand Love through the Ages
August 9th, 2007
There was a fair amount of outrage regarding yesterday’s revelation that children aged 3-5 overwhelmingly preferred identical food wrapped in McDonald’s packaging. They not only preferred it, they claimed that it tasted better! This has brought back to the forefront concerns over marketing to children, childhood obesity, and a host of other kid issues.
I am by no means an expert in marketing to children or in McDonald’s marketing tactics, so I’ll offer a different theory. Perhaps we are all preprogrammed to want to associate & define ourselves with brands and McDonald’s is just the first one that little humans find themselves exposed to on a regular basis. As we age, the number of brands to which we have access greatly proliferates and we start fragmenting into more specialized brands communities.
Late in 2006, I wrote about a major let down from a brand with which I had previously found extremely aspirational (St. John Knit). Luckily enough, at age 31, there is no end to my options for where to spend my money and ways to show my brand love. During my pregnancy, shopping for clothes has no longer been a fun thing, so I have turned to shoes. At about 5 months pregnant, I found a fabulous pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes (on sale no less) large enough to fit my expanding paws that created my only real retail rush of the last 9 months. Would this have happened had I found the exact same shoes without the navy label and gorgeous box to go with it? Heck no - it is the brand and the fashionable lifestyle with which I associate Stuart Weitzman that made me feel like I could still live the dream.
Maybe McDonald’s is just the first brand dream with which youngsters are consistently presented. The toys probably don’t hurt either…
Other posts by Virginia.
Patrick says:
I just returned for a Thursday morning Bible Study I attend on a regular basis and this morning we were dicsussing the passage concerning “wolves in sheeps clothing.” I did watch the documentary, Super Size me a while back and while I disagree with some of the allegations I do understand that a big part of McDonald’s strategy is to get you to feel good about their products at an early age. Even though I know their stuff is not the highest quality it still makes me “feel good” in a nostalgic way. That’s scary because even at my age I can be a sucker for “nostalgia” as much as my parents. That “80’s Cafe” in Back to the Future Part II is already looking like a place I would love to go to. Something to think about and consider.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:53 amScott says:
As a branding agency I find this situation strange. I think McDonald’s has done a masterful branding job. Parents need to remember that their 4 year old doesn’t have a wallet and can’t buy their own food. It’s the parents job to feed them, not the other way around. Maybe parents should take more responsibilty in their actions. If you think McDonald’s food is bad don’t go there.
August 11th, 2007 at 6:47 am