I am The Brand

(On 1st of Dec 2013 mid night 1:40am, I was glancing the Tech Specs of the Jaguar Land Rover and I was astonished to know the fact that the this Brand has been acquired by our very own  TATA motors. I was Puzzled as to why don’t we have the name changed to  "Tata -  Jaguar" or "Tata - Land Rover".

This Puzzle made me come up with the below post.., though its totally unrelated to the Jaguar or the TATA.., The Brand names made me think..,)

I am The Brand…!! \m/

 As you grow, you get to meet a wide variety of people. Not that you did not have an opportunity to meet different set of people when you were young, but as you grow, you will develop a skill to understand people, their nature and what they actually are..,

When we all were young we used to do things that we liked to do. We used to like things that made us feel happy and there were no **CONDITIONS applied to them.., For an instance lets say when you were in 5th grade and you Pass by a toy shop. Where, you liked a toy car and you want to own it.., You insist your parents to get it for you and once you have got it, you are the most happiest person on this Planet..!!!

You would like to keep it with you through out the day and even at night.., when you are in your bed at night you would love to have it with you..,

That would be the first thing you would want to see as you wake up in the morning..,

You would have hide it in your bag and carry it to your school.., Admire it, Play with it when ever you got an opportunity. You would be waiting for that moment to go back to your home and play with it..,

I am very sure that every one would have done this. It might be a Toy car, a bike, a watch, a doll (Teddy bear and Barbie, HeMan, GI-Joe) etc. etc. etc..,

Same logic would have had applied to the outfits that we selected, the shoes, the accessories that we used as kids (Unless influenced by external factors like Parents choices or their preferences) 

You go out with your Parents to shop cloths, shoes etc.., all that mattered as a kid was LIKE. You liked it you wanted it.., If An outfit attracted you, you would want it, Period and you would be enjoying every moment wearing it..,

It’s a true joy.., that’s not influenced by anything…, It’s a Pure Personal Pleasure of wearing a dress that you really liked, doing things u loved to (in general)..,

As we grow up we (most of us) consider our Likings to be secondary and we make social acceptance / approval as Primary (Though society does not care as to what you are up to).

We see many people around us who are Very Much Brand Conscious.

As far as I could see, there are 2 kinds of Brand Conscious People around us.

1) These are the People who would have had used a single brand for a long duration of time and they are so used to the Brand that cant change the Brand. That brand would be running in their blood :D

I guess this is a genuine addiction of the Brand with which they grew up and its very difficult or (with some People) probably impossible to change the brand.

2) The second type of Brand Conscious People are the one, who are brand conscious, as they would like to be accepted in the society. These are the one who would liked to be recognized in the society by the brand they use. They are the one who would like to be identified by the logos of the commodities that they use.   

These are the set of People who would shed Extra Bucks Just for the logo on the products they use.

For an instance. If we ask them to choose a Product lets take an example of a Tee Shirts. 2 shirts of same quality, same color and even the same comfort level that they would Provide on using them.., In other words 2 identical shirts but with 2 differences...

*On one of the Shirts there would be a logo of a Top Brand and other without any logos. 

*The one with logo would cost 2000 Bucks and the one without Logo would cost 1200 Bucks.

Now.., What do you think the Second type of Brand Conscious People do…??

Yes…!!! you guessed it right.., They would obviously go for the one with logo.

They would always want to be defined by a brand. They feel so very Proud to wear the Brand and The Brand Defining them…,

Hey Hold on.., Are we missing something…??

I think Yes.., I Think, We are missing something..,

Something Major…,

Here arises few questions…,

Do WE (I), need to define Ourselves (Myself)…?

                                      or  

Does the Brand that we use.., should define us…?   

                                     or

Should People around us define us…?

Do we really Know what we are (as an Individual)…?

Have we ever made an attempt to Define ourselves..?

Have we ever Tried to STOP People defining us..??

Okay.., Okay.., That’s enough.., we have too many questions here..,

Just to make things simple, we shall get back to the TYPE 2 Brand conscious People.

Imagine, what would happen if we make the TYPE 2 Brand Conscious People to get out of their home with an outfit which does not have a logo of any brand…?

That would be the worst day of their life… They feel so insecure of not having a logo on their attire.., They would be occupied by the fear of not being accepted in the society..,

These (here using "these" because they would have used multiple brands for the same commodity) brand would have defined them so much that the rest of the world might not actually consider them (as an individual) with out a logo, because they would have failed to make an impression in Peoples mind and heart for the Person they are..,

They would have not defined themselves as a Person but as a user of  Branded commodities. And without the brand they are nothing..

Deep inside their hearts, when they introspect, they will discover that they use the Branded commodities Just for the sake of others and not really for themselves.

Finally what I feel is, People who are not confident enough of being the person he / she is depends upon the brands to gain self-confidence.

25% of what they are and 75% of the brand defines them…

What I really feel is..,

Be yourself a Brand… Define yourself.. Get admired for the Person you are and not for the Brand you use…

One should always be confident to say -  I do not need any Brand or a  logo to define me..

One Should be confident enough to say

"I AM THE BRAND \m/"

Avinash K V Unique