on brands and self-branding

while sitting down for a leisurely cup of coffee so hard to come by these days, my colleagues and i were on the topic of "brands".

the word "brand" connotes several different explanations in today's consumer-corporate society.
- the consumer brand -- your Prada wallet, your Gucci handbag, and your apple iPhone.
- the corporate/product brand -- the purest Evian water for the health conscious, the stylish Sony Vaio notebook every modern fashionista must have.
- and the self-branding -- Amicable Amy, Resourceful Randall, Passionate Peter, Confident Connie.

what we so eagerly chirped about were consumer brands, which inevitably leads to the newly embraced obsession towards self-branding.

Colleague W related her experience of shopping together - and separately - with a friend of hers. while she went for 49.90 bags, her friend was trying on 499 clothes. and according to W, her friend "ain't necessarily lookin' shit hot in those 499 clothes".

and those two friends shall never meet. well at least, not in terms of priorities.

is it a matter of salaries and positions? or do these two friends simply possess starkly different priorities? why do some working people not think twice about spending half their paychecks on an LV handbag, while others see no problem with using $10 ones sold at pasar malams or on pushcarts?

some argue that they pursue brands for a better fit with their job nature. wouldn't a 30-year old sales manager look "more pleasing to the client's eye" carrying a Prada tote, a Gucci coin pouch, an LV namecard case and a Givenchy tissue holder? and wouldn't a Marketing Director feel more empowered with a Montblanc pen clipped on his coat's breast pocket?

W went on to illustrate their differences by explaining how she justifies her decision to buy a poorer-quality $20 bag by dividing the price into cost-per-usage units. "If this $20 bag lasts 40 times of usage, that works out to only $0.50 per use. Isn't it more worth it," she quipped rather adorably.

no doubt about that. I stand by this interesting justification method. in fact, instead of splurging $4000 on a Chanel bag, i can own a hundred $40 bags of different designs and functionalities. that's like, having a new bag to carry every 3 days.

now, it may seem i have a personal grievance against expensive brands. that's not true, i just have a problem with peeps who view the wearing of branded goods as the best way of self-branding.

self-branding is now touted as absolutely necessary in order to standout in a workplace, aside from performing well in your job scope. but self-branding does not mean, layering yourself with brands.

certainly, conventionally and typically, only successful people can afford these highly-prized (and highly-priced) possessions. but most of these successful people are termed successful for a reason. they understand the talents and personality traits they possess and they work hard to make it known in their workplace. in other words, they are valued and recognized for their personal brand and not for the physical brands they carry. just as how marketeers brand their products with emotional adjectives to engage a tad of top-of-mind recall in people's minds, surely your CEO would take better notice of a daring, driven manager than a character-less YSL-draped mannequin?

while i'm still working hard to prove myself in a workplace crowded with pools of talents, a once-in-a-while soul-searching is needed to complement the hardwork i put in. Gucci or no Gucci, making your boss sit up and notice you has got to be far more superior than receiving envious stares due to your latest brand-worthy splurge.