Chapter 2 Summary: No Logo

This second chapter focuses mainly on the shift from advertising separate from culture to advertising becoming culture. It started with the steady enlargement of the brand logo on all products and the targeting of younger and younger generations, to create brand loyalty. Today the brands have blurred all lines between actual culture and the lifestyle they are advertising. This ranges from, for example, painting an entire street silver to promote a new line of Levi’s jeans to the creating of events where the brand is at the center of attention instead of the actual event. It used to be that rock concerts, for example, were about the singer/band that was performing, and the company sponsoring it was never associated completely with the event. Since this didn’t allow the companies to be as prominent as they wished to be, they began creating events of their own, where the singer/ band remained unknown until the very end. It has even gone so far that people themselves have become fused with the brand they represent; they are basically a brand of their own. The most famous example of this is Michael Jordan, whose career was boosted into Superstardom by Nike. Overall, brands are starting to infiltrate our perceptions of culture.

Summary of Chapter 1 of 'No Logo'

New Branded World

This chapter focuses on the differences in advertising and branding, and how marketing techniques and focus have changed over the years. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the focus was on advertising a new product, presenting the people with a product that would make their life more efficient. Yet as products were mass produced by machinery, several companies could create the same or similar products; now the goal was to 'persuade' the consumers to choose one product over the other. Branding already started as early as the 1880's, where brands such as Uncle Ben's created brand loyalty by putting friendly, familiar faces as their icons. However, real worth wasn't associated with the 'image' of a brand until the 1980's, when Philip Morris bought Kraft for six times its worth; however, others were soon to catch on to the 'brand hype'. Of course this also called for almost aggressive expansionism in the advertising industry. Nowadays, it is all about selling an image or lifestyle, which is called branding. Brands create familiarity and emotionally tie the consumers to them. They aren't even responsible for the production of their products anymore, which is delegated to companies in 3rd world countries. Overall, one thing is evident: the brand has become more important than the product.