So the other day my sister and I ended up browsing home items at Hudson’s Bay. In the distance we spotted some fancy towels and bath robes, so we decided to explore. To see how much of a “quality” product these highly priced towels were, I felt them to see if they were super soft or had that high quality feel to it. Utterly disappointed I turned to my sister and said “they’re just normal towels yo”, but she couldn’t believe that Calvin Klein towels weren’t all that, so she insisted that they would maybe be better quality or that they were soft and we just couldn’t tell.

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This is the power that today’s top clothing brands have over their consumers. They have managed to build such a strong brand image over the recent years that even if they do not produce a great product, they can still make people believe than there is more than what it is. An important part of this is the pricing. Often time, people think that the higher priced products are better, since they believe that these products would be of more quality. This concept is called “price skimming”, where companies set high prices in order to broadcast an image of prestige or quality.

The second important part of building this brand image is differentiating their products from others. Polo (Ralph Lauren) uses their signature “3” and the horse logo to build on their brand and show that they are different from others.

A jewellery company such as “Tiffany and Co” who might not be able to show that they are indeed different from competitors have emphasised on quality and the attractiveness of their products. In addition, they have been spending huge amounts of money on endorsements since the times of Marilyn Monroe, promoting their signature blue box throughout the history of films and even in today’s TV shows to raise consumer awareness. The company tops this with great customer service, then being quite different from your ordinary jewellery store.

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Another way that brands market themselves is through creating trends. You might have heard of the phrase “it’s gucci” which many people have started to use as slang for “it’s good” or “its cool”. The slang is derived from the fashion brand Gucci, which people believe is “rich” or “ballin”, therefore “cool” or “good”. Things like this popularise a brand and help it to appeal to a larger audience.