Will it really make a difference to your life if you wear a Versace jacket? Or will you turn blind if you don’t wear Armani shades? Don’t know why I am asking these questions. Don’t know why I am even bothered.But somewhere brands (read: the way we would like people to look at us) make a difference. So, what’s your brand?
Every one of us portrays a brand image—basically, it’s the way we want people to see us. It makes a difference since people react in different ways to it. But if a homeless man is picked up from the street and given a makeover by Valentino, will it make any difference to his life. People, of course, will look at him differently. But will they buy him dinner because of Valentino?
Poor Valentino, it’s not his fault. But what I am trying to say is that it is important to build one’s own brand because there is no designer for that.
Let’s go a bit deeper now. Some brands have inherent qualities, which are not apparent in the beginning—much like humans.
Scene 1: For instance, I rode a Royal Enfield motorcycle to Pushkar. It was a ride of about 1000 kilometres. The roads were good and the guys at Royal Enfield swear by their bikes’s tripping value. But I had a torrid time with the bike. It was big and powerful but low on quality. Halfway through the trip the battery fell off and I had tear my t-shirt to tie it into place.
Scene 2: On my way to Ladakh I had chosen a bike from Honda. It was small in comparison to the Royal Enfield but I was sure of one thing—the brand ‘Japanese’. And true to my prediction, the small 150 cc Jap bike took me through the most treacherous roads and the most deceitful conditions that anyone can throw at you.
Honda is Japanese and Royal Enfield is genetically a British thumper. But does Royal Enfield’s mediocre performance mean to say that all British things are bad?
Now both brands made a difference to my life. A macho guy would love to be seen with a Royal Enfield than a puny Honda.
But does it really matter? When it comes to ground zero, brands fall apart.
Make your life a brand because death doesn’t have any.
