Since at least the 1920s, brands have steered our cultural zeitgeist. They’ve done this by seeding ideas into the minds of consumers until, ultimately, they become conventional wisdom. Think about it—a brand established mass agreement on what Santa Claus actually looked like (at least, in Western popular culture). A brand also convinced us that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Another one told us that “diamonds are forever,” cementing the idea of the modern engagement ring.
Brands dictated what was culturally important and helped establish our social rituals.
And then, the internet came along and empowered consumers. They could search for their own world view, and didn’t need brands in the same way. Instead of dictating culture, brands started playing defense against it, pandering to its fleeting trends and scrambling for relevance in an increasingly mercurial world. We see this shift in at least three ways, through brands’:
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