I came across Jane’s brand timeline and was very intrigued at letting brands tell the story of your life.
Here’s what a random day in my life looks like, told through the eyes of brands:
0900. Good morning, Dave.
0930. The costume
1047. Rise and shine
1105. What’s going on in the world?
1247. Let’s do lunch
1442. You’re on
1807. Refuel and reconnect
2028. Productivity
2345. Y halo thar, internets!
0108. Power down
The brands listed had a somewhat significant impact on that particular day. If I took a crack at putting down every single brand I came into contact with, this post would be larger by several orders of magnitude. For example, I could have included the bands I listened to, the ads I saw, the branded clothes of people that I saw walking around. If I went into a grocery store or a mall, this could have gone on forever.
It’s amazing at how much of your daily life is comprised of interacting with or talking about brands…and how you become self-conscious of publicly associating yourself with certain brands. It makes me wonder whether I’d put down Metamucil, Barry Manilow or Vagisil if it applied to me. In short, it made me think about how much of my identity is ascribed to brands.
Whether this is isolated to Gen Y is debatable. Though I’m still not convinced that this exposure to brands on this scale makes us marketing savvy.
