Witness Clairol Herbal Essence's recent makeover. Popular in the 1970s, the shampoo recently repositioned itself by focusing on the pleasurable experience of hair washing, rather than vainly trying to sell the end benefit of better looking hair to a shampoo weary public. Just Do It. A Different Kind of Car. A Different Kind of Company.
Products have life cycles.
However, continued success in the cult of brands ultimately involves self-cannibalization. Business culture cheerleaders like author Tom Peters act unconcerned as brands rush into a corporate vacuum devoid of moral or philosophical underpinnings and create a razor-thin religious and social hybrid. For Peters, the final evolutionary step for brands involves consumers understanding their own unique traits as comprising a micro-brand. In Peters' world, everything is reduced to a saleable commodity. If we continue to allow business to replace civil society, advertising will replace cultural functions normally ascribed to writers, musicians and artists.