Children of marketing - Part 3

… place like Starbucks. Anyone who has ever been to London knows that there are Starbucks every five meters. Those places are populated with people from lower to middle class that treat it like we treat McDonald's nowadays - as a relatively cheap place to grab something to drink or eat.

(image source: http://blog.jakubkazmierczyk.pl)

Of course down here in our little country Starbucks , which is a destination where you go if you want to show off. In order to do so you need to grab a camera, go to Starbucks, order a coffee and make a photo of yourself holding the cup. Make sure the logo is visible! What's even cooler is that you can put your MacBook or iPhone in the picture to maximize the amount of awe you will induce in your friends. Now put it on your Facebook and profit. Couldn't be simpler! On a more serious note it is scary to think that if we had Facebook or Nasza-Klasa seventeen years ago we would see photos of people holding McDonald's cups. I am sure that Starbucks will eventually share McDonald's fate when more coffee places are opened, more people start using it, thus lowering its elitist and trendy vector. Right now though it remains the no. 1 place to show off in Warsaw.

(image source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com)

Another thing after electronics and food is the clothing. There are many different brands that are at most of average prestige in the country of their origin but are absurdly overpriced and held in a very high esteem in Poland or in Europe in general. The most prominent example is arguably the Tommy Hilfiger brand. I've done a little research to compare the prices of the same piece of clothing sold in USA and in the European Union. I've chosen a nice looking, green sweater. In the American online store the sweater costs 50 USD (~150 zloty) while in Europe one has to pay 100 (~400 zloty) euros. That's almost three times as much for the same exact thing! The reason for it is exactly the same as was the reason for the Apple products. In Poland brands like Tommy Hilfiger (or, for example, Lacoste) are considered to be premium clothing while in the United States they are associated with regular clothes (like Diverse or Reserved in our country). In other words, you pay for the ability to show off the logo in front of others. You know what to do now. Go to your Facebook and check the photos of your friends. The probability of finding a picture with a screaming white, red, blue Tommy Hilifger logo is very, very high.

(image source: http://www.dealio.com)

To sum up: many people nowadays are driven by a need to show off in front of their friends. It could be a new worthless digital gadget, a plastic cup from an ordinary coffee place that pretends to be something more or an overpriced pair of jeans but the idea is always the same: to get something that is considered to be:

• trendy


• premium (more expensive than a regular thing)


• craved by others (for example, your Facebook friends!)


• heavily marketed (you need it even if you don't know that yet)

Eventually, current show off brands will become common (like McDonald's in the past) and less exciting but there always will be something new to replace them. Because how else would you prove your friends that your life is that much better than theirs?

Questions:

• Let’s imagine following situation: you and your boyfriend/girlfriend are sitting in Starbucks opposite to each other. Now, do you talk via your mouth or via iChat? Oh, I know you can think how stupid I am but I have seen such situations many times. Is it normal thing? :/


• What is your favorite café?


• What kind of photos are presented on your facebook (or nk) profile? Is it your car, 60 inch TV, bottles of vodka (very popular) or maybe just you and your dog?:)