Don’t be a Victim of Brand Marketing

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Chances are you have wasted tons of money by falling for brand marketing. It’s okay, it happens to all of us. Brand marketing is when companies make you believe a certain perception of a brand rather than the product. This is done so you think that all the products of a certain brand are better than other products, without looking at the specific product. Let’s take an example of the two brands, Old Spice and Zest. Both are brands involved in making personal hygiene products; however consumers say they think Old Spice is the better brand.

Zest Hair + Body body wash claims to be superior over Old Spice High Endurance Body Wash because it offers both a hair and body wash. However, Old Spice claims to be better because it offers a "3x Clean Guaranteed." A closer look at the ingredients provides interesting results.

The ingredients in Zest are Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betane, Fragrance, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Polyquaternium-10, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Yellow 10, Green 3.

The Ingredients in Old Spice are: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betane, Fragrance, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Polyquaternium-10, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Green 3, Green 5, Red 33

Did you feel déjà vu when you read the second list of ingredients? That would be because the ingredients are the EXACTLY SAME (other than the colors of the body wash which is unimportant). Furthermore, both products are made by Proctor and Gamble. If Proctor and Gamble truly believed one these two products were superior, why would they waste money making the other? The price for Zest is about $3.59 for an 18oz bottle, and Old Spice costs $4.63 for an 18oz bottle at the same store. Both products offer the same ingredients, same size, yet Old Spice is more than a dollar more. Why? Brand Marketing! Old Spice is perceived as a better brand, even though it is the exact same thing as Zest, so people are willing to pay more money for it, for no reason whatsoever. Don’t be a victim of brand marketing. Don’t be suckered into paying more money for the same product. Look at ingredients, who makes the product, make sure that if you are paying more money for something, you have a good reason to.