Brands, their material base? was Re: My Take on Competition

[Carrol Cox]

Jim Devine wrote:

>
> Michael Perelman's main example of IP (or at least the one he emphasized)
> was Nike's branding. He also referred to IP in music (on CDs), videos, and
> software. Except for the last, there's no obvious connection between IP and
> "technological strength."

A point I raised on this got lost in the shuffle. Microsoft has (protected by
IP) an actual monopoly on the *product*. Nike only has  IP on its name
and its various advertising slogans. Hence, I argued, Nike should be compared
not to Microsoft but to (for example) Morton's salt and the advertising
slogan, "When it rains, it pours." That is, products (shoes or salt) equal to
the branded product (by usability standards) exist but the branding provides
an illusion of product differentiation. Someone called this a mass
hallucination or something like that. I argued that that metaphor was a
barrier to understanding brands as a social institution. Then the whole
thing went down some other track. I'll have to see if I can find my
original post, which I don't remember in detail now.

Carrol