Short thought on brands

Branding has become a modern mantra. To listen to some authorities, the brand is the most important part of the marketing operation. Brands have their Bible, making sure that fonts, logos, straplines and all the rest of it is kept pure and holy by the ruffians who may not know or care.
Some people are attracted to brands. They sport the labels to prove they are buying, consuming, the right products. Some people keep the tags on to make sure you know it's genuine (and therefore probably expensive) and not the mirror image knock off.
Sometimes, of course the genuine article will save your life, and the brand may be an assurance of that. But no-one ever got killed by a pair of jeans.
But it's not for me.
The product is the most important thing. I do not care for logos on their own. If the product isn't any good the brand also is probably rubbish. You can stick your logo on any amount of goods. Things do not become magically worth far more because they have a prestigious label attached; although they may sell for far more. I recall when people walked around with the word 'Bench' in very large letters across their bum. Or when 'Joe Bloggs' was seen everywhere (Gone bust now I believe).
Make a product that is honest, does what it says and then hang your branding on that if you want to. Style it modestly if need be. But don't just stick a logo on it.

References:

Naoni Klein, No logo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Logo
Adbusters: http://adbusters.org
Branding: http://www.wefirstbranding.com/advertising/what-to-do-when-good-brands-make-bad-things-or-bad-brands-do-good/
https://www.brandingmag.com/2013/08/15/is-luxury-branding-bad-for-society/
Personal branding: http://www.brandquarterly.com/why-personal-branding-sucks-and-is-bad