Is Branding Dead? Ask These Kids.

As a followup to my post, Is Branding Dead? Our Brains Say No, here’s more evidence that advertising-driven branding is alive and well. In this video, neuromarketing expert Martin Lindstrom conducts a series of on-camera experiments with a group of “tweens,” kids 8 to 12 years old:

It’s evident that these young people have amazing brand awareness, and exhibit a preference for branded products over generic ones. While some of the brand identifications are experiental, like identifying Play-Doh from its smell, many of the others are advertising-driven.

Watching the potency of brand messages at this young age makes it hard to suggest there is any kind of branding malaise or irrelevance.