Propaganda Branding

Brands have the ability to influence a person’s perception about themselves and the people around them. They do this by using repeated imagery/symbolism to make a point, one which the consumer is meant to accept on a conscious or subconscious level. Some brands, especially nation brands, create a following by exaggerating facts to the point where the receiver accepts them as the whole truth. In this case, more often than not, we refer to their tactics as propaganda branding.

Propaganda is set communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community towards some cause or position by presenting one side of an argument favourable to the sender. It utilises various forms of media repeatedly to get its message across. Propaganda presents information to influence an audience. It is also used to further a religious, political or commercial agenda. For it to work there has to be a careful selection of facts, usually blown out of proportion to further an agenda. Propaganda works exceedingly well with visually engaging imagery and to prove this I have provided an example of one nation branding campaign which used propaganda to sway people into believing a certain ideology.


Figure 1 & 2: German Nazi propaganda posters

Hitler was a master of manipulation with his Nazi campaign. He was able to convince an educated German population that annihilating other cultures in and around Germany, which didn't fit his perfect blue eyes blonde hair mould, was the only way to go in building a bigger stronger Germany. How was he able to do this you may ask? By presenting the population with carefully tailored facts which furthered his cause in the form of books, pamphlets, posters, banners etc. He had the symbol (swastika), he had the phrase “final solution” and he had acquired different mediums in which to further his cause on a national scale.

You may be asking yourself, “Don't brands of today use the same vices to get their message across?” The answer is yes and no. Yes brands have a symbol, message and various media forms which they use to market themselves, but they don’t use guilt in their branding to elicit feelings compelling you to accept their argument, and that is where propaganda steps in. as you can see there is a silver lining between the two when defining them individually. So what do you think of propaganda branding, should nations utilize it in their branding strategies?

Reference: 
http://brandingmumbojumbo.com/is-propaganda-branding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda
http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/posters/dove.jpg