All that talk about brand perception got me thinking about how brands affect our daily lives. Have you ever thought about how many brands you use in a typical day? Well I did and created a visual representation of my Typical Friday in Brands. I have to admit that I was pretty surprised at how at how big this thing got once I started working on it. I am also surprised at how much this reveals about me …
(click on the picture to see a larger view)
But I think we should have some fun with this, so I encourage everyone who reads this post to create their OWN day in brands. It’s fun and who knows what we will be able to find out? So if you have your own blog, post it up and just link back to this post. If you do not have a blog, you can send me your Brand day and I will be happy to post it up.
To get this thing rolling, I am going to tag the following bloggers who are not tasked with creating their day in brands.
UPDATE:
This is now called a Brand Timeline Portrait, courtesy of Adbroad … the copywriter.
I have also forgotten to add a few things to my timeline such as - all those office supplies I use, toilet paper, my under-eye anti-wrinkle cream I use first thing in the morning.
UPDATE #2:
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the 1/2 condom. It is very simple …. after all the beer and weed, you are “in the moment” and things break or things don’t last. I thought it was funny at the time …
So, Jane. You exist on 4 hrs. of sleep? No wonder you can be so prolific. AND you have an iphone (that u use while riding the (ha) rocket?) I am jealous. I think your brand-timeline portrait is a brilliant idea for profiling target consumers in a new biz presentation. What program did you use to get it so pretty and all? OK, now back to my bitten apple and naked mermaid with star on her head.
What’s up with the half condom?
ad broad, this is why you are a copywriter. “Brand timeline portrait” sounds much better then whatever I called this.
auntie christ, half condom = that situation in the bedroom that at times occurs .. hint. ha ha my attempt at humour.
This is very clever. Was hoping you had a “Brand Timeline Portrait-o-meter” so that lazy bloggers like myself wouldn’t actually have to hunt down the logos ourselves.
I’ll work on it over the course of the week though- interesting project.
don’t you use toilet paper?
this is brilliant - should be an assignment for student starting a portfolio school.
@ HighJive - don’t you know girls are made of “sugar and spice and everything nice” and that we don’t have bodily functions? LOL … yes I do use toilet paper … I just forgot about it.
And I’m shocked you go with instant coffee. I have to do one of these things…
@ Auntie Christ - Nescafe has regular coffee, don’t you Americans have that? I don’t DO Instant Coffee that stuff tastes like shit.
Awesome! I gotta get some of that brand name weed.
Seriously though, what’s up with the half condom?
Very cool idea. I think it’s a good way to learn more about someone just by this little slice of their life. Well done.
Very good. I posted on my blog in Brazil with a link to your site!
(http://thefries.blogspot.com)
Well done.
Bernard
Great concept, but not sufficient follow-through. As Chris points out, weed isn’t a brand name; philosophically, some would say it’s quite the opposite!
This is great
jane’s a whore
Would you use the same (amount of) products if they were unbranded? Or would your life be simplier/easier? Just curious.
@ chris & @ raincoster - well weed isn’t a brand name in the traditional sense. but you could say that the symbol of weed has become a brand, no?
@ Noah Brier - I was actually inspired by your brand tags to do this.
@deVon - to be truthful I didn’t know how many brands I actually used until I did this timeline, so it was quite a surprise to me to see how branded my life really is. I am not a brand snob, I use the brands I like because of quality or price. I do use no-name or store-brands as well.
ah, a fellow venician/ santa monica resident. Allthough my nights usually start at the firehouse.
This is great, how fun. I need to do this myself.
Thanks.
but you could say that the symbol of weed has become a brand, no?
No, you couldn’t. Dumbass.
What about your cellphone? It doesn’t have the same brand as your TV does it?
@ Dani - it’s the LG!
With further analysis, looks like a booty call occured at 10:18 pm using an LG cellphone… and didn’t get to sleep till after 2am. very nice! great success!
Four condoms?
I think I’m in love.
How did you go the whole day without using Google?
Hi Jane… arrived via an email link from a friend. This is genius and I’m loving 10:18 where Apple appeared to have caused ‘Action’! I’ve been noting my brands so I can follow this up on my blog and will link back soon. (Oh.. and until now I forgot the toilet paper too!)
Cheers
Ren
I love this! But we marketing people keep being told “a brand is not a logo”. Hard thing to shake!
Damn that’s a whole lot of fuckin’.
Jane
This is fucking brilliant… I shall post about it on AdScam and make you a star… ‘Cos, as you know, I am a fucking Prince. Two questions though…
1: In eleven short minutes, at 8.00 AM, you certainly put a ton of shit on your body, is this what makes you so desirable!
2: Stop avoiding the fucking question… What the hell do you do with HALF A CONDOM?
Cheers/George
Seriously, what’s with the half a condom?
We all must know….
Very Creative.
It would be interesting to see how many you could cut out.
so you are saying you didnt piss or shit all day?
Heineken? F-that! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
adhack
(Channeling Dennis Hopper)
I too usually cover my mac with condoms before touching it. God knows where steve jobs has been.
Thanks for all the comments guys. I appreciate the love, the critque and even the hate. I’m going to take the top questions that from everyone and do a follow up post on this!
Half condom = an “unsuccessful” attempt
Yes I forgot toilet paper ….
Did the condom brake ?
Sorry I meant “Break”
Woo Canada!
This was interesting….I’m with you at 10:18! (420)
Where did you have sex? I didn’t see the “Sleep Country” logo until the end..
Damn, you need more sleep.
i would say about you that you use too much cheap stuff
i mean: whiskas ?
awesome idea. i think we could all benefit from doing this. But how do you not realize that you are a brand whore, when buying all of this shit. Bannana Republic, Lancome: that stuff is not cheap.
Eh, this is pretty cool. I bet a guys one would be half the size.
First, are you single? Why the hell do you still use condoms? You know after like the 60’s we developed some pretty reliable birth control? Second, Marijuana is not a brand name; I don’t care who sells it, and I don’t care how reliable they are.
Third, you use waaaaaaay too much makeup; trying to overcompensate for something?
lol’s at the weed and the beer. but thats crazzy i didnt think about that many products
Speaking of annoying shit, turn off that insipid Snap*Shots crap. Jesus. It’s really annoying. Seriously.
I had a go… http://www.abinarylife.com/2008/05/a-day-in-brands/
scary stuff, actually.
somehow got the half condom reference straight away.
best, Ana
I did my own. Don’t worry, I gave you credit.
You can see it over at creativebeef.blogspot.com
adhack
Haha this is awesome.. I think I’ll have to have a go.
Best thing about this though, is that despite all the computer stuff you did, there was no “blue e”
“but you could say that the symbol of weed has become a brand, no?”
No, it’s still just a symbol. To call it a ‘brand’ would not be using the standard definition of ‘brand’.
The word comes from cows, remember, where there are a million of something that are pretty much the same, so you need a way to distinguish yours. Dove is a brand: of all the soaps, they’ve distinguished theirs with a bird. Sony is a brand of TVs. Pepsi is a brand of sugar water. And so on.
Weed is not a brand, unless there are competing similar products which you distinguish by the weed symbol, or an economic producer attempting to distinguish their product by using this branding.
Instead of weed, you could use Zig-Zags! http://www.zigzag.com/
you’re probably on durex’s marketing department dead list now
quite comforting you dont recognize some of the brands over there. imagine 1000 random people did this and only 30 brands came up. cringe.
i’d say certain producers in Mexico would consider weed a brand. competitor’s brand - if they had a logo for cocaine..
okay okay I give in on the weed issue. But Jay just came up with a great alternative - zig zag’s! Thanks Jay
@ jbf - of course I’m a brand whore. I work in advertising.
@ don - I would argue that. what about all the gagets boys seem to like?
@ shaze - Yes the birth control pill is great, but it does not prevent STD’s. And yes I know, condom’s do not prevent all STD’s, but its the best protection we have against them. I won’t argue with you on the make up thing cause hey, I could be a fugly cow who uses lots of make up or I could be a hot bitch who uses lots of make up. Either way we won’t find out because this blog is anonymous and you won’t be seeing any pictures of me anytime soon. So let’s just leave at - I like makeup.
@anoy mouse - you have to turn that off yourself. it’s got nothing to do with me, it’s wordpress.
You work in advertising and still don’t know proper punctuation? Is this affirmative action at work here or what?
@Shaze
Condoms should be used for the simple fact that one in 5 people have a STD, generally, because of people like you I am sure.
I think this is absolutely terrific! What fun. Like others on here, it will take me some time to do this, but I will, and then pass it on to my friends/readers.
Thanks. You brought a nice little bit of humor to my evening.
This is really a stroke of genius. I think I will do one of these. And I will definitely link to this post.
What a fun meme to float!
My MBA was a marketing major but I am quite ambivalent towards brands in my day to day life. If anything, I actively dissect ads and other promos, although I do occasionally post links to fun ads on my blog.
I doubt this meme will ever reach the bunch I know. Perhaps I should introduce this to them? Thanks!
This is brilliant.
The durex thing was slight overkill, once is enough. And yeah, We’re all jealous you’re getting laid.
I think you need a lighter to smoke weed and….i don´t think that weed is actually a brand LOL but of course a very nice one respect for smoking just for cigs a day in my “Brand Timeline Portrait” there would be about 20 Big logos so maybe i should work on this one
oh it´s bic—sorry
Terrific idea, but methinks too much brand interaction will leave you destitute.
This is genius! I like it a lot, and it seems you had a great night.
I may do this as well, but mine may be much shorter. hehe
What do your clients think about this? What if you created one with only your clients logos? =)
God I miss Toronto.
To the person who said don’t use condoms, please tell me which birth control is more reliable in:
1. Does not screw up normal hormones of a woman and make her gain weight? I think that the birth control pill is dangerous for many women because it tinkers around with their horomones that worked just fine how they were.
2. Protects from disease.
The brand portrait is beautiful.
You had sex 3 1/2 times?
From 2004:
http://imagenes.yonkis.com/108200418282.jpg
I did one, too.
http://philsblogging.com/2008/where-we-encounter-brands/
oh my god! i might try one of these too.
wow that was one of the most fun blog entries i’ve read in a long long time.
@ Jeff - thanks for sharing that one! That is great. To be clear, I didn’t think I invent this at all.
@ phdotaschauer - you will be added to the list. Please check my follow up post on this. I’ve answers many, many of your comments
http://dearjanesample.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/i-admit-my-error-weed-is-not-a-brand/
I loved your idea, and I tried to apply it the French way! You can check the results here if you want to (French spoken) > http://ekeyshideaway.blogspot.com/2008/05/brand-new-day-in-eks-life.html
Haha, this was awesome. Both the chart and seeing how judgmental some people get when you let them have the tiniest glimpse of your life. For goodness sakes, chill out people. And for those commenting on/thinking about her more personal bathroom habits…that’s just creepy.
Brilliantly hilarious.
very neat project. thanks for sharing. it would be really cool to see lists from people from all walks of life. you live in the city, have a cosmopolitan job, and so you use brands that reflect that. it would be interesting to see a variety of lists, from various countries and economies. you may be on to something that could seriously evolve into a massive blog thingy…
PS- my list would include Glock and TechnoMarine Logos.
What’s with the Vaseline?
Three and a half condoms? Did the fifth guy wear anything?
Man, if I had time I would make a really impressive brand day too!! But, my day seems really packed all the time with kids and work and kids and work and kids…well you get the picture. Anyway, I did go through my day thinking about the brands I use, and i tend to use a lot of “non” brands. You know the cheap stuff. I guess I’m kind of boring that way. Really interesting experiment though..I use the KY massage stuff…that’s about the most exciting thing I have in my arsenal of brands for ya! HEE HEE.
so awesome, it’s like i was watching a video of your day. Seems like people thought the same thing, thats why they are so interested in your life (condom, where you did it) more than the brand… or is that the point?
3 and a HALF? So exactly WHICH orifice wasn’t filled?
You forgot the five Pinnochios.
Cool idea. I made my own tonight. We use a lot of the same bathroom items.
http://mikevogel.com/?p=127
Wow, great!
Рулишь
но вечером загон пошел 
Absolutely wonderful. Thank you for the post, and the work in compiling it.
demonf1, плюсадин
С пивом, шмалью и презервативами перестаралась.
А идея неплохая, да…
This is pretty clever. I can’t wait to post mine. Thanks for the inspiration.
Finally posted my day.. forgot a few things too. Its not as easy as it seems to keep up with all those brand names..
http://foxsden.wordpress.com
I simply LOVED your idea!!!
It’s a thing increrible how the brands are in our days.
Of course, I’ll create my own “brands-day” and post im my blog.
Congratulations!!
Best Wishes
Daniel
You forgot to show your dildo’s logo.
Thank you Jane.
re: SnapShots
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=21705&replies=5#post-163437
wow! everyone thank you for your comments. I appreciate the feedback and love how everyone has taken to this thing! I read all the comments, but can not always respond! An
Oh and if you create your own brand timeline you get added to the Brand-timeline page!! I want to do some fun facts/analysis with this whole thing. I am quite curious to see which brands we all have in common.
In the first part I would also add nike, I make jogging before going to job.
Women and cats: always trying to pretend that they don’t poop.
@ Tom K - HA HA HA.
hahaha what a brilliant idea, I dont even know the brand of half the things I use…
Elisavet
Fun, englightening idea!
I’m blogging my brands here:
http://beyondrivalry.blogspirit.com/archive/2008/05/28/brand-timeline-portrait-r.html
Hehehe
Well, this was a PURE TIMESUCKER that you’ve invented here Dear Jane. Man, it took me ages to find some of the brands I’ve used to make my own timeline. But here it is, with ‘exotic’ Swedish brands no less (I’m sure you’ll recognize some) and links to everyone else who had fun doing this upthread too.
http://commercial-archive.com/node/143914
Crazy idea, hat off to you.
branding…
This is by far the best post I’ve read all month. Took me a minute to catch the 10:38 brand interactions. Classic!
Hi!
I’ve made my own timeline @ http://kichong.wordpress.com
You wouldn’t understand the language I write in though, cause I’m Indonesian.
Anyway, I really enjoyed making my timeline. I think it was a fun idea of yours.
Great idea. You could even make a facebook widget with that.
It’s amazing how entertaining it is to do, and how curious you get to look at what other people use.
Congrats for the idea. Simple things are still the best.
I love it!
Adorei todo o seu processo poderia mensurar por mês ficaria louca..rs
Parabéns!
Great post, made me think of an evening at home after work…
5:00pm: Mazda
5:15pm: Schell Gas
5:30pm: Zig-Zag’s
5:30pm: Havana Club
6:00pm: Loblaws
7:00pm: Whirlpool
7:30pm: Havana Club
8:00pm: Sony
11:00pm: Liniens & Things
You must be a sound sleeper to have three alarm clocks ringing at the same time! Congrats, very amusing idea.
Brilliant post
Jane, Brands are all around us I get it but this is very narrow perspective. Fun yes, but I think this model is not yet complete and lacks the kind of complexity to truly gain insight. You should keep trying to refine this concept with more interactivity, layers of data, etc.
Don’t you think this really is the exact opposite of Brand Tags and really contradicts the whole point. It’s about people, tasks and how customer shape experiences! It’s emerging trends like Crowsourcing that are defining brands, NOT logos. How I experience products and how I define brands is vastly more important. What people say about a brand’s product or service on a Blogs or SNSs matters and translates into brand perception. By reducing people’s daily tasks and experiences into logos gives a false impression. Plus gives companies zero actionable insight into why you use those products. What’s the motivation? How often do you use these products? Did you take the streetcar or the Subway on the TTC? Why did you choose Crest over Colgate? What’s the relationship between these brands and what value does the market give the brand.
I just think this paints people as Brand Whores and plays into company’s preconceived notion that they define us with their pristine brands. I think brands recognize now that Brand Monitoring and Product Research Blogs are some the most important tools of modern marketing.
Like Ricardo Guimaråes of Thymus Branding says: “Brands belong to the customers and the brand is what customers say it is!”
Another thought may have been a bit harsh. This brand-time mashup may have value somewhere but it’s unexplainable. What if it was a brand-geo-mashup or Brand-timeline/tag-cloud. What other layers of information does this “Brand Timeline-Portrait” need to be useful? Jane, you’re on to something but not sure what? Totally fascinating how people want to say: “Hi this my personal Brand and these are my sub-bands that make-up my experience.
Here are some more posts (from Russians):
My shedule and my friends: 1,
2, 3
Here are some more posts (from Russians):
My shedule and my friends: 1, 2, 3
“I have also forgotten to add a few things to my timeline such as” … blogs?
It didn’t come to me until I’d worked my way through each blog joining in on the meme.
No one included blog logos, yet we all read blogs daily. Even hourly at times.
Mine was pared down even further as I stuck with mostly Friday night liquids.
Branding Before Breakfast. (a)Meme.
But I’m kicking myself for not thinking of the blog angle for sure!
Thank you for sending me links to your brand timeline - they all get added!
@ Mark Magnusson - you make an excellent point. Part of my thinking behind the brand timeline was not to provide companies with insight into how I interact with brands. I wanted to use it as a communication piece with other people, and actually to leave it to them to find the insight behind each brand. If I did want to undertake this in a manner that would offer companies valuable insight … it would look and function a bit differently. Because you are right I would have to offer more information around each brand.
@ Neuraum - thank you for the links! Really fascination to see how the Russians do it!
@ Cat - oh wow … blogs, I didn’t even get into that. To list all the blogs I read would have resulted in brand timeline full of just blogs.
We had to do this for a college class last fall. The timeline was from the time you woke-up to the time that the class started (10:30am). Because of my lack of consumption and time that I allow myself in the mornings to get ready, i failed. My teacher said I was capable of doing better. Maybe she meant life and not the timeline?
LG, Quiksilver, Gap, Target, Vans, Colgate, Crest, Honda
this is brilliant. i totally got the condom joke immediately. i also like your “branding” of pot. very nice.
I adore!!!
good post
Hi Jane,
What you post on a daily life composed by varies of brands is fabulous~! I work as a consumer insight analyst in Taiwan and am inspired by your portrait of one day life. I think I can use it as an example at my work thanks to your creativity and innovative idea. Keep up the good work and I will come here again soon.
Just saw Alex Bogusky’s Brand Morning* Timeline but it still doesn’t top yours in my opinion.
what the fuck? wankers didn’t give me credit.
Hey, it is a very nice idea and I soon I have the time (that is in July when I am leaving my work) I will make my own list.
Now, I have to say that I am surprised that you were surprised at how revealing it is…. is an excelent excercise! When teaching advertising, I used to give something similar to my students, the difference was that the information was city and neighborhood plus things (brands & products) found in the trash. With that they had to “reconstruct” a possible psychographic profile.
After reading some of your posts I thought that another interesting thing would be to cross this info with the info from brand tags….
Anyway as soon as I have mine posted I will let you know, I’m sure it will be fun and very telling!
All those brands and not one Adobe product. Shocking.
My first thought was “brilliant”. My second thought was “wow, brilliant”.
Since everybody’s posting their lives on Twitter wouldn’t it be nice to have a new site where you just post the brand logos instead of actually writing what you’re doing? This might also work as a widget for blogs to show the world what brands you’re up to right now.
i love it !!!!! it’s so creative….
Brilliant idea, I think I’ll write a similar post in my blog now
Added mine here.
haha I love your update #2…
The real question isnt “sup with the half condom”? That’s pretty obvious… the question is what brand is that weed? ;P
I know you know…but, OK, GOOD WORK
225 responses! Holy bat shit, batman!
Wow.
I was going to do this as tagged but, christ, it’s a LOT of work!!! grrrr.