To Be or Not to Be!
We are often dissatisfied with what we are! This is the premise that runs the world. The day we are satisfied, we are complacent and that means we are sleeping on a bed of sand. You wouldnt know when it got brushed off, and you are already on the ground.
We always move from one level of satisfaction of self to the other, never reaching it 100%. In a session on Branding, my prof made a valid point. There are always two levels in life - 'How good we are' and 'how good we want to be' and there is always a gap between them, for that is what propels life. It is this gap that we wish to hide from the external world and this is where brands play an efficient role. You are not as arrogant, but you want to be. So, what do you do? You probably wear a tee that has a nasty slogan or ride a bike that has been remodelled to show that you are mean. There are many such activities for each emotion and action!
But to me, the biggest wonder is whether education also falls into that category? If Brands are products that have etched in your mind, Is Education a Brand, given that it is a product? If it is a brand, it should only help you perceive yourself better than what you are, helping you portray the image that you always wanted to, but education isnt that. It is true value-add. So where does the line lie? Where does one know if he has really transcended his original self and has moved a step towards being what he wanted to be? and if there is something that has helped him move towards what he wanted to be, is it still a product or is it an integral part of him? Should products not be integrated into being?
We always move from one level of satisfaction of self to the other, never reaching it 100%. In a session on Branding, my prof made a valid point. There are always two levels in life - 'How good we are' and 'how good we want to be' and there is always a gap between them, for that is what propels life. It is this gap that we wish to hide from the external world and this is where brands play an efficient role. You are not as arrogant, but you want to be. So, what do you do? You probably wear a tee that has a nasty slogan or ride a bike that has been remodelled to show that you are mean. There are many such activities for each emotion and action!
But to me, the biggest wonder is whether education also falls into that category? If Brands are products that have etched in your mind, Is Education a Brand, given that it is a product? If it is a brand, it should only help you perceive yourself better than what you are, helping you portray the image that you always wanted to, but education isnt that. It is true value-add. So where does the line lie? Where does one know if he has really transcended his original self and has moved a step towards being what he wanted to be? and if there is something that has helped him move towards what he wanted to be, is it still a product or is it an integral part of him? Should products not be integrated into being?
posted by Naresh @ 3:47 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
The gap between how good we are and how good we want to be depends on an individuals willingness to reduce the gap. Education can only be one of the paths to bridge the gap. Education is like a channel. Ya doi agree education can become a brand. I mean generally people say we studied in IIT, IIM or so many other things. All that is a brand. But true education goes beyond branding. It could be what positive points we have imbibed from education.
Naresh,
How can education be a product. It is like calling nutretion a product. Does a child's meal fill the gap between what he is and what he wants to be, no, a meal is essential. He cannot hope to live a productive life without it. Similarly education the nutrition for the brain.
While Kellogs and Ashirwad can do all the branding they wish, an home made iddly will do as well. Similarly IITs and IIMs can be the t-shirt you talk about, but as long as you are willing to learn any college will do.
education is turning out to be a product, no denying that...thats why all the hullabaloo over admission in big schools, namey institutes and grand universities. For a guy like me , IIM is not about money, nor power, nor great management skills they teach, its just about a brand name it gives me. The tag. And thats true for most of us
But, knowledge is still out of the brand-bounds, dont know though for how long!
ok, i am sounding really selfish, but if branding is something ure studying for ur mba...i need your help for my presentation. Urgent...:)
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