Here’s the idea.
Contrabranding.
The idea is to provide information to defeat false images and ideas associated with brands. This information needs to be distributed as effectively, efficiently and as broadly as possible.
A gentle example, we’ll get to the sweatshops later. Disney make family friendly feature films (brand). Disney make films for mature audiences, like this one (contrabrand).
Why?
The first goal is to build awareness. Brands heavily influence our spending behaviour and thinking. The first step is to defeat misleading brands and provide consumers with a more accurate picture. This is important. businessess actively mislead their customers for economic reasons. Business based on deception is wrong, you should always know who you are dealing with. Normally this information is really hard to get, and I for one don’t have time.
The second goal is to change consumer behaviour. To stop people purchasing products by providing them with information about that product which defeats its brand image and gives them a more accurate understanding of the product and it’s cost and nature.
How?
I will open a wiki dedicated to contrabranding. This will accept submissions which will be edited by me personally at first instance. I would like volunteers to step forward to become part of a panel which will review contributions. I would also like someone to design some applications to access that wiki through mobile devices. A first vision would have this information readily available 24/7. You should be able to type in the product name and if it’s in the wiki access contrabrand information which reveals a more transparent picture of how and at what cost that product was produced.
Mechanisms?
This is an idea. Not a fully developed plan. I think all contrabrand needs to be drawn from public information, preferably information put into the pubic domain by the company who created the product and brand.
