Attachment to Brand Names

FTA69

The other day I was watching a show about budgeting and one particular family when doing their weekly shop would only buy brand name products which as such drove up the price massively. It reminded me of my ex who was pretty much the same and if I didn't buy a certain brand of ketchup or orange juice or cereal she'd go spare - I never used to notice the difference and tend not to eat stuff that comes in packets anyway.

For instance I got some face wash in Lidl the other day for a pound, and also have a Nivea one that cost me £4; I mean is the latter going to make my face 400% cleaner at the end of the day?

Besides the odd exception, I find the supermarket stuff is nearly always the same as the brand name stuff on offer and any slight difference is worth it when you figure the cost difference. The only brand stuff I get is Barry's Tea and truth be told that's probably for nostalgic reasons more than anything. Are we completely shaped by advertising to the point people will spend four times as much for essentially the same product?

Or am I just a tasteless bastard who'll eat anything?

mansize

Kellogg's Corn Flakes- can't find one that tastes as nice

Fairy Washing Up liquid- excellent value and excellent cleaning - proven independently

Skylinehead

FTA69 wrote: »

Or am I just a tasteless bastard who'll eat anything?

Yes because you drink Barrys

Ted111

FTA69 wrote: »

Or am I just a tasteless bastard ?

Absolutely. Lyons Tea.

FTA69

Smell of Dub of the pair of ye.

My mother works in a creamery where they make butter.

It's then packaged in lots of different packing for the different buyers. ( ie different brand names, supermarkets)

Ted111

FTA69 wrote: »

Smell of Dub of the pair of ye.

Can I borrow some of that soap off you, you bought in the 99c store.

FTA69

Milk is another one. I used to work in sales for Glanbia (or agents of) and they basically sell the same product branded or unbranded with different price tags. It's gas hearing people decry the various benefits of Avonmore over Snocream over CMP etc but the reality is that it's all the same f*cking milk at the end of the day yet they'll pay 50% more for it.

The Backwards Man

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

It's a well known fact that Grant's vodka tastes much better in a Smirnoff bottle than it does in a Huzzar bottle

podgemonster

The mother once replaced Heinz Ketchup with some Aldi/Lidl brand ketchup.

We didn't speak for a fortnight.

diomed

An interesting thread. How do I respond without mentioning brand names?

The mayo is either Hellman's or binned.

5rtytry56

• EPSON printers and scanners
• NVIDIA graphics hardware
• ADOBE for video and image editing software

failinis

The only thing I like as brand names is my tea bags and my tins of beans and drawing software.
The rest is whatever is on offer/value.

Skylinehead

FTA69 wrote: »

Smell of Dub of the pair of ye.

I'm from friggin Leitrim! I do live in Dublin but I was a Lyons man well before that.

FTA69

Ted111 wrote: »

Can I borrow some of that soap off you, you bought in the 99c store.

Buy your own you cheap slag it's only a pound.

Riesen_Meal

podgemonster wrote: »

The mother once replaced Heinz Ketchup with some Aldi/Lidl brand ketchup.

We didn't speak for a fortnight.

Not on my watch, mother dearest...

Speedwell

Punjana FTW. I like its slight floral-honey flavor. I made my husband ship it to me when we were apart while I was applying for his green card to the US.

We have found a few really cheap-ass things that we like, though. The Tesco EDV kitchen roll is a great value. Salt is salt is salt. I love to shop in ethnic grocery shops, where you can't even read the brand names half of the time. The SuperValu in Ballisodare always has own-brand biscuits for 50 cents or so a pack, and last time I was in their chocolate digestives were 50 cents, too. Lidl and Aldi hair and body stuff (the Cien range) was shown to be as good as name brand stuff in a study recently; there was a thread on it. So long as my eyeglasses frames look good, I don't care whether some celebrity endorsed them; I'm not a kid who needs them to survive being flung off my face in the playground and stepped on by the school bully.

This is also a huge reference for us: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056195473

GLaDOS

I do the majority of my shopping in Aldi, so in terms of groceries I'm not picky for the most part. Most of the products are made by the brand name companies anyway. There's a few things I will go to the brand name for (Colman's mustard, Lea and Perrin's Worcestershire sauce, Philadelphia cheese) but they're more of the exception than the rule.

seamus

There are people who will swear blind to you that bottled water from different brands, "tastes" different. In fact, I'll likely get a couple of replies from people telling me that it's true.

As human beings we're generally creatures of habit. Things that are familiar are safe and comfortable. Things which are different, are not. It's a simple evolutionary response.

As such, branding fits heavily into this. When you have a brand that you know, you tend to trust it, you're comfortable with it. You will pay slightly more for it over a brand you don't know. When it's a brand that you don't know, you're not sure what to think. All sorts of inherent human biases come into play when "trying" a new brand, such that the odds are already stacked against the new brand.

Companies didn't invent this, but they did discover the power of it and they do heavily exploit it. People who will tell you that McVities make the best disgestive biscuits, that volvic tastes better than Ballygowan and that they can taste a difference between Barry's and Lyon's.

In fact they probably can taste a "difference", but it's all in their heads. In a blind test they wouldn't be able to tell the brands apart, but in a non-blind test they will experience a difference in taste. Such is the power of familiarity and cognitive biases.

Packaging is one of the most powerful parts of this - put the same product in expensive-looking packaging versus cheap-looking packaging and the buyer will assume the item in the expensive packaging is of better quality. So the expensive brands actually do spend a few extra cents per unit producing more expensive packaging than the likes of Cien, so that the buyer will be convinced that the item within the package is worth €1 more.

The psychology behind branding and marketing is actually very interesting, it's just the ethics of using it for commercial gain that are iffy.

Macy0161

Cornflakes and Rice Krispies have to be Kellogg's, and then spreads we use are Dairy Gold and Flora, but that's about it at this stage.

Aldi's Bramwell Ketchup is as nice as Heinz (could never stand Chef red coloured vinegar anyway). Beans are also now Corale, since we've gone no added sugar. The missus insists on Lyons, but I usually go for McGrath's Gold Blend - we have to two on the go to stretch the more expensive stuff - but she's coming around, and for decaff she goes McGraths too.

Have to say, if comparing looks the Aldi own brand stuff does look less cheap and nasty than Lidl imo. If the shop is done in Lidl, more brands tend to creep in when we'd be happy with the Aldi own brand stuff where we don't have the option.

Speedwell

seamus wrote: »

There are people who will swear blind to you that bottled water from different brands, "tastes" different. In fact, I'll likely get a couple of replies from people telling me that it's true.

I can taste the difference. I am a "supertaster". I won't ever, ever drink Appolonaris water again; that stuff is nasty. But if I could spend the rest of my days lying beside a Scottish stream sucking pure water like Narcissus beside a forest pool, I'd grow taproots. The mineral content really matters.

Duggy747

Chocolate from Aldi is unreal, much nicer than the little shrunken bars you get from Cadbury's.

The Backwards Man

Speedwell wrote: »

I can taste the difference. I am a "supertaster". I won't ever, ever drink Appolonaris water again; that stuff is nasty. But if I could spend the rest of my days lying beside a Scottish stream sucking pure water like Narcissus beside a forest pool, I'd grow taproots. The mineral content really matters.

That's a different source though, totally different.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the hundreds of brands Coke and Nestlé source from the same aquifers, no one can no matter how super they are.

seamus

seamus wrote: »

In fact they probably can taste a "difference", but it's all in their heads. In a blind test they wouldn't be able to tell the brands apart, but in a non-blind test they will experience a difference in taste.

You could put a drop of Mayo into a lake, I could take a sip of water from it and tell you if it's Hellman's or not.

It is the king and queen of condiments. I could eat it by the spoonful. And I do.

andekwarhola

Rye River Brewery here do an excellent store IPA for Dunnes and LIDL and it's funny watching some beer snobs denying themselves a pretty decent (and comparatively cheap) beer because it's not 'expensive'/'craft' enough.

Always tempted to switch labels on one and see if they rave about it.

Speedwell

The Backwards Man wrote: »

That's a different source though, totally different.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the hundreds of brands Coke and Nestlé source from the same aquifers, no one can no matter how super they are.

Very true, I agree. Incidentally it used to irritate my family when I would drink Coke in Houston restaurants but refuse it in San Antonio restaurants; they couldn't tell the difference. Turns out that in Houston there is a law that restaurants must filter all of their drinking water, including that used for fountain drinks, but in San Antonio they are allowed to use straight municipal water.

failinis

Speedwell wrote: »

I can taste the difference. I am a "supertaster". I won't ever, ever drink Appolonaris water again; that stuff is nasty. But if I could spend the rest of my days lying beside a Scottish stream sucking pure water like Narcissus beside a forest pool, I'd grow taproots. The mineral content really matters.

Reminded me of this

GLaDOS

andekwarhola wrote: »

Rye River Brewery here do an excellent store IPA for Dunnes and LIDL and it's funny watching some beer snobs denying themselves a pretty decent (and comparatively cheap) beer because it's not 'expensive'/'craft' enough.

Always tempted to switch labels on one and see if they rave about it.

Don't know about the rye River beers (What branding does it go by?) but the O'Hara's beers for Aldi (O'Sheas) are usually pretty highly recommended by craft beer fans.

andekwarhola

I definitely confess to a hypocritical liking for certain clothing /footwear brands based on admittedly nebulous and not easy to justify grounds: personal history, nostalgia, affection for the design etc. I'm not judgmental about it though. And I also buy a lot of cheap brand stuff too.

Apart from that, when it comes to everyday stuff like food, drink, household items and so on, i'm completely catholic: taste and utility is paramount, not the brand.

andekwarhola

GLaDOS wrote: »

Don't know about the rye River beers (What branding does it go by?) but the O'Hara's beers for Aldi (O'Sheas) are usually pretty highly recommended by craft beer fans.

Rye River do McGargles, Grafters (Dunnes) and Crafty Brewing Company (Lidl). They definitely brew some stinkers but the Grafters IPA, Big Banging IPA (McGargles) and Crafty Brewing Company IPA are all great beers for the price.