Marketing and selling This section discusses the branding, marketing, and selling of designers and the products they produce--from working with brand DNA and market research, to the role of packaging and retail design. Branding The products we use and consume say a great deal about our individual tastes and personalities. A brand is an amalgam of product design, logos, slogans, advertising, marketing, packaging, and consumer recognition. Designers need to ensure that their designs inspire an emotional resonance in consumers, encouraging them to develop a relationship with a brand or product line that evolves over a lifetime of purchasing. Consumers are drawn to brands because they embody values they are attracted to, such as authenticity or exclusivity. Brands create mythologies about their past, such as Coca-Cola ® promoting that it is "the real thing." The purchase of upmarket "designer" goods positions the buyer in a social hierarchy through conspicuous consumption. While brands are created by designers and marketing executives, they