A world without brands

What remains when brands one day disappear?
A reflection on meaning, soul and responsibility in a perfectly smooth world … more.

For more than twenty-five years, I’ve been working to make brands strong. Domizlaff, Deichsel, Zernisch, the Forum Markentechnik (shout-out to Peter Sumerauer) and, for the past year, the Brand Club. I’ve always been drawn to people and books that have inspired, guided and challenged me in my search for the meaning of brands.

From time to time, I find myself asking the question of purpose. Why do I do brand work? What contribution does it actually make? Perhaps you’ve felt the same when seeing a poor campaign or a product you’re sure the world doesn’t need. Something entirely meaningless, hollow, without spirit or depth – and yet bought and consumed in large numbers. In those moments, I start wondering whether what I do is truly right: helping companies build strong brands. That’s when I turn inward.

And then I ask myself what would happen if brands simply disappeared. Not just faded or lost their relevance, but truly ceased to exist.

Come with me on this thought experiment: imagine a world where brands no longer play a role. No logos, no campaigns, no stories. Products would explain themselves. Data would be fully transparent. Every decision based on facts, not feelings. A world without uncertainty, without suggestion. Perfectly rational. Perfectly uniform. In such a world, there’d be no need for symbols to guide me, no stories to give meaning. Socially, it would mark the logical endpoint of a technocratic society of transparency – as Byung-Chul Han might say.

Because brands are born precisely where uncertainty begins. Where we feel something that can’t be calculated – trust, longing, belonging. If these spaces in between were to disappear, so would brands. If everything became visible, measurable and certain, brands would lose their purpose. Nietzsche might have called it “the animal without metaphors.” Humanity would no longer define itself through symbols or differences. It would be pure function, pure process. It may sound efficient – but to me, it sounds empty.

And then I remember. Because as a brand technician, I know: even in such a world, brands wouldn’t be dead, only absorbed. If brands disappeared, something else would take their place. Perhaps systems, perhaps codes, perhaps algorithms. Brands as a silent presence in the background. Like electricity or the internet today – omnipresent, invisible, taken for granted. Humanity itself would carry the brand – or the machine that replaces it.
The tipping point between humanism and technocracy would be reached.

Because I believe brands are ultimately mirrors of our consciousness. They tell us how we want to see the world – and sometimes, what we fear about it. As long as we can feel, compare and dream, there will be brands. Not as logos or campaigns, but as attitudes – as human reminders that meaning cannot be programmed.

Perhaps that’s my greatest concern: a world where every surface is smooth, every structure transparent, but nothing is truly tangible. A world without shadows – and therefore without a soul.

That’s why I fight in my work for brands to keep their soul, because they mirror what makes us human: the imperfect, the searching. What I wish for are companies that want more than surface or growth in numbers. Because where it’s only about “selling more”, about “making more money”, everything loses depth – and, ultimately, humanity.

And then I know again: this is where the meaning of my work lies.
Because seeing brands as something that preserves our humanity can help bring planet, people and profit back into balance. When we understand that brands are not just economic, but also cultural and social forces, it becomes clear that meaning and responsibility belong together.

What do you think?
How do you see the future of brands – as symbols, systems, or something else entirely?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.