Emotional Connections vs Logical Connections

On many occasions I have poked fun at "branding", "brand babble" and their many incompetent practitioners. And while that is great fun, there are some serious points to be made.There are a few product categories that are highly reliant on brand perceptions. These tend to be categories in which the products are essentially frivolous commodities - soda, cigarets, beer/booze, fashion.These products