This is a lateral link and might sound at first a bit like I'm that guy who everyone hates who goes on about when he lived in Rio. But I've established my love for certain brands again since I've moved to Germany. I've also personally experienced the truth that brands are more than just a fancy name for a product.
Since I've moved to Germany the brands that I've fallen in love with again are (in no particular order): The BBC, the Guardian (although it is scary how London centric that paper is when you are no longer living in London), NPR, Persil, Aveda, Sebamed (very German brand) and a few more. What they all have in common is their ability to give me the feeling that I know where I am, who I am and what I am doing again. I choose to listen to the BBC, because I understand their perspective on the world and why they say the things they do. I might not agree with it, but the boundaries are clear. I know who it is and I know where I stand in relation to it.
When you move to a new country on the other hand, it's all up for grabs. I don't know Germany (well OK I confess I know it a bit) and so you have to learn to orientate yourself all over again. It feels a bit like swimming in a big lake of floating bits and they are all coming towards you and there is no secure ground under your feet. And yet you have to make decisions about what to buy. I mean if you don't, you'll starve. So you buy your toiletries at Schlecker because they are eveywhere until you find out that they are reputed to treat their personnel badly, but you only find this out when someone says "oh so you shop at Schlecker do you?" It feels a bit like learning a new language and using the wrong type of words to talk to your parents-in-law because you don't know what they really mean.
Bit rambling but what I want to say is that brands help you to negotiate your way round the world. They make the decisions you have to make every day that little bit easier and they make you feel more secure about the person that you are representing to the outside world. 