The Impact of High-End Branding in Key Areas of Mexico City: Are We Fueling Gentrification?
In Mexico City, high-end branding has become a crucial component of the economy and business culture. This phenomenon not only reflects the aspiration of brands to position themselves in the luxury or premium segment but also represents a broader trend that shapes the urban and commercial environment of the city. The significance of high-end branding lies in its ability to attract a select audience and create an aura of exclusivity around its products and services. While this contributes to the client’s economic growth, it also raises the risk of gentrifying local businesses.
High-end branding allows companies to stand out in a saturated market, offering added value beyond products or services. In Mexico City, this trend has been present for over 40 years, but in the past two decades, it has picked up alarming speed, resulting in the proliferation of boutiques, luxury architecture firms, gourmet restaurants, and tech brands aiming to reach the top of the market. This trend is not inherently bad, but a concerning phenomenon arises when branding for these types of businesses disregards the original identity and roots of the neighborhood where they are located. The branding commonly proposed for this market targets not only high-income consumers but also international tourists and digital nomads seeking high-quality experiences at prices they can afford. This influx of foreigners is the main driver of real estate development in key areas. In other words, this type of branding plays a fundamental role in generating well-defined gentrified regions of Mexico City, and as designers, it is important to address this.
Gentrification, as we know, is a process that transforms neighborhoods and urban areas through the arrival of businesses and residents with greater purchasing power. As commercial and residential zones are revalued, small companies must adapt to embrace the change that has already begun in their neighborhoods. They seek branding that aligns with the premium aesthetic that will attract more customers willing to pay higher prices for their products, often sidelining the roots and culture their local business once offered its neighbors.
As designers, it’s common to receive briefs requesting a "clean and premium" image, but are we benefiting entrepreneurs by providing a result that promotes visual homogenization and the loss of neighborhood identity within Mexico City? This remains an evolving thought. While branding is about designing a brand for the client, is it really in our hands to promote an aesthetic that revives the city’s visual identity? And if so, can it truly contribute to curbing the uncontrolled gentrification we are witnessing? Areas that were once vibrant and diverse, with a rich mix of local shops, markets, and restaurants, are becoming uniformly occupied by brands catering to higher-income classes than the neighborhood’s residents, along with international chains. We may be impoverishing the cultural and social experience of residents and visitors in favor of internationalization and the need to present the city as a cosmopolitan hub. The originality that permeates local businesses at a visual level can be of premium quality without resembling the foreign store that just opened another branch around the corner. Homogenizing and standardizing what’s considered "high-quality" by destroying the visual richness of our streets has never been a good option for the development of local businesses. We saw this with the uproar caused by Mayor Sandra Cuevas in 2022 when, in the name of "order and discipline," she ordered the removal of all signs in the Cuauhtémoc district to replace them with the district’s logo. All of this stems from a mindset held by many that it’s necessary to erase cultural richness to fit into a global standard of how our city should look.
The solution is to create ethical proposals that respect and revive the historical language and visual memory of the area where the business will be established. As brand designers, it’s essential to address the risks associated with gentrification to ensure we are not contributing to a market with elitist aims. Only through a balanced approach that values both economic development and visual diversity can we achieve a future where luxury and authenticity coexist harmoniously, benefiting all sectors of each community.