urban tumbleweed

A few months ago I read a book that threw up an interesting question. Bonfire of the Brands, a book written by self-confessed brand-a-holic Neil Boorman, tells the story of the authors battle with deciding to live a brand free life.

Could I live a brand free life? Very unlikely. Not because my job is to create brands and make them desirable to the public but because in recent years everything has become branded. Supermarket ‘own brands’ are now given a ‘snappy’ name and logo in order to make them more desirable. You’ve pretty much no chance of finding unbranded items on the typical high street. It’s funny how I could see myself ridding the wardrobe of some items but there are others that would never find themselves at the amenity tip.

Worryingly, the more brands that appear, the more cluttered the world becomes and in order to create a brand that stands out the creative must work hard. Very hard.

You might well ask what exactly is a brand?

“A brand is a product, protected by trademark, which through careful management and skilful promotion has come in the mind of consumers to embrace a particular and appealing set of values, both tangible and intangible” Paul Stobart, Interbrand.

“A brand is the consumer’s idea of a product” David Ogilvy.

According to the authors Helen Edwards and Derek Day* ‘a brand is a product plus values and associations’.

*Creating Passion Brands (Helen Edwards / Derek Day).