Brand new
By David MacGregor,
I sometimes feel that I want to throttle the next person who uses the word ‘brand’. The term gets bandied about in a mix of ignorance, pop marketing-speak and pseudo-science, depending on who has appropriated it. So this book comes as a great relief. Its central proposition is simple, and the story well-told.
Primal Branding: Create Zealots For Your Brand, Your Company And Your Future
By Patrick Hanlon (HarperCollins), 2006. $54.99
An anecdote early in the book tells about the creator of the hit TV series The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island. When asked why he started his shows with a song that outlines the premise (“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale/A tale of a fateful trip …”) he replied, “because the confused don’t laugh”. Confused consumers don’t buy either. We look for meaning.
Brands that strike a chord are those that create a sense of belonging and community.
Hanlon decodes the mystery of why some brands attract rabidly loyal devotees and others are simply a part of a choice set (that is: if the price is right, you have a chance). He identifies seven strands of the code: creation story, creed, icons, rituals, sacred words, non-believers and the leader, which, when all woven together, result in meaning.
Hallelujah brother. I’m a believer.
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