Point of view: Brand tyranny

This article argues that marketers and clients have a tendency to ignore the fact that brands are defined primarily by consumer experiences.

Point of view: Brand tyranny

Gareth Kay

Buckminster Fuller, the American architect and designer, once said, "we are powerfully imprisoned by the terms in which we have been conducted to think". And I'm increasingly convinced that this is never more apparent than in the way the notion of the brand is handcuffing the brand advice industries -think advertising, design, PR, etc. - into irrelevance.

One of the odder memories I have of working in advertising was the Pavlovian desire to deliver the 'brand campaign'. It was seen as the highest-order response to any business problem: "Don't worry - we'll put...

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