Brand Enigma : Decoding the Secrets of your Brand

‘Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.’

Edgar Cayce

The story so far. The previous chapters have unfolded the big issues, including the nature and development of brands and their continuing evolution as a business asset. However you choose to read the trends in the growth of consumer influence and the stories of brand hijacking and value dilution, they contain some clear messages:

• Outside your organisation, brands have a life of their own.
• You can influence, but not always control, what happens to your brand in the marketplace.
• You mess with the core values of your brand at your peril.

All of which leads to a number of big questions:

• How can you best protect your brand's integrity?
• How can you build brand value in unpredictable times?
• How can you keep the dream alive?

These were issues that were never far from my mind in all the assignments that we undertook for clients. The conviction that there had to be a better way of solving these and other brand challenges was growing. A number of ideas started to coalesce.

All the strategies that are deployed in managing your brand are useless unless it has been possible to fathom the underlying forces that shape the make-up of your brand. This had to be the starting point for protecting the brand's integrity and the only sure foundation for making inspired decisions about innovation, future development and effective promotion. ...