Brand Revolution – Rethinking Brand Identity is one of those books that needs to be read at least twice. It is not very long, 162 pages. On the first reading, it seems to get very abstract at times and many readers may feel a strong temptation to skip to the end of each chapter to be clearer on what the author is discussing. An expectation created by the title is that this will include a to-do list for brand managers needing to better manage their brands. Marie-Claude Sicard’s book carries some glowing pre-reviews on its back cover. Early reviewers tell us that this is a refreshing new look at brands and how they are managed. Perhaps something has been lost in translation from the original French.
At the core of Brand Revolution – Rethinking Brand Identity is an interesting new format on which managers may base a different way of looking at what brands are and how they might be managed. Sicard describes her fingerprint method concept as a means of analysing what a brand is and which of the seven contexts might be relevant to a particular brand. This is done in two parts.
The first part reviews the classical ways of looking at marketing and brands.
Yes, classical marketing, which is so aggressive and so cocksure, which treats the consumer like a cow to be milked and advertising like a whip, a mere tool, doesn’t seem to suspect that the tool in question obeys certain laws, whether it is familiar to them or not, whether it has any control over them or not (p. 6.).
It is vital to understand a brand’s identity. A major problem in this is that “Nobody really knows what identity is” (p. 16). The rest of Part One puts forward a number of thoughts on redefining “brand identity”. Readers of a not too philosophical bent may find this hard to follow. Part of this may be because of poor translation from the original French. An open-minded reader should see beyond the words and understand the underlying meanings but may get distracted by contradictions such as: “A single word sums it up nicely, and more precisely a verb, and an action verb at that: to build” (p. 37). “To build” is two words. Is it not?
But, getting on to Part Two exposes a reader to some ideas which, even if simplified, give a useful structure on which to build an understanding of what underpins a brand’s identity. This is the “fingerprint method”. Seven “poles” on which a brand might be built are proposed. Some brands may be built on one or two of these poles, few will be based on all of them, but most will be based on several. These poles are described as:
the body of the brand;
the space in which the brand exists;
the time in which the brand exists or has existed;
the norms for the brand or brands like it;
the position that the brand occupies in its universe;
the relationships the brand has with stakeholders; and
a projection pole: a view of where the brand should be going
The body of the brand. This refers to the physical or near-physical elements of the brand such as the product itself, its packaging and other features that a services marketer might recognise as physical evidence of the existence of something.
The space in which the brand exists. Sicard calls this the “the temporal pole”, and it refers to where the brand exists in space. Where it is now, where it has come from, maybe even where it may be in future (although that might conflict with the projection pole, discussed later).
The time in which the brand exists or has existed. Some brands have appeared recently, some have been around for a long time and some may be in an early stage of creation or re-generation.
The norms for the brand or brands like it. How does what this brand “does” or does not “do” compare to other products that might be similar in physical terms?
The position that the brand occupies in its universe. In a field of similar brands, competitive or complimentary, where does this brand fit? How is it different?
The relationships the brand has with stakeholders. How does the brand fit in to the lives of people who value and/or use the brand in any way?
A projection pole: a view of where the brand should be going. Where is this brand going? Where can it go, where can it not go?
Each of these poles is amply illustrated by a number of references to well-known brands. The importance of each pole will vary from brand to brand and the positions that each occupies in its marketplace.
What this reviewer took from reading Brand Revolution – Rethinking Brand Identity is that this way of identifying and thinking about a brand’s “fingerprint” provides a structure for brand managers to develop a better understanding of brands and how they should be managed. Whether the seven poles are used as a means of analysis or as a framework on which to build a new brand probably does not matter. The book offers an opportunity for managers and students to think more deeply on the issue of brand identity and how brands should be managed, based on the author’s considerable experience and thinking about brands. Hopefully this interpretation is not too far off from what the author intended.
