The one-sentence summary
Build your brand, redefine the market and defy convention by generating a brand molecule instead of an old-fashioned unique selling point.
WHAT THE BOOK SAYS
- The days of big image branding are over, and that includes the USP, brand essence and cultural trends research, none of which do the job any more.
- Brands should be seen as clusters of cultural ideas, many of which can be contributed by consumers and other brands as well as the brand owners.
- The main concept in the book is the ‘brand molecule’, a modular structure to which new ideas can be added regularly.
- He offers 32 types of brand idea that can be stolen or cross-pollinated to reinvigorate tired brands.
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT
- The idea of establishing a Cultural Logic as the basis of a strategy is an interesting one – brand activities can be broad-ranging so long as they have a well-considered central theme
- Those stuck in a strategic rut could do worse than try drawing up their own brand molecule, using any number of his 32 brand elements:
- New Traditions: habit, spectacular, leadership, organisation
- Belief Systems: cognitive, appreciation, faith, atlas
- Time: regressive, now, nostalgia, calendar
- Herd instincts: initiation, crowd, clan, craze
- Connecting: co-authored, socialising, cooperative, localised
- Luxury: concierge, plenty, exclusive, exotic
- Provocative: erotic, cathartic, scandal, radical
- Control: personalised, in-control, competition, grading
- It is also helpful to bear in mind that few strategies are truly original – there is no sin in looking at other markets for inspiration and trying to apply the same thinking to yours.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH
- The Brand Molecule idea could run out of shape if not carefully handled – a random set of thoughts drawn as though they are connected, when in truth they are not, will not help.
- Some of the praise trumpeting the originality of the book is a bit misleading – in truth it synthesises, rather than originates, many ideas.