I want to know what you think

I know many of you are regular readers of this blog and I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of you in person, so I’ve got a question for you.

I am really not sure which way to go. It all began towards the end of last year after one too many conversations about brand that started with “no I’m not talking about marketing”.

That led to my blog “We need a new word for brand” and the follow up “Brand versus Bob.” 

Since then you could say I’ve been going around in circles. I’ve spent the last few years since my return to Australia from the US working to carve out a position as someone who thinks a bit differently about brand. Never using the “ing” or “re” words and generally talking ad nauseum about brand as “the result of the promises you keep” and related topics.

Post meltdown and the assigning of the placeholder Bob, the jury is out on where to go from here.

The question is this:

Do I ditch the whole “brand” baby with the bathwater and stop talking about it all together? Make myself unavailable for comment on the topic where it just relates to marketing. And commit to walking and talking “Bob” with the smaller marketing-driven brand as just another category of promises amongst many? Or do I continue in my quest to get people to see brand in a different more Bob-like light?

I do see them as different things. As I’ve written many times, the “brand” I love and see as critical to organisations bears little resemblance to the decorative makeover that most associate with the word. And time and experience suggest that there isn’t much of a place for my broader view (back again to why we probably need that new word).

So in the spirit of collaboration and with a nod to the “Wisdom of Crowds”, it is over to you – have another look at the blog that started it all, leave your thoughts in the comments section, ask your friends, tweet this around, I’m interested to read what people think.

Can the definition of brand be expanded or is it too late for that and the only answer to abandon it and fully embrace Bob?

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment. is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.