How People Talk About Brands

Currently, I'm reading a book called How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read, by Pierre Bayard.  It's interesting because it says rather than consuming yourself in the details of books, since there are more than we could ever read in a lifetime, we should consider the context in which the book was written and the author's overall idea for the story. Bayard says it is this that will help us understand how the book fits among other literary pieces -- or in his words:

"Paying exclusive attention to an individual volume causes us to risk losing sight of that totality, as well as the qualities in each book that figure in the larger scheme"

Bayard also mentions that taking this approach is good even if you've read the book because no matter what, everyone develops their own version of the story in their mind. This is because different elements become more salient and/or significant depending on the reader, as people's divergent life experiences impact their perceptions/interpretations of the book.

I find this concept is not only good for books, but it's also a good way to view brands and how people think about them.

To understand how a brand fits, or the role it plays, in the global market, we need to consider the brand's central idea, or what I call the brand's purpose. This provides context to what the brand is about, what makes it special, and how we should view it relative to other brands.

On a more granular level, as people engage with a brand they develop their own perceptions of it, making it important to note that these perceptions are influenced by both the direct experience with the brand and the life experiences of the person interacting with the brand. These life experiences include what they've already heard about the brand.

To this point, Bayrad also mentions that books do not live on their own:

"A book is not limited to itself, but from the moment of dissemination also encompasses the exchanges it inspires"

The same is true for brands. They are greatly influenced by the stories told about them by others, who could be existing customers, ex-customers, analysts, or people who have just heard things second hand. We know it's this external world that has the greatest impact on the definition of a brand, making the salience and clarity of the central idea for a brand essential.

Lastly, this philosophy, of having a central brand idea defining its stance in the global market and accepting that the idea comes to fruition through various interpretations as people take it in differently based on their individual backgrounds, can be leveraged when taking a brand to other markets.

The brand must keep its purpose intact, but find details that resonate with people in the new market so it's interpreted in a way that adequately reflects the brand's desired position in the global market.

Who knew books and brands were so closely related...well, they are both stories to be told, experienced and interpreted.  I guess they're not that different at all.