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Louis-Ferdinand Celine on transparency

"Life is filigree work. What is written clearly is not worth much, it's the transparency that counts."

A brand is filigree work as well. I recently purchased a Jackson Browne CD after watching a 60 minutes segment on the songwriter. Then a friend told me that Browne was a woman-beater (he allegedly hit, his then girlfriend, Darryl Hannah). That bit of "information" made me want to toss his CD out of the car window. Then I read that the story wasn't true. All of which left me ambivalent and somewhat emotionally distant from the Jackson Browne brand.

Here's the insight: a brand is nothing more than a bundle of emotions, loosely held together by trust and reputation. Once you lose it - like Jackson Browne may have over a nasty rumor, or which Kentucky Fried Chicken certainly lost with me after PETA released a videotape Tuesday of one of their suppliers kicking, stomping and throwing chickens against a wall - you may never get it back.

Posted July 23, 2004
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