4th October 2007

A brand is a belief system

With every product, service and company calling itself a brand we regularly need to remind ourselves what a brand is.

My favorite definition is one coined by Patrick Hanlon, the author of Primal Branding. He argues that;

“Brands are belief systems all belief systems have seven pieces of code that work together to make them believable. The more pieces, the more believable the belief system becomes.”

The seven pieces of code are:

  1. The Creation Story. All belief systems have a story.
  2. The Creed. The set of core principles.
  3. The Icons. The symbols such as the Nike Swoosh.
  4. The Rituals. The key ritualistic behaviors that set us apart.
  5. The Pagans. The non-believers. The heathens and idolaters.
  6. The Sacred Words. All belief systems have a set of specialized words which must be learned.
  7. The Leader. The visionary, catalyst, risk taker who founded or defined the brand.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Branding, Understanding Customer Behaviour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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