PHILOSOPHY

Nothing washes whiter

Companies spend billions projecting their image via advertising, PR and sponsorship. Yet today's information-rich world generates brand-related messages that our clients have little or no control over. Indeed, it often feels as if our lives are being invaded by branding. In schools. In football grounds. Even at the local village fete.

All this information is then assimilated by consumers who subsequently create their own perception of the brand – something we call brand reality.

The challenge for any business today is how to ensure the brand reality of their product matches the image they wish to project. It means a total reappraisal of the way brands communicate.

Time to come clean

Increasingly, consumers want to know where their food comes from, and how their clothes are made. They’re questioning brands at every stage of the supply chain. And the bigger the name, the harder they look.

Brands can't hide behind mass marketing techniques anymore. The Internet has given new impetus to consumer pressure groups and provided them with a global platform for debate. These days everything will inevitably come out in the wash.