THE BRAND VORTEX

A comprehensive guide to elevating your branding game.

Truly effective branding is not merely taking a costume out of a closet and wearing it when needed, marketing expert Chidley contends; rather, it should be imagined as a field, “a space people can step into and feel changed by…that helps them see themselves more clearly, act more confidently, or belong more deeply.” This field is a force surrounding the planet—the “brand gravity” at the heart of his book. The author writes that he’s spent years watching brands become “untethered,” reduced to a mere logo, color palette, or slogan, when, in his view, there’s so much more to the concept. He urges readers to enter what he refers to as the Gravity Era, in which the traditional idea of branding is reframed: Instead of adorning a product with the bells and whistles of a branding campaign, “gravitational” brands establish their presence first, becoming visible, repeatable, and shared in order to win hearts. Too many brands, Chidley writes, invest in being seen before deciding what they should be seen for, failing to build a strong anchor. A well-designed product, he maintains, doesn’t need explanation; through his “gravitational” approach, they appeal directly to intuition. The author’s long experience shows on every page of his book, which is full of challenging reconceptions of the nature and psychology of branding. He clearly and accessibly breaks down what he refers to as the Brand Gravity Matrix, which is the intersection of the nature of the customer’s choice (does the customer make the choice, or does the brand take the lead?) and the nature of the product or service being chosen (is it functional or emotional?). Despite his contention to the contrary, some of his statements do seem to prioritize the manipulation of the brand over the quality of the product, but for the most part, this is a fascinating study of the kind of branding that’s never been more ubiquitous than it is right now.

An involving and thought-provoking series of challenges to the old-fashioned idea of brand building.