ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the brand essence block of the process for building and sustaining brands (see Figure 8.1). The purpose of this chapter is to help the reader to appreciate how the central core nature of the brand can be summarized. Brand essence is put forward as a way of visually summarizing the brand using a brand pyramid with a crisp brand promise. Recognizing that different people have different styles of thinking, some alternative perspectives on brand essence and brand models are reviewed to enable the brand’s team to employ a process it feels most comfortable with. Striving to ensure an integrated brand, the linkage between the brand pyramid and the two constructs of brand positioning and brand personality is clarified. The chapter concludes by characterizing brand positioning and brand personality.
