ABSTRACT
Harley-Davidson’s success is due not to how it branded a product but how it branded a meaning. National Geographic is a magazine and cable channel, but represents so much more. It offers us exploration and discovery—of new places, cultures and experiences. Gillette amounts to something more than just a smooth shave. The phrase Kodak moment was instinctively understood by us all, even if Kodak’s moment has now passed. This all sounds a long way away from anti-friction blades, microfins, and multiformat picture taking. And it is. Until you think of ladders.
