Expert en marques

Today I had lunch with a man who specialises in rejuvenating brands. His name is Michael ­McComb and he is managing director of The Disruption Consultancy in Hongkong. As you might imagine, it is part of the TBWA group. I can't reveal what brands Michael is trying to rescue at the moment - but his job sounds fascinating. What do you do with brands that have lost their sense of direction ; or that consumers consider so irrelevant that they have almost disappeared from the mental landscape ? How do you do a Gucci ?

These questions are too complex to discuss here, although going back to the roots of the brand - to rediscover its founding principles - seems to be a good idea. One of the brands we discussed has a charismatic founder that ­everyone, including the ­people who run the company, has forgotten.

But my pleasant lunch with Michael got me thinking about another issue, which is that most advertising agencies have failed to position themselves as branding ­consultants. To the outside world, it seems that they provide only the end product of the branding process - the ads. How did that happen ? Advertising agencies understand brand strategy as well as anybody. Why do many clients regard them as mere service providers ? Maybe they should just stop referring to themselves advertising agencies, and call themselves branding experts.