What if we gave brand a divorce?

often, I get asked what I do. And when I say work with brands, people always seem to make the leap to, “Oh so you’re in marketing.” So I’ve been thinking that it might be time to create some space between the two things. It’s time to give brand a divorce from marketing.

I’ve been circling around the idea for awhile now. A great article I read recently asked the question, “What’s your heresy?” and even though it wasn’t technically related to the day-to-day of what I do, it got me thinking – what would my heresy be? And here it is…

What if brand was divorced from marketing?

How would it change the way we think about brand and the impact it has for businesses? Here are just a few things I think would change.

I think a divorce would help brand to be seen in its rightful place as a horizontal influence across the business impacting and informing all aspects.

It would move it away from being only how the company presents itself to the customer.

With a divorce brand might get to have its own budget, to be used in whatever part of the business needs help to keep its promises.

Designers, marketers and advertisers could get back to designing, marketing and advertising and release brand back to its rightful owners – the company.
In a divorce brand would get custody of the core values and purpose that shape who the company is and what promises it makes.

Brand is far too big to be contained by marketing. It lives at the very heart and soul of the company and like other critical business functions such as strategy, finance and technology, deserves to be seen in its own right.

That’s my heresy.

So if you stopped thinking of brand in tandem with marketing how would it change the way you approached it?

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment. is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.