Thanks to Holly Seddon, Jeff Peel of Quadriga Consulting is featured in an article on branding on MSN - Microsoft’s consumer web portal. 

Jeff has a strong track history in brand related research and consulting and has undertaken brand related work in the past for many brand owners – many of which have been acquired, have consolidated or have gone from strength to strength. 

In the article Jeff explains that brands are not simply the names and devices associated with them. Companies try to build “brand identity”: what the brand stands for.

“The brand image is something different; it’s the perception that people have of a brand that owners can’t completely control. They can only seek to control it by altering the brand positioning via tweaking the look and feel of the brand through design, name and marketing communications.”

Such tweaks don’t always pay off though. “Brand owners that totally mess up the brand positioning often do so because they lose sight of what the brand stands for. And brands, especially service brands, are complex beasts.”