As a marketer and brand strategist, it has been fascinating to watch the complete unraveling of the Tiger Woods brand. You would be hard pressed to find a more disastrous brand case history equivalent in size and scope. Maybe Tylenol back in the eighties would rival it for speed of brand dissent. All the brand pillars and tenets of Tiger have proven to be as phony as he is as a person.
It struck me last week during a wonderful benefit Holiday House Tour in New Canaan that kitchens are getting bigger and bolder with extreme design touches everywhere you look. It makes sense, given that the kitchen is at the epicenter of a family. Statistics bear that out. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, 80% of most people's time is spent in the kitchen. Why not make it as comfortable and functional as possible?
It is often said that logos are what we see and brands are what we feel. Face it, brands are an extension of who we are and what we want people to think about us. They control us in many ways, both emotionally and rationally. It's all about reaching both the heart and the mind. The greatest example of exercising power over our collective psyches and wallets is Nike.
