Whose side are you on?

Recently I went through a few Brand Strategy cases that my colleagues had done over the last few years. As I kept thinking of these and the projects I have worked on, I realized that powerful brand strategies can only come if you leave the guys who hire you and get on the side of the customer. When you step on that side and immerse yourself in their world and feel their joys and pains, you work towards a strategy from the heart.

Having done that, you step back on your client's side and get down to practicalities and then the solutions that emerge are both relevant and pragmatic.

Marriage of the head and the heart.

What dilutes a brand

I have been reading the news of Starbucks $1 Coffee with some interest. What makes a case-study brand depart considerably from its 'core' of premiumness and comfort? Will it survive the new line of competition with behemoth value chains that it puts itself in now?

Brands are what add to margins. If so, what kind of brands still continue to do so during a downturn like this? I have been pondering over these questions for a while now. Expect to see some research based answers on this soon.