Thanks for opening this fascinating discussion @decentrality. Sean's structure (which has clearly emerged from practice) coincides with the Lean Branding book's perspective on brand building, measurement and learning.

I wanted to share how my perspective weighs in on the "semantics debate", and it is a product of both my academic and consulting experiences. I studied business (undergraduate), design management (graduate) and psychology (doctoral) to arrive at an integral definition of brand that would incorporate both business objectives (which in the startup world often translate to traction and conversion) and consumer psychology. After looking at these definitions theoretically, I began doing consulting work for politicians, government institutions, and companies of all sizes in South America. In particular, I led a Lean Branding program for 303 entrepreneurs (97 tech startups) over the last 3 years to arrive at a framework that would effectively help practitioners "that need this muddy water cleared to be able to aggregate their values"(like you pointed out). After all, it is a matter of pragmatism: we need to understand this in order to capitalize on it. That's exactly why I wrote this book.

These experiences shaped my definition of brand, which is described in the book as "the unique story that consumers recall when they think of you. This story associates your product with their personal stories, a particular personality, what you promise to solve, and with your position in relation to competitors. Your brand is represented by your visual symbols, and feeds from multiple conversations where you must participate strategically."

There are four key aspects to the definition that the Lean Branding book proposes:

- It embraces consumer co-creation: your brand does not exist in isolation. It is shaped by consumer perception.
- It is story-centered: consumers recall your brand as an holistic story- the sum of both experiences AND symbols. (Coinciding with Sean here)
- It highlights empathy: consumers look for your brand because of what it can do for them (how your value story connects with THEIR personal stories).
- It allows for iteration (a dynamic brand): the brand feeds from multiple, ongoing conversations (about its value).

The most commonly known definition of brand comes from the American Marketing Association: "A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." As you've probably noticed, it is focused on identity and assets.

The Lean Branding book's definition is closest to Seth Godin's, which is: "A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer."

I'd be happy to answer any questions via Twitter (@laurabusche, @leanbranding) or email laura@laurabusche.com

Lean Branding is out now (Amazon, Barnes and Noble & O'Reilly) and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for opening this thread.

My very best,

LB