Opinion: On the Campaign Couch ... with JB.

Q: I read your wonderful speech (Posh Spice and Persil) in which you refer to brands being like birds' nests, and took that big thought on board.

But in an 'On the Couch' answer the other day, you referred to the need for a 'receptacle' to capture all aspects of the brand's communication Is this another word for 'bird's nest', or is it something different?

A: Many thanks for that 'wonderful' - but you haven't got it quite right. It's not brands themselves that are like birds' nests. I invented the analogy many years ago to help explain how real people - you and me, for example - build up the character of a brand inside our heads. And we do it quite unconsciously as a result of an infinite number of brand encounters, …