"We want to go from being a logical choice to a brand that's loved."

A quote from a brand management exec at Marriott, reported in BusinessWeek's 9/26/05 issue. (Subscription required.)

Reminds me of a discussion I had with Beverly Flichman (bflichman@burris.com) on Friday last. Beverly believes that some strong brands actually evidence a power over customers who may not even buy them. Starbucks, for example, can be admired even by those who don't drink coffee. eBay has strength even for those who have never bought or sold in online auction. Part of the beauty of iPod for Apple is how it has introduced a corporate brand and some of its values to lifelong Windows users.

We - Beverly and I - riffed for a minute or two on the phenomenon, her referring to it as a "brand democracy." So we dubbed it - for now - "brandocracy," and promised to think about it some more.

The quote at the head of this post captures part of it. For many, a brand choice comes from a logical approach. But in a brandocracy, increasingly more decisions come out of an emotional attachment, almost to the extent that the true brand image is now determined by consumers, not by brand managers.