The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands [Hardcover]

John Simmons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2003

The one thing that all brands desire is customer affection. They want to be loved. And when they are not loved, what are they lacking? Is it possible to find the missing element Â- the holy grail Â- that will bring them closer to their customers and their own people? In his new book, John Simmons reveals how to undertake and complete that quest Â- using the power of words.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Absolutely chock full of insights and fresh ideas about brands, business and language. -- James Hill, Chairman, Birds Eye/Wall's

About the Author

Until recently John Simmons was a Director of leading brand consultancy Interbrand. He is now an independent writer and consultant working on brands as diverse as Boots, the BBC and Bird¿s Eye (to mention only the B¿s).
John has a degree in English Literature from Oxford University. He worked extensively in publishing as a copywriter and as communications manager at the National Economic Development Office before joining Newell and Sorrell in 1984. There he led a design team on many major identity and communication programmes, including those for Royal Mail and Waterstone's. He has advised clients on the use of language to express the distinctiveness of a brand, including Marks & Spencer, Guinness and Air Products.
John is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has three times been a judge in the 'writing for design' category at the D&AD awards, this year as Foreman of the jury. He runs ¿Writing for design¿ workshops for D&AD and for thewriter.co.uk.
He has written two books on the subject of the relationship between language and identity. We, me, them & it: the power of words in business was published by Texere in November 2000 and became a business books bestseller on Amazon. The invisible grail: in search of the true language of brands was published in the UK in March 2003, has just been published in the USA and is already in its second edition. In November Profile Books published the Economist Guide to Brands and Branding, jointly edited with Rita Clifton. John¿s latest book My sister¿s a barista: How they made Starbucks a home from home has just been published by Cyan Books, and he is the series editor for Cyan¿s Great brand stories.
John is a founder member of 26, the not-for-profit group that champions the cause of more creative language in business.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 1 edition (March 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158799156X
• ISBN-13: 978-1587991561
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Product Management

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It flew well, but had a shaky landing, November 24, 2004

By 

Sean Trapani "amiable analyzer" (Savannah, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands (Hardcover)

First, let me say thank you to John for his efforts. The read was definitely worth it. The book was not as academically systematic as say, Pearson's "Hero and the Outlaw." But, if you're an analytical sort of writer, I believe that you will enjoy "Grail."

True be told, I think "Grail" is two books in one, with the second book overshadowing the first.

In the first part of the book, John talks about "verbal identity" as a compliment to visual ID. I shared the book with my fellow advertising imagineers, and we had a spirited debate on the practicality of establishing an objective set of tonal guidelines for brand managers. My only complaint was that John left his readers hanging a bit by omitting real-world suggestions for helping a client adopt such principles. (Maybe Interbrand didn't want any trade secrets getting out.)

John's second big idea was the notion of storytelling and its importance in creating a deeper understanding of a brand's essence. John used some excellent examples, and delivered his points well.

Truth be told, the dust cover and title nod more to the first focus area than the second. But, that's a bit misleading in my humble opinion. John's passions seem to be more focused on preaching the virtues of story telling to add value to brands - and his sermon was well received.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, June 6, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands (Hardcover)

King Arthur and his knights sought the Holy Grail. Brand managers seek another shining goal: public adoration and identification. Author John Simmons shares that quest, but his knights in shining armor are writers. If the real legacy of King Arthur isn't the still-missing Grail, but the magic of enduring storytelling, Simmons is a sword-carrier in that crusade. He somewhat self-indulgently advocates a creative experiment in brand management based on examples from his firm. In his experience, the most effective approach to brand building is to have "creative" writers - not corporate managers and certainly not non-creative writers - devise stories that are "true to the brand." Such stories, he believes, are the most powerful medium for conveying brand strengths. As with most myths, readers may wish for more empirical evidence, even while enjoying his observations about the English language and its limitations. We recommend this book to brand managers and corporate communicators who want to use language more creatively in hopes of creating that "Holy Grail" of a story.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars WRITE A BEAUTIFUL STORY, AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER., April 20, 2004

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands (Hardcover)

As much of a misnomer as "Creative" is in ad agencies, this book is just a sad example of the exact opposite.

Main premise: like knights looking for the Holy Grail, you need the magic of enduring storytelling to seep into your branding efforts. A magic that comes from writers and "creative people" instead of "corporate managers" and "surely not non-creative people".

Shallow. Self-indulgent. Hackneyed. Sorry for not even attempting to be creative in lamenting about this tragic excuse of a book, but that's only because it is not worth it.