Customer Reviews

The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands

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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.

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.

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.