A Forbes column offers this provocative quote:

[E]xisting research instruments like Interbrand and Millward Brown Brand Z rankings focus first on the brand itself, then ask the consumer what they think/feel about it in isolation of societal context.

These approaches pre-suppose people spend their time going through life thinking about brands...and they don't.

People think about themselves as individuals in society and their own self-created cultures.

Read the entire story here.