Considering LEGO's considerable brand equity, you might expect that the company must have a marketing budget in the billions. Not so. In fact, LEGO's marketing budget is so modest that if I recorded it here, you'd probably think it was a typo. LEGO doesn't do its own talking; it lets LEGO maniacs talk for it.

The cornerstone of religion, a clear vision can inspire great action and firm conviction.

Here in particular the idea of contextual communication - i.e. communicating the right message, at the right time to the right audience - seems to generate an increasing effect on the consumer in a manipulative way.

When we brand things, our brains perceive them as more special and valuable than they actually are.

I think it is fair to say that the end goal might be a demand yet your focus when building brands should rarely focus on this objective.

The consumer has become increasingly sophisticated in the way they obtain and digest information - of the simple reason that they've become comfortable about building and maintaining their own personal brands. This has thickened their "filter" and as a result made them become more critical towards advertising and communication.

What do Harley-Davidson, LEGO, and Apple have in common? They're all based on communities.