Brand Architecture and Idenitity of Moleskine as a Brand

Anne-Marie Van Beerlere 18767 Brand Identity and Brand Architecture Essay Week 9 Brand Strategy Simon Grainger In this essay I will be discussing the brand Moleskine® according to the following criteria: A brief background and what makes their particular brand remarkable; applying David Aaker’s Brand identity planning model; explaining the intrinsic link between the brand’s identity and architecture. I will be touching on the value of a carefully engineered brand portfolio; and lastly, analyze the brand’s existing markets and possible further brand extensions. Moleskine’s® history dates back two centuries, the legendary notebook has seen use from the likes of Vincent Van Gogh to Pablo Picasso , Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin. These iconic figures deployed “this anonymous and essential little black notebook” as a means of recording sketches, notes, stories and ideas. The Notebooks with their exclusive and practical appearance where originally created by a “small French bookbinder that supplied Parisian stationery shops which were frequented by the international literary and artistic avant-­‐garde.” (The history, n.d). In the mid 1980s the notebooks appeared to have disappeared off the market, the original French manufacturer had closed shop forever saying “Le vrai Moleskine n’est plus” translated "The real Moleskine is no more". Bruce Chatwin the English writer/traveler had written a book the Songlines, in which he explains the story of his favorite notebook, in this book he banked on the name “Moleskine”. In 1997 a small Milanese publisher brought this notebook back to life, “Following in Chatwin’s footsteps, Moleskine® notebooks embarked on its revival journey, this time as an indispensable complement to today’s mobile technology. Capturing reality on the move, preserving details, impressing the unique aspects of experience upon paper, Moleskine is an accumulator of ideas and emotions which are then released over time.” (A Legendary Story, n.d). Moleskine® has...