“He’s a brand name, probably one of the most recognizable brand names in the world”

I found it strange that a professor of Georgetown University (quoted in an AP story yesterday) called Bin Laden a brand name, after the two videos emerged this week.

People attach the word “brand” to anything these days, in the same way that agency folk in the eighties used to drop the word “strategic” before a lot of words (like “management,” “response,” “investment”) just to sound profound.

One could assume he was simply expanding on the idea he had just described describing the man as a “marquee name wheeled out in dramatic fashion.” Bin Laden may have some odd PR tactics ( insert “strategies” for “tactics” if you want added effect) but releasing a VNR now and then does not bestow brand status.