"here's a thought"

All around the world, fashion followers were shocked and distressed recently by the sudden and untimely death of Alexander McQueen.

McQueen was a polarising figure, spending five high profile years as head designer at Givenchy before launching his own label in 2001 where he continued his controversial approach to the world of fashion…

Since his death, commentators have been speculating on whether the label can continue in the future, especially since he was seen as both the figurehead and the driving creative force behind the brand.

This raises an interesting challenge for personality-driven brands – is the brand’s future success inextricably linked to that of the personality or can it exist, survive and flourish without the person in question?

There are of course many examples where a brand has continued successfully without the founder’s direct involvement – Gianni Versace, Walt Disney, Laura Ashley and Bing Lee all spring to mind.

But it is not an easy situation for a brand to be able to deal with – as witnessed by the difficult times faced by these brands in recent years:

• Martha Stewart trying to maintain the credibility of her popular homemaker brand following a spell in prison.
• Apple trying to overcome industry concerns over the extended illness affecting its founder and leading light Steve Jobs.
• Crazy John’s independent Australian phone retailer, having to cope with the abrupt death of charismatic founder John Ilhan.

Separating the person from the brand becomes harder where the brand is based on the person performing some personal activity.

For instance, consider the proliferation of high profile TV chefs – Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson, Bill Granger….can they prosper as ‘brands’ without the main man (or woman) at the cooktop?

So what is the answer? Maybe the secret can be found in the DNA of two successful personality-driven brands – The Body Shop & Virgin.

Both were built on the strong personality of their founders but The Body Shop continues trading strongly four years after Roddick’s death and Virgin will no doubt continue to do so once Branson moves on.

What these brands have both done well is establish a clear set of brand values that exist without needing the founder to drive them personally.

If your brand has a strong figurehead, are there any succession plans in place?

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