I'll show you mine

Together with the research institute Millward Brown and 600 researchers in 13 countries, we asked just such a question.

An amazing 18.9% of respondents to the BRAND sense study declared their willingness to be tattooed with their favoured brand's logo. The brand most favoured by this group was Harley-Davidson. Disney followed with 14.8%, then Coca-Cola with 7.7%.

But perhaps the most surprising result was the brand that ranked fourth - Google. In just seven years, the global search engine formed such a strong allegiance, claiming 6.6% of those consumers who would seriously consider getting a brand tattoo. When asked 'Why Google?', the answer was simple. Those that chose Google, did not perceive it as a brand.

Although most global citizens are quite familiar with names like Harley-Davidson, Disney and Coke as brands, for some odd reason Google is perceived differently. For these respondents, Google is not a company as such, it is more a philosophy - a helping hand. Brands generally are entities that exist for profit, but Google has its own unique place in this pantheon, a non-brand brand. The perception is complex. Google is not owned by Google, rather it is owned by the people. This feeling is world's removed from say, Microsoft. And this notion of ownership may have an enormous bearing on the goodwill and empathy inspired by the search engine. The fact that both brands are owned by the public, Google serves its users and doesn't ask anything of them.

In stark contrast, the relationship between telecommunication brands and consumers is one of impersonal distance. Every contact requires interaction with an operator at a call centre. Oftentimes pre-recorded messages direct you to another pre-recorded message. And no matter how many times the pleasant voice at the end of the line tells us how our call is important to them, there's no sense of customer as individual.

On the other hand, most of us feel we've discovered Google ourselves, and despite its enormous growth and turnover, we somehow feel Google stands as David against the Goliaths of, say, Microsoft or Yahoo! The IPO underlined the fact that Google belonged to the people, and was proven when its shares went public. It soon became notorious for its unusual structure, allowing individuals to own shares in the … I was just about to say brand. This 'public ownership' is frequently demonstrated in Google's practice of sharing its latest inventions with the public in their beta-area. There are (almost) no secrets here: Google has made the world its R&D lab.

For more than six months Google's G-mail has been in the domain of selected users across the world. All hundreds of thousands of them. Although you still can't sign up for it, it's become one of the most effective viral marketing exercises to date. However, if you know someone who uses it, you're in. In short, we all feel we own a small stake in Google, both emotionally and perhaps even financially.

Unquestionably, Google is showing the future of successful branding. Brands need to contain what I refer to as the MSP - the Me Selling Proposition. They reach a point when they are no longer 'owned' by the company. They are instead 'claimed' by the consumer who needs to feel a strong sense of brand ownership. When Pepsi developed its online lab, they asked consumers to sign up and help Pepsi develop new innovative drinks. I signed up and never heard another word. Incidentally, Pepsi is not alone in this quest to become an 'MSP' brand. The fact is many Fortune 100 brands are struggling to pass on this sense of ownership to the consumer.

A sense of ownership is developed by consistently engaging users in every process - before, during and after sales. The days of corporate obfuscation and secrecy are over. Everything you do, from the R&D process to the small details that appear on a company web site, need to reflect the brand's core values. Involve your consumers in the entire process. Invite them into the idea-generation process. Let them observe the product testing. Make sure every stage accessible to the world. Maintain an unswerving commitment to this mantra: over-deliver and under-promise. If your consumers have been with you the whole way, they're unlikely to complain about a product when it's finally released. After all, they'll have tested it for you.

To have your brand tattooed on the nation's arms is not the end goal. But it's a concept that's worth bearing in mind as a metaphor for your real aim: to build strong brand loyalty. Then again, if you do happen to notice someone wearing a tattoo of your brand, you'll know you're right on target!