In Search Of Lost Time, Marcel Proust

From the bookshelf of Andrew Perkins, planner, DDB London

Our job is to make the fleeting experiences that people have with brands more memorable. How can we make a strong impression? How to seed a lasting memory?

For answers, you could do worse than Proust's poignant masterpiece. Although were more likely to be concerned with busy mums in Cheam than the exquisite sensibilities of an effete member of the haute-bourgeoisie, Proust's lessons on memory can still help. The novel contains three memory triggers; the sight of hawthorn blossom, the feeling of cobblestones underfoot and, most famously, the taste of the Madeleine.

These all share two characteristics.

Firstly they are linked to powerful emotions - in this case love and the loss of love.

Secondly, these triggers are specific, vivid things.

Brands will continue to fail so long as they insist on marrying vague and abstract sentiments to dry reasoning. Proust teaches us that powerful, lasting memories can only be seeded by something concrete. Avoid wooliness. Fear the abstract. Find that arresting image or that tangible expression for your brand and, like Proust's memories, it can go on and on.

This article appeared in Brand Strategy, the monthly, thought-leading marketing magazine. www.brandstrategy.co.uk/subs