Val likes to play a word association game with guests on the Vino Diaries. It’s actually very interesting to think about the emotions words can evoke, and brand names are no exception. They can create strong emotional responses – Comcast, Walmart, CocaCola – what do those evoke in you? One interesting tool taps into our collective unconscious to surface key associations with these brand names, providing a pulse on the brand: Noah Brier and his BrandTags project.

The results, while not surprising, are very telling. For example, when we think of think Apple we think Innovative, Computer, Awesome. When Gap comes to mind, we think Clothing, Khaki, Preppy. But who would have thought that Duracell would be so strongly associated with its rival, Energizer's brand icon... a bunny?

A driving force in what creates these connotations are the interactions customers have with your products and your employees. You can run, but you can’t hide: the truth and the reality of the customer experiences you facilitate will always bubble up to the surface.

Play the game for a bit. Like the #1 association we collectively have for the word Blackberry……it’s Addictive.