MARIE-CLAUDE SICARD is an Associate marketing Professor at CELSA (Paris IV Sorbonne), France, a well-known expert on brands, and a consultant for French & international companies with her company MCPS Conseil, Brand Analysis and Strategy Consultancy. As a strategic marketing consultant, her clients have included L'Oréal, Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Kellogg's, Porsche, Jaguar, Renault, Dior, Louis Vuitton, tourism companies (Club Med), medias and banks (such as BNP Paribas). She fi rst published this book in France as Brand Identity: A Methodology (Identité de marque, la méthode de reference en marketing qualitatif), where it is now the standard reference book in the field. In addition to the permanent teaching positions she holds at the Sorbonne (Paris and Abu Dhabi), she lectures and consults around the world, most often in the USA and Asia (China, Japan, India) and speaks at international seminars and conferences. She is often interviewed in the media for her innovative views on branding.