Firstly, S. Brown (2005) hilarious deconstruction of Ryanair branding strategy, labeled “paradessence” in reference to Alex Shakar’s The Savage Girl (2001) in which paradessence means the ability to combine 2 apparently mutually exclusive states and satisfy both simultaneously. For example coffee can be said to be both stimulation and relaxation. (Shakar, 72-73). So contra USP, brand kernel, DNA and other metaphors of stability and essentialism, Brown insists on the ambivalent and paradoxical meaning of brand discourses which can trigger various interpretations.

Secondly, Csaba & Bengtsson (2005), very accurately contrast the problematic use of the “identity” reference in most branding literature. They demonstrate how such a complex conceptual notion referring to various disciplinary fields like philosophy, sociology, psychology or organization studies remains poorly explicited in marketing and relies on dubious assumptions (e.g. essentialism, stability, proprietary qualities) that solid contemporary research in social sciences regarding the problematic of self and cultural identity lead us to question by insisting on relational, contingent, narrative dimensions. (e.g. Giddens, Castells, Bauman)

Around the notion of identity, both articles aim at contrasting a popular, simplistic and utilitarian managerial view of brands with a properly informed cultural understanding of consumers and citizens subjectivity in relations to brands.

References:
- Brown, S. Ambi-brand culture, On a wing and swear with Ryanair.
- Csaba, F., Bengtsson, A., Rethinking identity in Brand Management.
Both articles in Brand Culture (2005) by Jonathan Schroeder, Miriam Salzer-Morling (editors)

Over at This Blog Sits at the, theres a good post on building reputation and identity in a way that defies traditional branding logic.
Heres how it starts:

When theatre people say why Cate Blanchett is a good actress, they say she is:
…

I look at those six qualities, and believe they might also describe talented creative people in our business. (Or at least the desired qualities of talented creative people.)