Image consultants and advertising agencies like to tell us about the extraordinary power of the brand. Back when the stock market was flying, they even conjured up fantastic models to link brand value to share price. Well, the thrill is gone, baby.

There's a fascinating piece in the New York Times talking about how AT&T -- once the gold standard of telecom brands -- has become the brand from hell. I was particularly struck by the point that brand -- in the case of Smith-Corona, Polaroid and Xerox -- can actually lock in your identity with buyers and make it harder to adapt to changing circumstances. Call it the brand builder's dilemma.

Anyway, brand was supposed to be a shield, enabling companies to drive up the price of their products and stave off competition. Not anymore. One hopes these insights will factor into future marketing decisions, particularly as Chief Marketing Officers contemplate relative investments in brand vs. customer equity. That said, I notice that AT&T is retreating to the corporate market, where it believes "the customer" is at least knowable. Their loss. The telecom consumer also is knowable. You just have to make the effort.