Jeff Koons is an American artist who is famous for his oversized reproductions of banal objects such as balloon animals which are produced in stainless steel with mirrored surface finishes. Critics are sharply divided in their view of Koons.

Some view his work as pioneering and of major artistic historical importance, while others dismiss his work as kitch, crass and based on cynical self merchandising. Fashion icon Tom Ford interviewed Koons and asked him whether he truly was an artist or if he was actually just having us on and is full of sh*t. Koons replied, "Where art is in the viewer, it's not in the object.

The object is in itself inanimate. It has no importance or relevance in the world. But the viewer, it's what happens inside them, it's what they walk away from the experience with. That's where the art is."

When I heard this interview I immediately thought about brands. A brand itself, your logo, is totally inanimate and on its own, has no real meaning. The power of the brand lies entirely with the viewer - your customer, the client, the person who does business with you. It's what they get from your logo, it's what they take from the experience they have with you, that's where the true meaning is.

Unfortunately too many business people treat a logo as something to just bang onto an invoice so that we know who to pay or to put on the side of a box so we know who's delivering to us - they don't treat it like art.

We don't learn more about it, we don't put more meaning behind our marketing and messages and we certainly don't work out how we can provide a more outstanding experience than that of our competitors, who are trying to take business away from us.

Think of yourself as an artist, creating your art (your brand). What experience will your customer or client walk away with after having interacted with you, that will give them an opinion or perception of how good or how poor your artwork/brand was?