This paper argues that 'cool' is maintained in part by language and seeks to understand how identities of coolness for brands are constructed in consumer culture discourses. These discourses are constructed within a cultural production system, which comprises three sets of actors: marketers, cool hunting agencies and consumers. The preliminary findings of the research suggest a cool brand identity is constructed through the aforementioned actors drawing on discourses of value, social networks, progressiveness and unconventionality. Although all drew on the same thematic discourses, marketers and cool hunters constructed identities of coolness for brands in similar ways whilst consumers varied in their articulated language and meanings. However, across all actors a meta-narrative of elusiveness pervaded the articulations of cool brand identities.
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