Pretty much all companies in the premium consumer market recognize the importance of a strong brand image; after all, to a large extent that's what people are buying into. And for a brand image to work and remain strong, all of a company's marketing and advertising - anything the consumer comes into contact with, in fact - has to live up to, and reinforce, that image.

Having said that, Abercrombie & Fitch seem intent on demonstrating that slavish adherence to the brand image can be damaging. Last year the iconic firm was ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation after requesting a worker with a prosthetic arm confine herself to the storeroom - rather than the sales floor of its London store - until winter uniforms, covering up more of her arm, were introduced. Not the kind of publicity they would want, but possibly something which could be dismissed as a one-off.

Abercrombie & Fitch are set to open a new store in Aberdeen, Scotland - only its second store in the UK. Last month, reported Personnel Today, outside the Aberdeen store, posters recruiting new staff appeared - posters which asked for "cool and good-looking people". Now, this isn't directly outlawed by the UK's anti-discrimination legislation, but an older person, or someone with a facial disfigurement, who were turned down for jobs or consigned to the storeroom could claim the posters were evidence of a predisposition to discriminate against them. Even if no action is ever taken, the bad publicity such an ill-advised campaign can generate, in combination with the earlier incident, is hardly good news. It makes Abercrombie & Fitch look like the kind of company which is solely interested in the cool and good-looking, something which may stop the rest of us from even crossing the threshold of their stores.

It is important to recognize that a strong brand image is an essential part of the portfolio of companies striving to attract high-end consumers; but that has to come with an appreciation that slavish adherence to an image which is designed to appeal to a specific niche can alienate potential customers who don't quite fit the profile. And that can impact a company where it hurts most: on the bottom line.