The Truth about Creating Brands People Love Book

Branding: secrets revealed, best practices explained, pitfalls exposed! • The truth about positioning brands and developing brand meaning • The truth about brands as corporate profit drivers • The truth about advertising, pricing, segmentation, and more Simply the best thinking the truth and nothing but the truth This book reveals the 51 bite-size, easy-to-use techniques for building great brands—and keeping them great. “I recommend this punchy, provocative book that uses vivid case studies to remind us of 51 truths about brands.” DAVID AAKER, Vice-Chairman, Prophet and Author of Building Strong Brands and Spanning Silos Preface ix Truth 1 Managing brands is not common sense 1 Truth 2 No one loves your brand as much as you love it 5 Truth 3 The brand is not owned by marketing; everyone owns it 9 Truth 4 Making more by doing less 13 Truth 5 Does your brand keep its promise? 17 Truth 6 Price is the communication of the value of your brand 21 Truth 7 Brand personality is the emotional connection with your brand 25 Truth 8 Does your sales force know the difference between a product and a brand? 29 Truth 9 Beware of the discounting minefield 33 Truth 10 Packaging protects your product; great packaging protects your brand 37 Truth 11 Brand management is association management 41 Truth 12 The retail experience is the brand experience 45 Truth 13 Corporate ego: Danger ahead 49 Truth 14 Brand metrics: Best measure of success? 53 Truth 15 Customer complaints are a treasure 57 Truth 16 Brand stewardship begins at home 61 Truth 17 Market share doesn’t matter 65 Truth 18 Avoid the most common segmentation mistake 69 Truth 19 Public relations and damage control: The defining moment 73 Truth 20 Focus equals simplicity 77 Truth 21 Marketing is courtship, not combat 81 Truth 22 Don’t sacrifice brand focus for sales 85 Truth 23 The medium is not the message; the message is the message 89 Truth 24 Brand development and the small business 93 Truth 25 Imitation is an ineffective form of flattery 97 Truth 26 Positioning lives in the mind of your target customer 101 Truth 27 The value of brand loyalty 105 Truth 28 Quality is not an effective branding message 109 Truth 29 Effective use of celebrity endorsers: The fit’s the thing 113 Truth 30 Brand-building consumer promotion 117 Truth 31 Advertising built for the long run 121 Truth 32 A service brand is a personal brand 125 Truth 33 Is your brand the best at something? If so, be satisfied 129 Truth 34 Great positionings are enduring 133 Truth 35 Effective branding begins with the name 137 Truth 36 Your brand makes your company powerful, not the other way around 141 Truth 37 Be consistent but not complacent 145 Truth 38 Is your brand different? If not, why will someone buy it? 149 Truth 39 The three M’s of taglines: Meaningful, motivating, and memorable Truth 40 Customer service is the touch point of your brand 157 Truth 41 Smaller targets are easier to hit 161 Truth 42 Beware of the allure of brand extensions 165 Truth 43 Keep advertising simple, but not simplistic 169 Truth 44 It’s a long walk from the focus group room to the cash register 173 Truth 45 Repositioning can be a fool’s chase 177 Truth 46 With advertising, don’t expect too much 181 Truth 47 Don’t let testing override judgment 185 Truth 48 Effective advertising is 90% what you say, 10% how you say it 189 Truth 49 Compromise can destroy a brand 193 Truth 50 Don’t let the pizazz outshine the brand 197 Truth 51 There are no commodity products, only commodity thinking 201 References 205 Acknowledgments 209 About the Authors 211 Read More