Book Description
The second edition features a 220-term brand glossary and a premium softcover binding.
THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a âcharismatic brandââa brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:
• a new definition of brand
• the five essential disciplines of brand-building
• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• how design determines a customer’s experience
• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• the importance of managing brands from the inside
FROM THE BACK COVER
Not since McLuhan’s THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE has a book compressed so many ideas into so few pages. Using the visual language of the boardroom, Neumeier presents the first unified theory of brandingâa set of five disciplines to help companies bridge the gap between brand strategy and customer experience. Those with a grasp of branding will be inspired by the new perspectives they find here, and those who would like to understand it better will suddenly âget it.â This deceptively simple book offers everyone in the company access to âthe most powerful business tool since the spreadsheet.â
âThe surprise book of the year!â âJohn Moore, Fast Company
âThe first book on brand that seems fresh and relevant.â âRic Grefe, executive director of AIGA, the professional association for design
âA pleasure to read.ââDavid A. Aaker, author of BRAND PORTFOLIO STRATEGY and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âCuts to the heart of what brand is all about.â âSusan Rockrise, worldwide brand director, Intel
âRead this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager, IDEO
FROM THE INSIDE FLAPS
âA pleasure to read. THE BRAND GAP consistently provides deep, practical insights in a light, visual way. Discover the power of imagery and the role of research in building a heavy-duty brandâwithout the heavy-duty reading.â âDavid Aaker, author of BRAND LEADERSHIP and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âFinally, a book that cuts to the heart of what brand is all aboutâconnecting the rational and the emotional, the theoretical and the practical, the logical and the magical to create a sustainable competitive advantage.â âSusan Rockrise, Worldwide Brand Director, Intel
In THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier reminds us that the ultimate moment of truth for all brands is the customer experience. Customer perceptions trump our own perceptions.â âKurt Kuehn, senior VP of worldwide marketing and sales, UPS
âThis is not just another book on brand. This is the ONLY book you’ll need to read in business, engineering, and design school.â âClement Mok, design entrepreneur
âA well-managed brand is the lifeblood of any successful companyâand Neumeier shows us exactly how to do it. Read this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, co-author of THE ART OF INNOVATION
âTHE BRAND GAP couldn’t be more timely. Just when we’re at our most skeptical about corporate motives, along comes a book that shows how to evaluate and develop a brand in a straightforward and honest manner.â âDavid Stuart, co-founder of The Partners, co-author of A SMILE IN THE MIND
âMust-reading for anyone who wants to understand how their business strategy will succeed or fail when put to the ultimate test: âDo customers perceive a difference that’s desirable?’â âSteve Harrington, director of strategy and operations, Hewlett-Packard
âThe book slices like a hot knife through all the turgid, pseudo-academic nonsense that surrounds branding. It’s now on the course list for my graduate students, and new members of my team at Ogilvy get a copy with their training materials.â âBrian Collins, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Customer Reviews:
The modern view of branding.......2007-09-15
if you want a quick and entertaining way of understanding what is a brand in the modern sense of the word, get this book. Even if you know already what "brand" and "branding" mean, this book will reset your brain into rethinking your business and where you are going with it. It is a must read for anyone involved in selling stuff or services out of an established franchise or license.
Simple, Straightforward, Sensational.......2007-08-23
Marty Neumeier has written two "whiteboard" style books both dealing with branding and innovation - this is the first one. By whiteboard style, Neumeier's book is light on written content, moderate on visual content and layout, and heavy on basic, important, sharp ideas.
The book covers 5 principles to help bridge the gap between strategic thinking and creative 'magic' and uses a variety of visual and written metaphors, examples, and logical knowledge to do so. If you are looking for a text-heavy, super explanatory, in-depth type of book, then this isn't the one for you. If you're looking to focus your mindset when it comes to innovative branding, this is a great, go-to book to get through in a short amount of time.
The two main things I liked about this book were the fact it actually followed a lot of its own principles in terms of how it was designed/set up etc. and it also packed a lot of universality into these generic yet focused, sensical tips.
Case in point...here is what you'll get out of the book if you are:
A Student/Novice in the Field: Students will love this book to help them review a lot of what's happening in marketing right now, and the 5 guiding principles can help them innovate at their future workplaces. The expanded edition of this book includes a 200 word glossary of advertising terms that'll also help students and novices talk the talk.
Agencies: will delight at the tests Neumeier asks you to go through when developing a brand, particularly graphically in the "icon/avatar" section. The real-life examples of successful businesses identify the longevity of the brands and how it is obtained, giving hints to marketing/advertising agencies how to get that same magic formula.
Businesses: whether small or large, this is a great book to have. If you have an internal promotions/marketing department, this book should be distributed to the head of your branding staff to help them focus your company's direction in the market. If you are the owner of a small business without an internal marketing department, this book can help introduce you to the fundamental principles of branding that you can then discuss with an external agency.
Overall a great quick read that kept me hooked, never bored, and always thinking. The summative list of the main topics discussed throughout the book at the end was extremely helpful, although the glossary was kind of out of place as half the words in the glossary aren't used in the text. Probably helpful for beginners in the ad industry though.
Considerations for Brand-Building.......2007-08-19
Fantastic, a quick-read with deep insights, packed with timeless, necessary wisdom anyone who sells anything will benefit from reading. The Take-Home lessons in the back are a bonus (bullet points from the book), and the pages I'll review over time.
perfect.......2007-05-24
This book is entertaining and packed with wisdom! The book arrived quickly, was in perfect shape and at a good price.
Must have for Corporate/InHouse designers.......2007-03-10
This is a great resources for communicating clearly the importance of brand consistency. Read it. Then do it. Good luck my fellow corporate designers. We are a rare and lonely breed.
Book Description
As a concept, storytelling has won a decisive foothold in the debate on how brands of the future will be shaped. Yet, companies are still confused as to how and why storytelling can make a difference to their business. What is the point of telling stories anyway? What makes a good story? And how do you go about telling it so that it supports the company brand? This book is written for practitioners by practitioners. Through real life examples, simple guidelines and practical tools, the book aims to inspire companies to use storytelling as a means of building their brand - internally as well as externally.
Customer Reviews:
The best how-to book on storytelling.......2005-09-05
I have been through a number of the most popular books on corporate storytelling, and this is by far the most useful of them. While they all contain a number of case studies, this book goes one step further and actually provides the reader with clear step-by-step guidelines on how to start using storytelling within your own organisation. Budtz, Fog and Yakaboylu evidently have a lot of real-world experience with their subject matter.
Highly informative.......2005-07-03
It's rare that a European book on branding is endorsed by American gurus such as Philip Kotler, Kevin Kelly and Tom Peters - even marketing guru Seth Godin calls this book "one of the very best marketing books of the year".
The strength of this book is not only its message, but in the simple way it delivers this message - through a range of anecdotes and good illustrations.
Addressing professionals working in management, sales, marketing, PR and human resources "Storyteling - Branding in Practice" is probably the first of its kind to provide a practical, hands-on set of tools for companies to apply storytelling strategically as a source to competive power.
In a few hours the book will give you insights into:
- how storytelling can be applied in a business context
- how and where to find stories about your company or brand
- how to tell these stories in a way that benefits business
Book Description
A brand’s meaning—how it resonates in the public heart and mind—is a company’s most valuable competitive advantage. Yet, few companies really know how brand meaning works, how to manage it, and how to use brand meaning strategically. Written by best-selling author Carol S. Pearson (The Hero Within) and branding guru Margaret Mark, this groundbreaking book provides the illusive and compelling answer. Using studies drawn from the experiences of Nike, Marlboro, Ivory and other powerhouse brands, the authors show that the most successful brands are those that most effectively correspond to fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind known as archetypes. The book provides tools and strategies to:
• Implement a proven system for identifying the most appropriate and leverageable archetypes for any company and/or brand
• Harness the power of the archetype to align corporate strategy to sustain competitive advantage
Download Description
Using studies drawn from the experiences of Nike, Marlboro, Ivory and other powerhouse brands, the authors show that the most successful brands are those that most effectively correspond to fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind known as archetypes.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2007-09-14
I was disappointed by the lack of rigorous thinking in this book.
Sure, different companies have different personalities and personality is part of the brand. We could even create our own set of Jungian archetypical brand personalities, and go about attaching them to different brands.
But now for a test. Is Coca Cola a Creator -- helping inspire its users to do great bubbly things? Is it a Caregiver -- showing care for others? Maybe it's a Ruler -- a tough competitor and long the top dog in Cola Wars? How about a Jester -- always at the center of a good time? Or just it's just the drink for Regular Guys and Gals? Look at the ads -- maybe its a Lover or at least a drink for Lovers sharing a soda with two straws? Or, how about an almost Heroic presence, again from ads? Sometimes, it has a sort of Outlaw feel (with folks like Mean Joe Greene playing Robin Hood handing a Coke to a kid). In the old days Coca Cola ads praised it both for giving energy and a calming effect -- though there's no archetype for either of those. So, maybe it is more a Magician -- think of some of those magical ads past and animated present and its ability to give both energy and calm the soul. Given Coca Cola's global ubiquity and appeal, it might well be the drink of Explorers. It might even be (given the caffeine) the energy drink for yuppie Sages? Well, it turns out (according to the authors), that Coke is clearly so successful because it's an "Innocent." The toughest competitor in the Cola Wars, a mixture of caffeine, water, and sugar, almost wizened from a century of success -- yeah, it's clearly an Innocent and that explains everything.
My point is that the book lacks any sense of rigor, proof, or science-like basis in fact. The authors do a clever job of retrofitting achetypes to brands, and several of the cases are interesting, but the whole thing appears to work better in hindsight than proven principles for brand success. One could equally well, in this reviewers opinion, talk about aligning your brand with top-rated TV shows, Tarot cards, signs of the Zodiac, or (with at least a tiny bit of science) Myers-Briggs personality types --- "proving" the case with stories about how GE, Toyota, Google, etc. etc. all fit some stellar or personality pattern.
The kernel of truth in the book is that people like their brands, products, and companies to have a predicatable, attractive, and aspirational subtext. Creating an enduring and attractive personality makes sense, at least as long as the personality remains relevant.
Speaking of personalities, what's the Jungian archetype for the Maytag repair man? Is he a Regular Guy, sidekick to a Hero, or a Jester? Is the Ultimate Driving Machine (BMW) a Hero or an Explorer . . . with maybe the 3 Series for Regular Guys and Gals with higher aspirations than Honda and Toyota owners? No doubt the authors could tell us, though I doubt their hindsight would be of much value in predicting past or future business success.
What might be of value to some readers, especially those who think Jung had the last meaningful words on human decision making, is that some structure (almost any structure, even the Yellow Pages or TV guide) can be useful in brainstorming product and brand alternatives.
Wow, a new archetype!.......2007-08-06
Amazing... discover some (partial) new knowledge of psychology for the sole purpose of manipulating and profiting from others!
While this is standard for advertising types, it would only be fair of Pearson to discuss the other core archtypes at work here: the Crook, the Scam Artist, the Amoral Profiteer. These are real archetypes, that most readers of this book are living. Make money Peason, ok, but face your shadow and dont be part of the human problem; be part of the solution.
Dry but valuable.......2007-07-28
Alright, I'll be the first to admit it; this book is not an easy read. In fact, I'd call it a slog (and I'm a readaholic who can't put down the back of a cereal box!). But, the concepts presented are worth the work. The authors explain what's so darn compelling about Apple's logo, what type of client you want to speak to, and what they need you to say to make a connection with them. Plus much, much more.
So if you're trying to get a handle on branding and figure out what will work for you, grab this book. Thankfully, although it is dry as bone, it's fairly skim-friendly. So do what I did and skip the parts that don't apply or get too boring, and just look at the handy call-out boxes of bulleted info. You'll get the meat of the book without having to work so hard.
A Brand Is Never Just A Logo.......2007-03-08
If you're in the business of building brands. positioning products and adding value to organizations, this is a must-read. Simply organized, easy to follow and full of insight and thought, this book belongs on the office desk of every one who's involved in the science and art of marketing and brand development.
Insightful.......2006-11-11
This book draws some rock-solid suggestions about how companies can build successful brands by tapping into the fables and stories that are hardwired into our DNA. Uses insightful examples and makes what could have been a pretty dry read into a book that I actually read cover to cover on a cross-country flight. That's an achievement as generally five minutes spent reading on an airplane puts me into a deep sleep.
Book Description
In perhaps the most creative and authoritative book on sensory branding ever written, international business legend Martin Lindstrom reveals what the world's most successful branding companies do differently -- integrating touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound -- with startling and measurable results.
Based on the largest study ever conducted on how our five senses affect the creation of brands, BRAND sense explains Martin Lindstrom's innovative six-step program for bringing brand building into the twenty-first century. The study, covering over a dozen countries worldwide, was conducted exclusively for this book by Millward Brown, one of the largest business research institutions in the world. Drawing on countless examples of both product creation and retail experience, Lindstrom shows how to establish a marketing approach that appeals to all the senses, not simply the conventional reliance on sight and sound. Research shows that a full 75 percent of our emotions are in fact generated by what we smell, and the author explains how to capitalize on that insight. Included are innovative tools for evaluating a brand's place on the sensory scale, analyzing its future sensory potential, and enhancing its appeal to reach the broadest base of consumers. Lindstrom lists the top twenty brands for the future based on their sensory awareness. (The top three? Singapore Airlines, Apple, and Disney.)
Among the book's many fascinating factual highlights are the following:
- That gratifying new-car smell that accompanies the purchase of a new car is actually a factory-installed aerosol can containing "new-car" aroma.
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- Kellogg's trademarked crunchy sound and feel of eating cornflakes was created in sound labs and patented in the same way that the company owns its recipe and logo.
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- Singapore Airlines has patented a scent that is part of every female flight attendant's perfume, as well as blended into the hot towels served before takeoff, and which generally permeates their entire fleet of airplanes.
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- Starbucks' sensory uniqueness is far less strongly associated with the smell and taste of coffee than with the interior design of its cafés and its green and white logo.
Hailed as the "World's Brand Futurist" by the BBC, Martin Lindstrom is one of the world's top entrepreneurial visionaries, who has changed the face of global marketing with twenty years of hands-on experience as an advertising CEO and adviser to Fortune 500 companies. Firmly steeped in scientific evidence and featuring sensory secrets of the most successful brand names, BRAND sense reveals how to transform marketing strategies into positive business results that no brand builder can afford to ignore.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting and quick read on brand management.......2007-09-04
If you are interested in consumer brands, the kind that huge MNCs can produce, then you could find this useful. The premise of this book is that brand marketing should involve all five senses whereas typically marketing has involved only sight and/or sound. Lindstrom suggests that marketing should involve the full five senses of taste, smell and touch.
Most medium and small businesses would find this very suggestion hard to implement. Firstly because involving all five senses is extremely difficult to achieve in the case of many products or services. Secondly the limited budget available for many small businesses would limit their attempts to involve all five senses in the branding process. Yet if these business could simply catch up on Lindstrom's clue that a brand is much more than the logo, they would reap benefits.
If you represent a large MNC or small company with a limited budget there are two very useful tools in this book - smashing your brand and sensory audit or sensory branding authenticity test. These are not groundbreaking ideas which have not appeared before but they have been put very clearly. Though the many examples given in the book are from large corporations like Singapore Airlines or Sony, even smaller business can benefit from these. The question of why many brands do not succeed in the market hasn't been explored here in depth with examples and this drawback detracts from the usefulness of this book. Also the effect of culture on branding hasn't been mentioned. This is a major factor of brands succeeding or failing ignominiously in the market.
Overall, this book is a good and quick read with some useful information to come back to later.
The Interdependence of Branding and Sensory Awareness.......2007-03-07
As Philip Kotler explains in an especially perceptive Foreword, "distinctive brands...have to be powered up to deliver a full sensory experience. It is not enough to present a product or service visually in an ad...The combination of visual and audio stimuli delivers a 2 + 2 = 5 impact. It pays even more to trigger other sensory channels - taste, touch, smell - to enhance the total impact. This is Martin Lindstrom's basis message, and he illustrates it beautifully through numerous cases with compelling arguments." Bernd Schmitt is among others who make precisely the same point. In Experiential Marketing (1997), for example, he and Alex Simonson assert that "most of marketing is limited because of its focus on features and benefits." They then presented what they characterized as "a framework" for managing those experiences. In Experiential Marketing (1999), Schmitt provides a much more detailed exposition of the limitations of traditional features-and-benefits marketing. Moreover, he moves beyond the sensory "framework" into several new dimensions, introducing what he calls "a new model" which will enable marketers to manage "all types of experiences, integrating them into holistic experiences" while "addressing key structural, strategic, and organizational challenges."
In Brand Sense, Lindstrom provides a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective methodology by which to plan, implement, and then sustain effective sensory marketing. As he correctly points out, approaches to marketing have changed significantly in recent years. In the 1950s, branding belonged to the unique selling proposition (USP); by the 1960s, a focus on the emotional selling proposition (ESP) emerged; then in the 1980s, many brand managers adopted the organizational selling proposition (OSP); by the 1990s, "brands had gained enormous strength bin their own right, and the Brand Selling Proposition (BSP) took over." Inevitably, it now seems, the me selling proposition (MSP) emerged. What's next? Again I quote Lindstrom:
"There's every indication that branding will move beyond the MSP, into an even more sophisticated realm - reflecting a brave new world where the customer desperately needs something to believe in - and where brands very well might provide the answer. I call this realm HSP - the Holistic Selling proposition."
With meticulous care, Lindstrom explains how and why the methodology he recommends will enable all organizations (regardless of size or nature) to drive sales and profits with a commitment to the HSP. To his credit, he devotes far more attention to the "how" and "why" than to the "what," although he duly acknowledges the importance of creating or increasing demand for a worthy product or service.
Readers will especially appreciate Lindstrom's provision of a set of "Action Points" at the conclusion of most chapters. These will suggest how to apply the material to which they refer, and, will facilitate and expedite a periodic review later to ensure that effective follow-through has been accomplished. Obviously, it would be foolish to attempt to implement all of Lindstrom's suggestions. It remains for each reader to determine what is most appropriate to her or his organization's immediate and imminent needs. However, whether committing to Lindstrom's methodology or to any other, it is important to understand and - yes--appreciate the barriers to change initiatives when introducing any methodology which challenges, as James O'Toole so aptly characterizes them, "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom."
Stimulate our thinking.......2006-08-21
This book is great in a way that it stimulates our thinking and looks at the branding concepts in a brand new way. It also encourages curiosity and creativity in this professional filed. A Must-Read!
Limitied Usefulness.......2006-08-08
While the book is very interesting, it was of limited value to me. The premise of the book is that our marketing should involve all five senses. Typically marketing has involved only sight and/or sound. Lindstrom says that ultimate marketing should involve the additional senses of taste, smell and touch.
While it makes sense (no pun intended) it is really not practical for most small businesses to implement. First only certain products or services lend themselved to involving all five senses. Secondly it can be cost prohibitive for a company on a limited budget to even consider most of his concepts.
While the book contains lots of interesting information, it is clearly focused on large multi-national companies. If you are interested in theory and learning what the giant companies have on the drawing board, then it could appeal to you. On the other hand, if you are representing a small company with a limited budget I am not sure you will find much useful information.
Ponder your brand beyond your product and your advertising.......2005-09-20
Martin Lindstrom has written a truly readable and provocative book. Short term goals, and the pressures to meet them, make it all too easy to view business both myopically and blinkered. Take a step back and regard your brand (and your competitors' brands) holistically. Products, services, and the delivery of the same to your customers, encomapsses all senses. Yes, some will dominate, but is important to understand which and why. If taste and smell (say) are the essence of your brand, how do you convey this in your advertising, where sight and sound are dominant?
I would have rated Brand Sense 5, but for the fact Lindstrom draws on analysis from a massive data base from Millward Brown. I would have liked to have seen some of the details - perhaps as appendices.
All in all a great read ... now I have no excuses for not doing more!
Book Description
The Evolution of a Brand Powerhouse
The candles that lit the nights of Union soldiers during the Civil War. The synthetic detergent that eradicated hours of toil for women in the 1940s. The disposable diapers that added convenience to the lives of busy parents.
All of these breakthrough "firsts" and a host of others came from the same source: consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. Rising Tide chronicles this company's extraordinary 165-year climb from a small, family-operated soap and candle company to a global powerhouse whose market-leading brands improve the lives of consumers everywhere.
Authors Davis Dyer, Frederick Dalzell, and Rowena Olegario were granted unprecedented access to P&G's corporate archives and exclusive interviews with key executives and employees. They describe the introduction and evolution of such household brands as Ivory, Tide, Crest, and Pampers and illustrate how P&G learned to satisfy consumers and compete in markets all over the world. They also recount insightful lessons about product innovation, global expansion, leadership transformation, business reinvention, and brand building.
Compelling and candid, Rising Tide is a fascinating journey through business history and material culture from colonial times through the Industrial Revolution and into the Information Age.
Customer Reviews:
SLICK CORPORATE NOSTALGIA FROM THE 'IVORY' TOWER.......2004-08-10
Little needs to be said for an account, any account, much less a peppy one that reads like a veritable 'soap' opera, of a company that spends close to US$ 5 billion p.a. on advertising alone.
It is by definition a must-read for anyone even on the periphery of the marketing industry, and Yours Truly can vouch for the insightful trivia you'll pick up along the way if you hang your shingle in the media circles.
But the sheer strategic sweep that the authors have packed into this treatise on what kept Ivory afloat (beyond watery puns) will make it a worthwhile read for just about anyone in business. The singular most significant take-away being the allocation of media budgets a century ago versus how things stand today.
Interesting thoughts and riveting reminiscences wrapped in sprightly prose. Recommended in a blink.
Amazon.com
Experiential marketing, a decidedly turn-of-the-millennium form of corporate persuasion that strives to elicit a powerful sensory or cognitive consumer response, is rapidly superseding the stodgy features-and-benefits approach generally in vogue since the gray-flannel '50s. In fact, says Bernd H. Schmitt, a professor of marketing and director of the Center on Global Brand Management at Columbia Business School, leading enterprises ranging from Gillette and Martha Stewart to Amtrak and Oprah Winfrey are already using such emotionally loaded techniques successfully to develop new products, communicate with customers, create business partnerships, build innovative cyberspace and brick-and-mortar sales outlets, and boost profits. Experiential Marketing presents Schmitt's insightful and thought-provoking examination of this growing trend, along with a series of suggestions (for example, how to create an "us vs. them" atmosphere) for implementing similar efforts. By dissecting a series of relevant campaigns undertaken at the leading-edge firms mentioned above, along with those at other major players such as Harley-Davidson, Volkswagen, Celestial Seasonings, and Taster's Choice, Schmitt demonstrates its effectiveness while deftly pointing out salient techniques that readers might adopt. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Engaging, enlightening, provocative, and
sensational are the words people use to describe compelling experiences and these words also describe this extraordinary book by Bernd Schmitt.
Moving beyond traditional "features-and-benefits" marketing, Schmitt presents a revolutionary approach to marketing for the branding and information age. Schmitt shows how managers can create holistic experiences for their customers through brands that provide sensory, affective, and creative associations as well as lifestyle marketing and social identity campaigns.
In this masterful handbook of tools and techniques, Schmitt presents a battery of business cases to show how cutting-edge companies use "experience providers" such as visual identity, communication, product presence, Web sites, and service to create different types of customer experiences. To illustrate the essential concepts and frameworks of experiential marketing, Schmitt provides:
SENSE cases on Nokia mobile phones, Hennessy cognac, and Procter & Gamble's Tide Mountain Fresh detergent;
FEEL cases on Hallmark, Campbell's Soup, and Häagen Dazs Cafés in Asia, Europe, and the United States;
THINK cases on Apple Computer's revival, Genesis ElderCare, and Siemens;
ACT cases on Gillette's Mach3, the Milk Mustache campaign, and Martha Stewart Living;
RELATE cases on Harley-Davidson, Tommy Hilfiger, and Wonderbra.
Using the New Beetle and Sony as examples, Schmitt discusses the strategic and implementation intricacies of creating holistic experiences for customers. In an intriguing final chapter, he presents turn-around techniques such as "Objective: To Dream," "Send in the Iconoclasts," and "Quit the Bull," to show how traditional marketing firms can transform themselves into experience-oriented organizations.
This book will forever change your perception of customers, marketing, and brands -- from Amtrak and Singapore Airlines to Herbal Essences products and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Customer Reviews:
Very disappointed.......2004-02-26
With a title like Experiential Marketing, I thought the book would practice what it preached. Instead it took an exciting subject and made elementary points dull and uninspiring.
Resonating and Relevant.......2002-08-15
Experiential Marketing strives to make its case that it's important to relate to customers on an emotional basis. Given how much the decision-making process is linked to emotions and not just sheer logic, Schmitt makes a powerful argument that customers need to feel an emotional connection to the company they purchase from. Schmitt does an excellent job of writing a fascinating piece that is sure to help take marketing into the next step. It's as good as Guerilla PR: Wired, which explores how to use that same emotional connection via the Internet and other technological methods.
Old & Obvious News.......2002-05-10
From the perspective of someone who works intimately with major consumer brands, this book was a huge disappointment. There is absolutely nothing new here, as should be evident when most of the approaches held up as paragons of experiential marketing are 5-15 years old. Schmitt acts as though moving past "features and benefits" advertising is a new and controversial idea, when in fact marketing to people's emotions and aspirations has been accepted practice for at least 15 years. Is academia (Schmitt being a professor, not a practicioner) that far behind what has actually been going on in marketing departments and advertising agencies for so long?
Not to mention that every possible brand tactic under the sun can fall under the wide umbrella of "experiential marketing" -- and Schmitt attempts to make examples from virtually any good marketing idea of the last decade in a cluttered and undisciplined format.
I guess I wouldn't be so peeved if I were brand new to the world of mass marketing, and maybe this book wouldn't be such old news. But even for the neophyte, it's nothing more than a collection of neat marketing ideas with little of a distinct theme to hold them together.
If you want to read about accepted marketing tactics of top brands, it's an OK read, but those examples are all around us anyway. If you want to learn how these ideas originated or how you can think about your brand in a new way, it's of no help.
Frog dissection in marketing.......2002-04-05
My associate bought this book, read it and gave it to me to review (at the site of my school of ad-vertising and marketing I run a book review section). He was amazed and disappointed. And so was I.
THE NAME - What does the name "EXPERIMENTAL Marketing" suggest to an average practi-tioner of the trade? I've tested it on a dozen of businessmen and students of marketing and they were all unanimous - the name suggests staging experiments in marketing. (This accounted by the way for the decision of my associate to buy the book.) As a matter of interest, the name has been translated into Russian as "empirical" marketing, perhaps because the Russian editors found out that the book has nothing to do with experimentation. By the way, there is another book "Experimental marketing", by E. J. Davis. What's it about?
SUBHEADING (How to Get Customers to SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT and RELATE to Your Company and Brands) - Behold, vendors of nuts, bolts, bricks, furniture, hardware, apparel, station-ery, and of millions of other mundane, commoditized products. If your customers can neither sense, nor feel, nor think, nor act, nor "relate," this is a book for you. A minor point of grammar - what's it to "sense to your company," "to feel to your company," etc.?
TRADITIONAL MARKETING - The author arrogantly dismisses the so-called traditional mar-keting: "The history of all hitherto existing marketing is the history of functional features and bene-fits. Advertiser and audience, seller and buyer, strategist and client - in a word, marketer and cus-tomer--stood in constant opposition to one another, a fight that each time ended without any deliv-ery of true value." Really?
According to Prof. Schmitt, traditional marketers, those nitwits, view consumers as rationally think-ing robots. For instance, a buyer of lipstick is allegedly concerned solely with its chemical formula. (We'll have to excuse the marketing ignorance of psychologist Schmitt - he hasn't heard of Revlon's famous motto "In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope." )
Schmitt: "Let the traditional marketers tremble at the experiential marketing revolution." If we want to continue in one piece, we should scrap the old-fashioned ideas of meeting a client's needs, how-ever sophisticated and subconscious (see Maslow pyramid), customer satisfaction, "outside-in think-ing" (Trout), partnersell, WIN-WIN, platinum rule, and a host of other time-tested "US-made" marketing wisdoms? We must concentrate on how to entertain a harassed housewife in a supermar-ket - previously she was mostly locating on the shelves her habitual products and mechanically put-ting them into her cart. Now we must expose her to a wide spectrum of "consumer experiences."
RESOLUTIONIST - "We are in the middle of a revolution. A revolution that will render the prin-ciples and models of traditional marketing obsolete. A revolution that will change the face of mar-keting forever. A revolution that will replace traditional feature-and-benefit marketing with experien-tial marketing." A new Marx prophesies: "A spectre is haunting the marketplace - the spectre of ex-periential marketing."
FROG DISSECTION - "Experiences may be dissected into different types, each with their own inherent structures and processes." And so are marketings: the SENSE marketing is not to be con-fused with, say, THINK marketing. I admire that military style thinking - if your drill sergeant (say, Prof. Schmitt) tells you that yours is SENSE marketing, stick to it. And don't THINK or, God for-bid, RELATE - VERBOTEN!!!
In the conformable world of Prof. Schmitt's "strategic experiential modules (SEMs)" everything is clear and convenient, everything has its slot, everything takes care of itself. And... "The customers have nothing to lose but their boredom. They have a world of experiences to win."
Needless to say, that prodigy of revolutionary thinking is being received with much acclaim. However amidst much official appraise one finds on Prof. Schmitt's site his condescending reference to those who are too stupid to be converted: "The old school of marketing makes its retort against Experiential Marketing, Schmitt, and everything he stands for...
I am sorry to say, I found myself rather subscribing to the opinion of those "stone-age marketers" and wondering at the origins of the acclaims.
"A New Model".......2000-02-03
In Marketing Aesthetics, Schmitt & Simonson argue that "most of marketing is limited because of its focus on features and benefits." They then presented what they characterized as "a framework" for managing those experiences. In Experiential Marketing, Schmitt provides a much more detailed exposition of the limitations of traditional features-and-benefits marketing. Moreover, he moves beyond the sensory "framework" into several new dimensions, introducing what he calls "a new model" which will enable marketers to manage "all types of experiences, integrating them into holistic experiences" while "addressing key structural, strategic, and organizational challenges." The key word is "holistic"; the key process is Issues
Epilogue
In his Preface, Schmitt introduces his reader to someone he identifies as "Laura Brown." At the end of each of the 11 chapters, Laura Brown reacts to the material presented. Often, she responds with questions which the reader may be tempted to ask. For products but what if a company is an industrial firm? What if it is a consulting firm or a medical practice? How does experiential marketing come into play for these kinds of companies?" Or at the end of Chapter via a brand? What kind of communities are the 'brand communities'? What about communities of real people?"
Obviously Schmitt is a clever fellow. He includes Laura Brown (who turns out to be a real person) to respond to his material with questions such as these so that, in effect, he can say "I am so glad that you asked me about that!" Of course, he then answers the questions. This interaction is playful, adding humor; it is also a brilliant device by which to expand and enrich the flow of Schmitt's ideas.
They are very important ideas indeed. Simultaneously, Schmitt establishes a rock-solid conceptual infrastructure while examining a number of different companies (eg Nokia, Procter & Gamble, Apple Computer, Volkswagen, Siemens, Martha Stewart Living, and SONY) which demonstrate the fundamental principles of Experiential Marketing. One of the book's most valuable contributions is provided in Part Two as Schmitt focuses on what he calls Strategic Experiential Modules (SEMs), each of which has its own distinct structures and principles which must be understood by each manager. SEMs include sensory experiences (SENSE), affective experiences (FEEL), creative cognitive experiences (THINK), physical experiences and entire lifestyles (ACT), and social-identity experiences (RELATE). Schmitt examines each, explains how to achieve the effective integration of all four.
In the Epilogue, he reveals Laura Brown's identity (no surprise there), suggesting that the experience-oriented organization is a "Dionysian organization and focuses on creativity and innovation...it takes a broad, helicopter view focusing on long-term trends, pays attention to its physical environment, and views its employees as human capital." Indeed, he hastens to add, "the experience-oriented organization is keenly interested in promoting its employees' experiential growth." Schmitt thus offers an alternative to the traditional organization which is oriented toward order, structure, analysis, and short term.
If you read Experiential Marketing and then share my high regard for it, I urge you to read also (if you have not already done so) The Experience Economy and The Entertainment Economy.
Book Description
How to choose a name and create a catchy mark
After the business plan, the first step for any new company is choosing a name-a seemingly simple activity which can be extremely challenging. The next and equally challenging step is designing a logo that is eye catching, appropriate, and reflective of the chosen name of the business. Even for the seasoned designer, this is a remarkably difficult task.
Logo Savvy will help readers understand how to define the right approach and achieve an innovative and unique solution for both the name and the logo design. Chapters showcase companies whose identities have evolved visually through the introduction of a great name, as well as companies which have developed a visual identity in tandem with a name. Case studies, corresponding side bars, and tips provide designers with the inspiration and tools they need to find the right approach for their own clients.
Customer Reviews:
Well done.......2007-07-18
Shares sketches, timeframes, and team sizes for the various projects -- very helpful -- along with the implementation across media. Great work.
Book Description
As recent research has shown, design not only affects the exterior of an organization—its products, packaging, or identity—it can also be a powerful catalyst for interior change. The economic and financial benefits of strategic design management range from fueling a company's innovation process and boosting supplier relationships to creating completely new markets. In a sweeping effort to make this potential accessible, French researcher Brigitte Borja de Mozota conducted case studies with thirty-seven top international companies, design firms, and designers about their expectations toward and success with strategic design management. DESIGN MANAGEMENT presents the results of this research along with practical examples from the author's twenty years of experience as an international design manager, and within a comprehensive theoretical framework. Written for marketers, business managers, and design managers, DESIGN MANAGEMENT also features the practical tools to implement and manage design, including how to
• Define the role of the design manager in the company's business process
• Choose a design agency that fits into your company
• Create design strategies that boost product value and service performance
• Use design to manage change and foster the innovation process
• Understand how design impacts perceived brand value, customer experience, and return on investment
Companies and leadership profiles presented in this book include campanies Alessi, BMW, Braun, Philips, IBM, Renault, Motorola, Nike, Nissan, Novo, OXO, PRADA, Ralph Lauren, RCA Thomson, Shell, and SONY; designers Philippe Starck, Sadler, Terence Conran, James Dyson, and Mark Sadler; and design consultancies Desgrippes Gobé, Siegel & Gale, FITCH, IDEO, Landor, and Lippincott & Mercer.
Customer Reviews:
A good start.......2007-01-19
While the title is promising the book turns out to be more of a collection of literature on the subject. Great quotes about the importance of design can be found throughout the text. Unfortunately, the book never goes into how to use design to build brand value or corporate innovation, although it proves that it should be done. Anyone looking to strengthen their case through quotes, or anyone who is just interested in what people throughout history have done should get this book.
Overall, it is a great effort that doesn't quite fullfill the promise. Worthy nonetheless.
Good informational book on design management.......2007-01-06
Good overview of the history of Design Management and the value it brings to companies
Exceptional Review of Design Management .......2006-03-23
This is a very thorough treatment of a new and growing topic, design management. Brigitte has effectively jumped the gun here, coming up with one of the first significant books in this area. There are often splits between the design and marketing functions in a company, yet she shows, in careful, methodical detail, how they best work together to come up with successful new designs.
Interesting primer.......2005-07-07
This author takes a practical approach to define the key competancies of the field of design maangement. Her scholarship is strong, and her examples and stories are meaningful. If anything, she sees this field both too broadly and too narrowly. Broadly--one might think that design management is the new business religion, seeking to fix it all. Narrowly--She spends less time on the process of design in favor of the activities possible. it is very good in the sense that it is not about industrial deisgn, but truly management.
Average customer rating:
- To manage brand at another angle!
- Good, but where are the metrics? Hard definitions?
- The World is Yours.
- A Sensible Perspective
- Keys to build identity, providing the artistic dimension
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Marketing Aesthetics: The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity and Image
Alex Simonson , and
Bernd H. Schmitt
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Steal These Ideas!: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star
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Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands
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Customer Experience Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Connecting with Your Customers
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There's No Business That's Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture
ASIN: 0684826550 |
Book Description
There is no way to mistake the ubiquitous trademarked Coca-Cola bottle, or the stylish ads for Absolut Vodka with any of their competitors. How have these companies created this irresistible appeal for their brands? How have they sustained a competitive edge through aesthetics?
Bernd Schmitt and Alex Simonson, two leading experts in the emerging field of identity management, offer clear guidelines for harnessing a company's total aesthetic output -- its "look and feel" -- to provide a vital competitive advantage. Going beyond standard traditional approaches on branding, this fascinating book is the first to combine branding, identity, and image and to show how aesthetics can be managed through logos, brochures, packages, and advertisements, as well as sounds, scents, and lighting, to sell "the memorable experience." The authors explore what makes a corporate or brand identity irresistible, what styles and themes are crucial for different contexts, and what meanings certain visual symbols convey. Any person in any organization in any industry can benefit from employing the tools of "marketing aesthetics."
Schmitt and Simonson describe how a firm can use these tools strategically to create a variety of sensory experiences that will (1) ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty; (2) sustain lasting customer impressions about a brand's or organization's special personality; (3) permit premium pricing; (4) provide legal "trade dress" protection from competitive attacks; (5) lower costs and raise productivity; and (6) most importantly, create irresistible appeal. The authors show how to manage identity globally and how to develop aesthetically pleasing retail spaces and environments. They also address the newly emergent topic of how to manage corporate and brand identity on the Internet. Supporting their thesis with numerous real-world success stories such as Absolut Vodka, Nike, the Gap, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Starbucks, the New Beetle Website, and Lego, the authors explain how actual companies have developed, refined, and maintained distinct corporate identities that set them apart from competitors.
Customer Reviews:
To manage brand at another angle!.......2002-03-17
A brand is very important to a company. It is not just a name you call the product or company. It can in fact give the overall impression of your products or company to customers that helps differentiate from its competitors.
I have read several books about brand such as "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand" and "The New Guide to Identity: Wolff Olins: How to Create and Sustain Change Through Managing Identity", which are mostly about how to well use of the power of brand or how to launch the identity program.
This book is also about brand identity. But it is totally different from what I have read before. Seldom book about brand will concern for the psychological factors of customers. But it does. Customers do not usually act rationally. Many factors, not just the product itself but a total sensory experience will affect them to make purchase decisions.
This book talks about the management of brand identity by using aesthetics, that is, to create an overall customer impressions through visual impacts. The use of symbol, styles, themes, retail spaces and environments etc can satisfy customers' experiential needs - their aesthetic needs, which creates value to customers. All these are illustrated by many great successful cases: Absolut Vodka, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Starbucks, Nike¡K¡K
Try to read this book and manage how to build brand at another angle!
Good, but where are the metrics? Hard definitions?.......2001-07-26
The other reviews have done a fine job of outlining the many positive points for this book. It certainly does do a wonderful job of attempting to move the practice of 'brand equity' forward. Even if you don't agree with many of the ideas in the book, it's a valuable read. But I *do* have two main problems with the piece.
First, by the end of the book, can anyone give a decent, concise definition of what exactly aesthetics is? Of course, it's a difficult question because much of aesthetics lies in the overall whole impression created by a brand, rather than just on packaging, advertisements, and sensory data. But one major problem I had was by about halfway through the book, 'aesthetics' had come to mean just about anything. Marketing communications? Aesthetics. Packaging? Aesthetics. All sensory information given off by a product? Aesthetics. The environment the product is sold or consumed in? Aesthetics. With a definition this loose, of *course* it's critical for marketers to pay attention to aesthetics, and of course they already do to a large degree. While the emphasis of seeing all these things as part of an interrelated whole is an admirable goal, this leads to my second problem.
Second, since aesthetics is such a 'squishy/stretchy' concept, how on earth are you supposed to measure it, or know when youre doing a great job at managing it? The scenarios where a manager would make one aesthetic change, and then see quantifiable results seems rare. It would strike me as more common that aesthetic changes go hand-in-hand with strategy re-assesments and realignments.
Still, even with my general reservations on the book, I can reccomend it as one of the better practicioner-focused books on branding and brand identity to come out in recent years.
The World is Yours........2000-02-18
Double S drops the 'marketing book' of the year. Now you tell me who won, I see them: they run. Ain't one of you got Cynko cells or somethin? Now when TP dropped the word on this book, I check it at my local library. Word is bond. It's phat.
Suits best cop it, and learn from it. This is better than any stuffed up text you'll find.
Clad in a MGM white T, light brown khaki's, gold around my neck, cigar in left hand, brass knuckles on my right. Cap pulled down, eyes shifty. Black Jag, dark tinted windows.
Others try to copy, beat it, with a twist of my wrist, i end all existence.
A Sensible Perspective.......2000-01-06
The authors assert that, within a marketing context, a company must find "a powerful point of differentiation through the use of aesthetics to create positive overall customer impressions that depict the multifaceted personality of the company or brand." How? The book explains how. Substantial attention is devoted to the branding phase during which a symbol is strategically created, conveys a positioning, provides tangible value, and is most effectively managed on a daily basis. "Drivers" of identity are also explained as is the procedure for cross-functional coordination and other components of what should be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective marketing program.
During the course of Marketing Aesthetics, the authors examine a number of different products for which various companies achieve "a powerful point of (aesthetics as a strategic tool); Lucent Technologies and Continental Airlines (creating identity and image through aesthetics); IBM (corporate and brand expressions); Starbucks and Gillette (styles); Pepperidge Farm Cookies (themes); The Four Seasons (overall customer impressions); LEGO and Bosch (comprehensive identity management); Godiva and Nike (retail spaces and environments); and Volkswagen, Netscape, and Yahoo! (corporate and brand identity on the Internet). Throughout Marketing Aesthetics, the focus is on real-world corporate experience which the authors carefully examine in support of their assertion that "Business processes do not provide value to customers. Core competencies do not. Even brands per se do not. Value is provided only by satisfying needs." Moreover, "In a world in which most consumers have their basic needs satisfied, value is easily provided by satisfying customers' experiential needs -- their aesthetic needs."
Marketing Aesthetics thus explains the most effective strategies for achieving both brand and identity objectives. Those who derive benefit from this book are urged to read the more recently published Experiential Marketing in which Schmitt develops even further ideas introduced in Marketing Aesthetics.
Keys to build identity, providing the artistic dimension.......1999-10-30
Brand management begins with a strategical business perspective, then engages in a marketing oriented brand plan (accompanied by psychographic studies of the consumer) to end up with artistic executions (such as labels, print ads or tv commercials). This multifunctional obligation makes a though order for those who really want to be a complete marketing manager. Companies have to accept that business schools not always prepare future managers in psychological aspects nor artistic appreciation, however these same future managers will be intented to direct marketing research, product design and brand communication. With this book, Alex Simonson and Bernd Schmitt provide a lift for those managers who want to understand these new dimensions of brand management. And, most of all, remind in the urgent need to understand that the consumer is not bound to logical and practical behaviour but rather, is always in the search for an experience, one wich will provide with a sense of good living. An acknowledgement for the authors who have managed to show in a practical format ways to integrate aesthetics to brand identity management.
Product Description
A Clear Eye for Branding uses a conversational mode to help you understand how customers bring their own meaning to your brand and how the brand must constantly meet the customers' expectations in order to stay in its prime. You will see branding in new, clear ways with a renewed energy to put everyone in your organization from top to bottom, on the same path to supporting the brand.
Customer Reviews:
Business girl in Houston.......2007-08-23
This book is an excellent read, it brilliantly add new meaning to the concept of branding and what it really means and the way it works.
Another good book by Mr Asacker.......2006-11-05
I took so many notes in this book. I often review them when I feel like there is a disconnect between me and my clients. Once again Tom shows how important the human connection is along with doing business for your client vs how YOU want to do business. After reading this my business model has changed dramatically along with many happy repeat clients. So often we model our service business after how we like to do things. "That's how I do it" attitude. Along with myself, I've seen many other service businesses crash like this. Read this book and change your business for the better. 5 stars again for Asacker.
Impactful, Clear, Quick, To-the-point.......2006-08-15
This book was great for me because it is structured as a conversation with two speakers making points and counterpoints- the book was like a conversation that might occur right in one of my company's meeting rooms, and for that reason I found it riveting, enjoyable-to-read, and applicable to real life business!
9 Stars.......2006-01-11
This is one of the best books I've read about branding, perhaps the best. It's very interesting, good written, .. simply 100%.
There's a new Tom in town and its not Peters........2006-01-05
This book is definately a hidden gem for business owners large and small. Tom gets right to the point bypassing the marketing babble to give us his clear take on today's most powerful concept in business. One of the few marketing books out there which the author lays it all on the table and shares all his valuable and insightful marketing advice with his readers. It sure is refreshing to finally read a book on marketing with out all the fluff and BS. Check out Tom's blog as well. You'll be glad you did. Good stuff.
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- The Complete Credit Repair Kit (+CD-ROM) (Complete Credit Repair Kit)
- The Complete Credit Repair Kit (+CD-ROM) (Complete Credit Repair Kit)
- The Complete Eldercare Planner, Second Edition: Where to Start, Which Questions to Ask, and How to Find Help
- The Complete Guide to Credit Repair
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying Foreclosures
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books, Second Edition
- The Courage to be Rich: Creating a Life of Material and Spiritual Abundance
- The Girl's Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being a Bitch): Valuable Lessons, Smart Suggestions, and True Stories for Succeeding as the Chick-in-Charge
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 8)
- The Laws of Thinking: 20 Secrets to Using the Divine Power of Your Mind to Manifest Prosperity
Books Index
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The Dictionary of Brand
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