Customer Reviews

Brand Asset Management

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

According to Davis, "In a nutshell, this book is about helping companies better understand how to manage their brands as assets. But it's not about searching for the silver bullet -- the best name or logo, the coolest service or product, or anything on the Internet. This book is about a mindset shift. Obviously, a long-term commitment is required for this mindset shift to take hold and for the approach I describe in this book to work." He goes on to say, "This book provides a roadmap to start to achieve Brand Asset Management [BAM] excellence. It provides some new approaches and leverages successful approaches already established in many companies. And it demands that the brand be looked at holistically, encompassing every functional area within the organization." Davis organizes his excellent material as follows:

Phase One: Developing a Brand Vision

Phase Two: Determining Your BrandPicture

Phase Three: Developing a Brand Asset Management Strategy

Phase Four: Supporting a Brand Asset Management Culture

Davis examines in detail eight of 11 "Steps", ranging from Elements of a Brand Vision to Establishing a Brand-Based Culture. Along the way, he includes countless examples to illustrate key points; also, practical suggestions based on a wealth of real-world experience. I agree with all of his key points which include

* Loyalty drives repeat business.

* Brand-based price premiums allow for higher margins.

* Strong brands lend immediate credibility to new product introductions.

* Strong brands allow for greater shareholder and stakeholder returns.

* Strong brands embody a clear, valued, and sustainable point of differentiation relative to the competition.

* Strong brands mandate clarity in internal focus and brand execution.

* The more loyal the customer base and the stronger the brand, the more likely customers will be forgiving if a company makes a mistake.

* Brand strength is a lever for attracting the best employees and keeping satisfied customers.

* 70% of customers want to use a brand to guide their purchase decisions.

HOW? Davis fully and eloquently answers that question, recommending in the final chapter four "tools" to inspire and then engage employees during the implementation of a BAM strategy: (1) Have them "relive" the preparations which the formulation of that strategy required; (2) make sure they understand the end results to be achieved; (3) make sure they understand which specific actions must be taken; and finally (4), provide and thoroughly explain the game plan for the implementation of the BAM strategy. Davis correctly views employee involvement as "the most important element of Brand Asset Management", suggesting that with such involvement "there is no telling the limit of BAM success." If any of this is relevant to your own organization's current and imminent needs, I urge you to read this book ASAP. Better yet, have all of the key people in your organization also read it, then meet (preferably off site) for 2-3 days to formulate your own "game plan." But it is imperative to keep in mind that everyone throughout the organization must become not only involved but indeed engaged. Otherwise, Davis suggests, "you might as well put your brand investment dollars in treasury bills."

I am a professional business book editor--not affiliated with the publisher. I had the opportunity to see an advance set of pages of this book. To sum up: I wish I had published it myself. Some books are good on theory or strategy but weak on implementation. Others are good on tactics but weak on overall conceptualization. This book is unusual because it delivers on both. And insofar as relevance is concerned, how many things are more important than your brand? Chapter 2 by itself is worth the price of the book. It gives you the tools for developing the overall big picture of your brand. But don't stop there. Every chapter gives sound advice on how manage your brand as an asset and practical guidance for putting all of your grand schemes into profitable action. Buy htis book.

What a great book. As an individual that is responsible for a portfolio of brands, I found this book incredibly helpful. It is not like the other brand books I have read and passed to my colleagues, this one is different. It actually tells you how to build and manage a brand. It is not a book of theories. I have purchased this for all of the people dealing with the day-to-day management of our brands.

I can imagine that this book will soon be a textbook for graduate schools throughout the country. It's timely, relevant and most of all actionable.

Utilizing an 11-step, four phase process, and the author demonstrates how to leverage a company's brands into a valuable asset. Allowing a company to charge a premium for their brands and still maintain market leadership is the goal of the author's process to helping companies capitalize on their brands.

Phase 1: Developing a Brand Vision. A good Brand Vision integrates the company's strategic and financial growth goals with the role brands should play and the direction the role of the brands in achieving these goals should be.
Phase 2: Determining Your BrandPicture. A brandpicture is defined by the authors as "a snapshot of your brand today, as seen by the customer." This allows the company not only to see itself through the customer's eyes, but also understand what the brand stands for and why customers choose this brand. It also helps companies to understand what customers expect from the brand, as well as understand additional needs or wants the customers may have.
Phase 3: Developing a Brand Asset Management Strategy. Positioning the brand for success and extending the brand are critical to fueling growth. Understanding who the competitors are and studying the benefits, strengths and weaknesses off all the competition are critical to having a successful brand asset management strategy.
Phase 4: Supporting a Brand asset management Culture. The final phase ensures that company's culture rallies around the brand as an asset and ensures that the strategies of top management are being implemented. This phase also involves calculating a return on brand investment (ROBI).

If you are serious about brands you need to get this book-it's insightful, practical and a good read. This is hands-on guidance and advice that will accelerate your branding efforts. Scott lays it on the line not only with the how-to's but the lessons learned that he shares through the many examples in the book.

Effective brand managers have been doing this stuff all along, they've just been doing it as an art not a process. Brand Asset Management details how to build a process to develop a brand, assess its health, and support business strategy.

The brand and its management have implications well beyond marketing and sales, so Davis argues that brand management is the responsibility of all in the enterprise -it's about much more than techniques used by the brand manager. The brand should inform and drive decisions in product development, pricing, human resources, and business strategy.

Brand Asset Management is so prescriptive that it sometimes reads like a checklist, and some will find it best used as a manual capturing all the steps to developing and maintaining a brand.

Davis' book is highly recommended for both students and pracitioners alike to gain insight on building a brand both internally and externally and then using that brand to help drive profitable growth. Unlike many books on branding, Davis does an excellent job moving beyond an academic point of view to give actionable guidelines on maximizing a brand's impact and establishing a brand-based culture. This book is a must read for anyone serious about building and managing brands in the new economy.

Managing your brands as an asset is one of those obvious management priorities that becomes less obvious under the pressure of quarterly earnings. To a great extent, however, short-term numbers depend on the long-term positioning of your brands. Take a look at your organization. Is branding relegated to a department in your marketing division? If so, chances are your brand is being managed as a marketing tool rather than a corporate asset. Because the brand is the living relationship you have with your customers, it is critical that branding be elevated as a corporate priority. This book will show you how. We [...] recommend this excellent book to top executives looking to reposition a company's brands, marketing professionals who have charge of branding strategies, and for anyone whose business relies on the power of your brands.

The hands on guidance will accelerate your branding efforts. It provides some new approaches and leverages successful approaches already established in many companies. And it demands that the brand be looked at holistically, encompassing every functional area within the organization.

This book is a comprehensive and holistic approach to brand mgmt. The author presents an expanded view of the meaning and role of brands and gives a new dimension, deeper than the single, limited conceptualization of a brand as a product. The role of the organizational associations, of the culture values and the emotional imput is very well integrated to understand the multidimensional meaning of a brand. Another excellent brand book I realy like is 60-Minute Brand Strategist by Idris Mootee. This book is a very interesting read with lots of diagram and quotes, although not written in a traditional how-to book style. The insights presented to understand brand and company valuations are very well explained.