29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read, April 10, 2001
David D'Alessandro has transformed John Hancock from a clubby, play-it-safe mutual company, to a leading, publically-traded financial services group where accountability, integrity and growth are embraced. Marketing has played a critical role in the company's transformation. Unlike other life insurance companies, Hancock is led by a CEO who understands branding and embraces big ideas.
D'Alessandro's list of pioneering moves and accomplishments within the world of sports marketing and sponsorship is long and legendary. The first sponsor - and saviour - of the Boston Marathon, the first to completely rename a college football bowl game for the sponsor, the first in the insurance category to become a worldwide Olympic partner, and the first sponsor to stand up to the IOC in the midst of its bribery scandal over bribes and say: "This will not stand. Change your ways or suffer the consequences."
Anyone who wants to know brand building, communications, public relations, advertising and sports marketing from the inside out, should read Brand Warfare. Written by an acclaimed CEO and branding maverick, the book introduces D'Alessandro's "brand first" philosophy and explains why brand must always take top priority over every other business consideration.
And, unlike books written by academicians and consultants, Brand Warfare's ideas are real world and street tested. D'Alessandro engineered Hancock's double-digit growth rate at a time when many of its competitors went under.
Whether you're an experienced CEO or just starting your career, anyone in any industry will benefit from D'Alessandro's 10 principles and his "brand first" approach. Brand Warfare should become required reading for business professionals.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reputation Counts: Good Branding Principles Detailed, April 4, 2001
Mr. D'Alessandro is the CEO of John Hancock, and rose to that position after starting with the company as head of communications. The many successes that John Hancock has enjoyed certainly relate back to good brand thinking and implementation. Although the book contains many details about John Hancock's experiences, it mostly recounts examples from other companies to provide a full perspective on the difficulties of establishing and maintaining a positive brand image and awareness. My only complaints about the book are that it would have benefited from more context about how branding fits with other critical activities for corporate success and more constructive metaphors than those of warfare and competition.
Most students of marketing will scratch their heads at his list of 10 principles. Yet, I see these principles violated every day by dozens of leading companies. So, even if the rules seem obvious, it easy to go astray.
For example, "It's the brand, stupid." Despite this, few CEOs spend time measuring and understanding what is happening to image and awareness of company brands . . . must less thinking about what needs to be done. Most spend more time in 100 other areas that are mostly unrelated to brands.
Another good example is "If you want great advertising, be prepared to fight for it." I agree with his observation that many marketing executives and advertising agency people will tend to try to produce copy that will be easily accepted by company decision makers, rather than copy that will increase sales and profits. Many CEOs don't even realize how they have been maneuvered. Some don't care, like the CEO whose girl friend was in all of the company's ads. I meet CEOs who like to date the women who appear in the company's ads, so the problem hasn't disappeared.
To my mind, Mr. D'Alessandro is probably best at thinking through event-based marketing. Most companies are horrible in this area. The book is well worth its price just for the sections that explain how to select events to sponsor, how to work with the event's organizers, and how to connect to the event for maximum advantage.
The section on how you use advertising on how to create brand differentiation for relatively undifferentiated products was well done, but is probably too subtle for most to really understand. This section could probably have used some more details and examples.
John Hancock has done a great job of expanding its distribution for life insurance. I would have liked to have had more details about how the company handled the career agents to make this change acceptable to them.
If you just want to take one key idea away from this book, you should focus on the concept that everyone in the company should be constantly asking themselves before acting, "Will it help or hurt the brand?" Although the CEO has to pay attention, it's even more important that everyone else do so too.
Here are some more of the principles:
"Codependency can be beautiful." This is simply the idea that brands help customers by directing them to trustworthy suppliers, while these suppliers can more easily get customers. In a world with more and more choices, this is a more valuable relationship than ever for both sides.
"A great brand message is like a bucking bronco -- once you're on, don't let go." Company executives usually tire of campaigns long before customers do, because the executives have seen the commercials so much more often.
"Use your brand to lead your people to the promised land." This is a very thought-provoking section. He points out that the best people want to work with the best brands. The brand identity helps establish focus and discipline. A brand can also inspire people to accomplish more than they think they can (think of Wal-mart in its early days).
I was introduced to Mr. D'Alessandro more than a decade ago when he was starting to apply these principles at John Hancock. I remember clearly that he articulated the rules to me at that time. I was impressed then, and you should be too when you realize that these are things he has been thinking about and implementing for a long time. This is not just another public relations effort to buff up the image of a CEO. You are learning from one of the top practitioners.
After you have finished enjoying these interesting stories and valuable rules, I suggest that you think about yourself as a brand. What are all the impressions people have about you? How well known are you? How does this situation help or hurt what you want to accomplish? How can you use Mr. D'Alessandro's rules to help?
Then turn these same questions towards a public service activity you support.
Be a brand builder!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This brand of business advice deserves some attention, April 21, 2001
By A Customer
As a marketing professional who has spent the past decade trying to manage the ad agency, figure out what to pay for the sponsorship and preserve good creative while keeping the boss happy, I found great comfort in this book. After three short sittings, I came away from the text with the feeling that I had just had coffee with one of my MBA professors, the best marketing consultant in town and the guy who sits in the next office down. Brand Warfare offers sound advice for the toughest decisions that marketing principals have to make on a regular basis. In my opinion, the author's Rule #1 alone provides not only a solid framework for all marketing decision making, but also a mindset to live by for anyone in business. You've already found Amazon.com, now brew up some Starbucks, prop up those Nikes and enjoy Brand Warfare!
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