Customer Reviews

BrandDigital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World

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At a time when recession promises another culling of the on-line business world, Brand Digital offers both a survival guide for brands at risk and a consolidation guide for strong brands seeking to exploit weaker competitors.

Grounded in interviews with over 100 industry leaders, this book provides valuable context for the shift we have seen from the internet as a transactional medium to its new role as a relationship medium. In many industries the internet is now the primary medium for interacting with customers. Adamson walks the reader through the many levels of customer relationships the digital world offers for your business and brand. His first piece of advice is the digital equivalent of "Get out of the office and into the field talking to customers" (my phrasing not his). Adamson gives sound practical examples of the many ways managers in various industries are using the internet to engage with and learn from their customers outside of the transaction process.

Adamson then walks the reader through techniques for how to take what they learn on-line from customers and use it to hone product or service strategy, surrounding information services, brand image, and marketing strategies. He explores how to process the stream of customer information and make the trade-offs required for a focused, clear product strategy and brand image. Finally, he gives practical advice on making customer learning and product/brand refinement a continuous, evolving process. Many concrete examples from various industries keep the theorizing limited and the simple, practical ideas front and center.

The only shortcoming is that one would normally expect more visual content (charts, pictures, etc.) in a book about the visually-intensive digital world. But this small shortcoming is outweighed by the exceptional content of this book.

Net/net, an extremely valuable read for those who want to emerge from the recession with deeper relationships and stronger brand images across many more customers.

I did not expect to like this book. Most marketing books suck and I thought Allen's last book, Brand Simple, was a little TOO simple, so I opened this book with some nervousness. But I found BD extremely useful The ideas are good and pragmatic (not surprising, since Adamson has a rep in the marketing world as being a no hype, ultra-effective pro's pro.) The writing is clear, crisp and easily digested. And best of all, Allen really has a great ear for the telling quote or illustrative anecdote. Although different in tone, this book really reminded me of Tom Peter's best stuff--real nuggets from experienced practioners that drive home the message and lock it into your memory. So my rec? Buy this book if you're a front line marketer or a manager of front line marketers, especially if you don't or only sort of understand on line marketing. Don't buy it if you're looking for 3-D conceptual frameworks or elegant theoretical arguments around information acquisition theory. Adamson lives and works in the marketing trenches (although I suspect the trenches at Landor have espresso machines) and his advice is pitched at others who face the hard questions around where to put next year's marketing budget.

This book presents important insights that should become a must read for anyone in either the worlds of brands or the digital space, and by anyone interested in how ideas and brands play in the digital world.

As we begin to take brands for granted in the digital age, Adamson wisely reigns us in and reminds us that brand is where the value of the company is stored. This idea is even more powerful in the digital space where value creation (or destruction) can happen in an instant. The author is remarkable at keeping theory relevant by using cases, brands, and the actual players to illustrate his point. BrandDigital is a very engaging read as it takes you behind the scenes giving the details of successes that are highly entertaining and informative. An excellent addition to the ever changing conversation about our rapidly changing world.

Adamson really appears to have done his homework in interviewing as many people as he did (all of whom know their stuff and offer interesting perspectives) and then synthesizing their input into something that's easily digested and applied. I read and liked his Brand Simple a couple of years ago, but given where the world is headed, this book is probably more relevant and important for today's marketeer.

Timely. Allen Adamson's "BrandDigital" is a fantastic study of the current Digital Marketplace thru the lens of classic principles in effective brand management. In the past decade the 'traditional' language of communications has been put into a high octane blender. "BrandDigital" explains thru relevant business anecdotes how today's game changing strategies all seem to contain those same fundamental values in successful brand building. I suggest you read it once and then read it again with a pen.

Allen again hits the nail on the head. His insights into branding are clear and concise. He includes great lessons that I wish my MBA students would all learn.

Nathan Novemsky
Associate Professor of Marketing
Yale University

A great way to hear anecdotal accounts of how brands made the successful transition to the digital space. Helpful to all of us thinking about how to capture our customer's attention across all platforms and touchpoints.

BrandDigital is a terrific follow-up to BrandSimple. The book is clear, consise and a must read with great real world examples.

Allen Adamson does not disappoint. His insightful comments and approachable language make it a must-read for any marketer today. I thought I knew this territory pretty well until I read this book and realized all I didn't know.

Thank goodness - at long last, a book that helps marketers fully understand how to navigate the Internet and use it to fulfill a brand's potential. It's good for newbies, but particularly, seasoned branding professionals who didn't grow up in a digital environment. Adamson's clarity and insight is inspiring. Read it.