Customer Reviews

Brands and Branding, Second Edition (Economist Books)

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4 star:		(2)
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This was a great read. I have read it twice and I expect to revisit it several more times. I found the book very helpful. Each chapter focused on a different area and written by a different subject matter expert. It is definitely worth the time and money.

Not a bad book. It was OK. The articles (oh, I mean chapters) were well written. Each had a built-in conclusion so it was easy to get a feel for the book before reading it cover to cover. And the coverage of brands and branding was pretty good. We first were given some thoughts about the case for brands (chapts 1-5), then the best practices in branding (chapts 6-11), and finally the future of brands (chapts 12-18). Included were the following chapters and the authors that wrote them:

1. Introduction [Rita Clifton]

2. What is a brand? [Tom Blackett]

3. The financial value of brands [Jan Lindemann]

4. The social value of brands [Giles Gibbons]

5. What makes a great brand? [Jez Frampton]

6. Brand strategy [Iain Ellwood]

7. Brand experience [Shaun Smith]

8. Visual & verbal identity [Tony Allen & John Simmons]

9. Brand communications [Paul Feldwick]

10. The public relations perspective on branding [Deborah Bowker]

11. Brand protection [Allan Poulter]

12. Globalization & brands [Sameena Ahmad]

13. Branding in Asia [Jonathan Chajet]

14. From elephant to tiger: Brands & branding in India [Max Raison]

15. Branding places & nations [Simon Anholt]

16. Brand 2.0: Brands in a digital world [Andy Hobsbawm]

17. An alternative perspective on brands: Markets & morals [Deborah Doane]

18. The future of brands [Rita Clifton]

I would have liked the book better if chapters 13 to 15 had been left out. And I wish there had been more coverage of the topic that was touched upon in Chapter 16. The book felt more like a string of articles merely pieced together rather than a real book. It seems to be a trend nowadays for some "author" to have an idea for a book, get together some contributors to write the majority of the book for them, and then write an intro and conclusion and then claim to be an author. I wish the author had used the contributions as research for her book and then written the whole thing so it read like a book. She could have acknowledged all the contributors in the acknowledgement section of the book.

All in all, if you have an interest in brands, then consider reading this book. There are some good nuggets of information included. And although the price of admission to read it is kind of steep, some might consider it somewhat reasonable for the 288 pages and what you get. 4 stars!