Customer Reviews

Harvard Business Review on Brand Management (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series)

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

 

 

Really disappointed in this offering from HBR. I was tempted to give a single star rating, but feel that someone just looking for a few cases to amuse themself may find this book suitable. While I often purchase cases and articles from HBS, these selections are outdated and lack in shedding light on contemporary branding issues; you can get a better cross-section of cases by going directly to the case site. I guess HBR just wanted to cash in on the 'branding' buzz- unfortunately this is no way to steward their own brand.

In this volume, one of a series of anthologies of articles previously published in the Harvard Business Review, we are provided with a variety of different perspectives on a single business subject. Here are the titles and their authors:

"Building Better Brands without Mass Media" (Joachimsthaler and Aaker)

"How Do You Grow a Premium Brand?" (Maruca)

"Should You Take Your Brand to Where the Action Is?" (Aaker)

"Extend Profits, Not Product Lines (Quelch and Kenny)

"The Logic of Product-Line Extensions" (Perspectives from the Editors)

"Can This Brand Be Saved?" (Maruca)

"Your Brand's Best Strategy" (Vishwanath and Mark)

Even if you do not recognize at least a few of the authors' last names, The Harvard Business Review's brand is of sufficient credibility to encourage you to purchase and read this book. I am especially impressed by the inclusion of "Executive Summaries" of key points in each of the articles. No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of the articles provided. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify those subjects which are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. For me, as previously indicated, one of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from sharing a variety of perspectives provided by several different authorities on the same general subject.

This is a great collection of thoughtful "perspectives" on brand related issues, some very thoughtful (e.g., the one on extending premium brands with Transition health clubs as the lynchpin) and others somewhat perplexingly dichotomous (e.g., a chapter on the perils of line extensions which is immediately succeeded by another on the logic of line extensions leaving the reader with no cogent framework for how to decide between the two).

The "book" is structured as a collection of essays, each of which takes up a case study with an actual company and then presents the views of several big-tyke experts about branding issues that the company was faced with. This makes it a fascinating read as a case study guide. An attempt to weave these scattered insights into a summary recommendation at the end of each essay, or at least some mention of what the client in question actually ended up doing, would have been even more useful. Sans such synoptic editing, this book ends up being little more than thought piece for the branding experts on some issues that pertain to corporate identity (and the marketing bottomline) but this is by no means a holistic branding reference as one of the other reviewers seemed to indicate.

All the same, I would still give it is a 4 star for its readability, for the breadth and the reality of the cases picked for discussion, and for the sharpness/relevance of the insights that went into discussing them. Should be a no-brainer of a buy if you are interested in the identity/advertising/marketing strategy industry in any way, especially as a real-world companion to any of Aaker's works.

This book is truly outdated, don't bother to read it. Today it does not add anything to brand management. Most articles concentrate on arguments against line extensions but do it in a superficial way. It is easy to read but very light and almost totally commonsensical. The only part that I like in the book was the case of a shampoo that lagged appeal over time on which a couple of experts offered different solutions. This demonstrates what students often don't understand about case teaching: That there is no single "solution".

This is painful. Could barely get through the first few chapters. I have read at least 10 great brand books, and this is not one of them. Every once in a while I give it another try. Typically HBR will deliver the right compilation. Not this time.

Good Chapter: Extend Profits, Not Product Lines.

This is old. Would be nice to get the 14 years later version of this.

Nice package (as usual with HRR) but articles are VERY outdated (late '90). I do not recommend it.

This collections would absolutely give either the managers in business war or students in acdemic area some fresh insights of "Brand". Most people misunderstand the true meaning of a brand, so they make wrong decisions when facing consumers' wants. You can get new ideas about your business positioning, your strategy, or media policy. Students also should read it, because it will help you to clarify your concept about what "brand" mean. I recommend it to you.

this is an excellent book. ive looked for other brand management books but most cover not all aspects of the brand management. it was quite beneficial because as a consultant, we were entering regions where advertising costs were tremendous..the chapter on building brands without media shows other subtle but quite effective ways around the traditional brand building ideas. hopefully, the next book will talk about building brands on the internet.

The content was a bit to general for my purposes, but nonetheless, it offers some good advise on branding.

This would have been a great read in 1995; however, the statistics and points made seem very dated given today's reality of fragmented segments, consolidated grocery distribution and strength of private label.

This is a good read if you are interested in how issues have changed since '94.