Customer Reviews

How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm no business-head. I find modern consumerism more disturbing than exciting. But I read this book as part of a study on public relations and I must say Holt's passion for the subject is contagious.
First of all, his writing style is superb. He alternates nicely between anecdotes, charts and philosophy, allowing all sorts of minds to grasp just what he's saying. His ideas were bold and insightful, and he helped me to understand what a craft marketing really is.
I sometimes felt his connections were just that - his connections - but a lot of his ideas rang true, and for the most part his evidence was well, evident.
What I found most impressive was his aknowledgement of all the sexism in marketing. Perhaps it's a bit of sexism on my part, but I hadn't expected a man to pick up on all the overt and covert misogyny inherent in the advertising world. Holt not only saw it, he understood how it connected with the greater social and political environment surrounding it.
How Brands Become Icons should be required reading for every high school student in the country. And that's the first time I've said that. Holt's grasp of the subject goes beyond branding, into the heart of American culture, into the minds of the American people. This is not just a how-to book. It's an important book of why.

I am very surprised with the rave reviews of this book here. I decided to purchase it for two reasons. First, I trusted the reviews here and decided it would be important to own this book. Second, I am familiar with Douglas Holt's academic work, and have read his articles in academic journals. I thought this book will be very interesting to read.

I am dissapointed mainly because I find that the book does not tell me something original. Instead what Douglas Holt keeps saying in this book is that building an iconic brand is possible by focusing on culture not products. His argument is not convincing, especially when he tries to disprove other forms of brand building: tradition, cultural and emotional. If I have a brand new product, can I still build an icon? Is it advantageous to have an iconic brand? What are the downside of it? These are not talked about in the book.

Another problem is that he keeps repeating the same argument again and again. It gets very boring after a few pages only.

What a disappointment!

This is an excellent book! Douglas B. Holt gives a cultural perspective to branding which is not that trivial to all managers. The book also presents historical analyses on brands like Mountain Dew, Corona, Volkswagen, and many others. The clear message is that iconic brands can't be created through conventional branding strategies, instead there is a need for a cultural perspectice to branding.

The book I received was in great condition. As a used book, I expected some wear and tear, but no, it was perfect.

This book is a great read (skim the overdone examples) but read for the structures Holt puts in place and the comparisons he makes to previous branding POVs.

This is a serious book for marketers who want to understand the intersection of culture and branding. Brands that become icons speak into a cultural conversation in a relevant way and take on meaning beyond their categories. This book shows how brands like Mountain Dew, Corona, and Coke did it. A very readable and insightful book.

Carol Phillips
[...]

The author points out correctly in my opinion how culture matters. In other words, in order for a brand to be relevant it must have social currency...which means cultural relevancy.

Douglas B. Holt did an outstanding job in bringing people with a passion for their work a way to "brand" themselves, their company, and their efforts in such a way that they will live on permanently.
This book is a breath of fresh air for those that are positively focused, and determined to make a difference. It is well written with outstanding strategies that will not reduce you to an old fear-based "competition" paradigm. It will, however, bring you the information and examples you need to create a brand to remember. An Excellent Book!

A few, a very few products make it to icon status: Coke, Volkswagen and Harley-Davidson to name a few. And these have come about more by chance than by planning. In their time the marketing managers of these companies were just trying to establish next quarters sales.

This is one of the first books I've seen that approaches branding from a view of this kind of permanence, this kind of cultural approach. Most clear is the message that following trends can never build an iconic brand.

I'm not so sure that todays management, focused on this quarter, and maybe next is really ready for thinking about forming a brand that will endure for generations. Yet you do see companies with the kind of foresight to do just that. When Microsoft went into Russia, they went in with the view to establish their brand as the defacto standard. The immediate profits were basically ignored, but next year, and the year after that....

This is a book that has to get above the marketing manager, the CEO needs to provide the direction to say that we want to be the next Klenex.

Informative and entertaining, this book is a combination of cult references and great ideas. A solid guide to making your brand more succesful,Douglas provides the background knowledge you do the rest.