Customer Reviews

Living Brands: Collaboration + Innovation = Customer Fascination

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Raymond Nadeau's Living Brands really opened my eyes. I'm a professional environmentalist: before reading this book, I assumed that environmentalists stood in opposition to marketers: regarding consumption, we're trying to stem the outbreak, and they're driving the monkey to the airport. I was wrong
Living Brands describes "participatory branding" as the future of marketing: people who use and love a product help create the brand, in some cases directly (homemade ads on YouTube), in others by incorporating the product into their lifestyle and value system (choosing products because their makers donate money to breast-cancer care and research).
What most shook my preconceptions is the way Nadeau advocates "ethical branding," equal parts interactivity, good design, uncompromising craftsmanship, fascinating marketing and products that create positive social change on scales from local to global.
The book benefits as much from Nadeau's writing style as from its content. Some examples of his elegant, provocative prose:
"Just as brands will be cocreated by consumers, so too will consumer ethics become, not a marketing point of differentiation, but an absolute minimum cost of doing business." (176).
"Today we are increasingly equipped with nothing less than the potential for nearly complete, permission-based, two-way consumer interaction. However, as we hurl head first toward this thrilling, seemingly limitless technology-enabled world, we must remember that knowledge and wisdom are different." (129)
"However, if you want a true marriage between your customer and your brand, one with enduring respect, you will have to choose between a relationship and an affair. An ethical marriage of equals may be intimidating at first. Meaningful commitments usually are." (210)
"You often may find yourself a lone voice raging against an infrastructure based on last century's marketing models and morals. You may get fired a few times. But I implore you to have courage." (211)
Two recent books are good companion reads for Living Brands, providing fuller context and alternate perspectives. One, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, by Dana Thomas, looks at the globalization, democratization and inevitable commodification of formerly exclusive goods. The other, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, by James Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II (), posits a "Polonius test" of whether a business is true to itself and true to what it says it is. Under that test, Nadeau's book is an object lesson in "real-real" marketing that meets both standards.
For all that I respect Raymond A. Nadeau and Living Brands, I must quibble on a couple points. Fabio is a style icon? I haven't even seen the man in the new millennium, so I think not. And, I'm sorry, quoting Nikki Sixx changes nothing: Iggy Pop's selling "Lust for Life" to Carnival Cruises was not art "staying true to itself." For Carnival, it was deeply cynical; for Iggy, it was just pathetic.

Raymond Nadeau articulates the sociological frame of reference necessary for marketing a brand. He puts into words the web of information and analysis that is integral to developing and executing a brand strategy. He makes clear that marketers must employ both sociological and, anthropological reality checks to achieve a brand's success and sustain its cultural connection and relevance over time. Those of us in the business of building brands and brand extensions, appreciate seeing, perhaps for the very first time, something in black and white that confirms what we know intuitively and what is in our heads and hearts. He affirms that for great marketers, seeing and listening to the consumer is the best consumer market research. Bravo to Raymond for un-muddling a process that is both academic and intuitive, something simple that business is often guilty of having made overly complex.

A must read for anyone in brand management, advertising or general marketing. Today's culture is all about brands, what they mean to consumers and how they must be nutured by marketers. The book captures this dynamic in a thought provoking manner. Simply powerful.

Raymond makes this book so stimulating! I found it very interesting and once started reading ,was hard to put it down. He has a great vision and gets his readers excited about the roll of marketing the way he puts it. His innovative ways of marketing can be successful in fascinating the customers.

Navin Geria

This book is truly fascinating in the way it describes brands as a way of life and a way of being - really as being a reflection of human taste, desire and emotions and how it relates to marketing. This is especially visible in the section about non-profit organizations and how when a cause becomes a brand it succeeds the most.

I highly recommend Raymond Nadeau's book for anyone who is interested in how branding works in the world today. Nadeau is "spot-on" when it comes to relaying a deep understanding of how branding directs our culture and the way we, as consumers, respond to various brand experiences. Nadeau has earned his status as a branding authority through his rich history and experience with the world's leading consumer brands and directing brand launches for numerous celebrities, luxury hotels, etc. As a professor of professional practice, I require Nadeau's book for all of my classes. It is an enlightening read that promises to capture attention and provide valuable insight for students and brand professionals who constantly struggle to penetrate an over-saturated market. Kudos and thanks to Raymond Nadeau for sharing his valuable experiences and advice!

The fundamental insight that Raymond Nadeau brings to the table in his fun and essential read is that great brands fit into the real lives of ordinary people. This might sound like a fundamental law of branding and marketing, but too many companies have lost their way in the effort to make marketing a science. Raymond reminds us of the tremendous power that lies when companies and their customers enter into conversation.

Peter Mortensen, co-author,
Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy

If you are a current or prospective MBA candidate, this book is beyond helpful. It gives you brands to speak about in interviews and class, emerging consumer psychology and trends, and how to maximize innovation. Living Brands is very three dimensional - websites, guest authors, and tons of examples; this book provides a complete brand experience.

This book is filled with the astute observations and thoughtful stories of an industry insider. Nadeau clearly has a vision for the role that companies can play that extends far beyond "brand management." I actually think the title doesn't do the book justice. Living Brands is about more than a brand -- it's about organizations and their relationship to the world around them. This is a quick read. And a fun one, too!

Great Book!
The author has a great understanding of the need for the Brands of the new millenium to be alive, to morph according to new trends. This way they will evolve and may never die. He presents interesting cases and interviews executives from Trendspotting agencies.
What the author misses is a more complete approach to Branding: he doesn't develop the holistic concept of it.