Primalbranding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company, and Your Future (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In the middle of an African gully a man is down on his hands and knees..." (more)
Key Phrases: primal branding, primal code, sacred words, Times Square, Marine Corps, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Positing that "a brand is a belief system," Hanlon, founder and CEO of "primal branding" company Thinktopia, throws a reverse spin on the 12-step addiction recovery program to trumpet his 7 steps (called "key factors") to inspire consumer addiction. His formula has vaguely mythic qualities: successful brands, he argues, come with a creation story, a creed, rituals, icons, sacred words, non-believers and a leader who's overcome stiff opposition. The similarities to religion (Hanlon prefers "culture of belief") will pique the thoughtful reader, but Hanlon's recounting of familiar business success stories (UPS's story, Lou Gerstner's turnaround of IBM) seems at odds with a book blurbed as "not the same old branding B.S." Though much of the book is the simple recasting of age-old branding tenets (Hanlon's "creed" is interchangeable with "slogan"; "icon" with "logo"), Hanlon's energetic case for thinking differently about common practices makes for a rousing read.
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Review

"Primal branding takes you deep into branding territory, to a place that other so-called branding experts haven't even imagined. This innovative presentation is credible, incredible, and curiously compelling. It's a deep dive into a new design culture, one that is sure to resonate with today's consumers."

-- Robyn Waters, founder, author of Trendmaster's Guide, and former VP Trend, Design, and Product Development, Target --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; illustrated edition edition (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074327797X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743277976
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #335,887 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just the usual case history flibbertygibbet, February 14, 2006

By	Tom Messner "Tom" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Formula: author looks at successful examples of branding and back-engineers to tell you why they were successful.
I can tell you 30 books that do this (I read them all.)
This book presents, instead, a coherent theory that projects to future cases, and thus is worth imitating. Nothing wrong with stealing someone's theory if you've bought his book.
In this case, you can actually take what the author lays out and apply it your business whether is a chain of funeral parlors or amazon.com.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Why and the How of Branding, August 13, 2007

By	John Chancellor "Mentor coach, www.teachtheso... (New Orleans) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Primal Branding goes much deeper than most books on branding. It is not just about logos and tag lines but about the seven crucial components which must be present to creating a brand that connects.

The seven attributes are the creation story, the creed, icons, rituals, sacred words, pagans (the opposite or those opposed to the brand) and leaders. Primal branding is not about "building a church, but creating a religion."

"Primal Branding has broken down the elements that help people feel better about a brand." All marketers are searching for ways to stand out from the crowd, to get attention, to connect. Hanlon has given us the blueprint to do just that. But as he says, "If all we needed were a recipe, everyone would be a great chef." He gives us the blueprint, but there is still the need to create the story, to make sure it resonates with everyone, the employees, the vendors and the customers. Branding is still part science, part art and a good deal of luck.

The book is well written, easy to read and filled with many examples of very successful brands - from coca-cola to lego to U2. Hanlon goes behind the scenes to uncover what made the brands successful. He gives great insight into the things we must do to make our own brands successful.

While we have the essential steps to brand our products or services, we still need to bring the emotional connection into the process. That of course is where the art and luck comes in.

If you are responsible for marketing your services, you really need to read this book.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than A Business-Shelf Book, January 21, 2006

By	Robin Steele - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is no "me, too" marketing book. "Primal Branding" understands and develops its theories on branding from a truly unique new perspective. The author explores how successful brands put a real value behind their companies and their products, making them matter in meaningful ways.

Stripped of the cynical, manipulative message of so many books on the marketing shelf, this is real anthropology - getting down into the roots of our general humanity, figuring out why we do or don't identify with bits of our complex surroundings. This book is clear, concise, moving, and in the end deeply enlightening.

From the discovery of "Lucy" to LegoLand, the author invites us to dig with him through a treasure chest of anecdotes, insights and looks at the "primal codes" to which we all answer. The emotional content of a business transaction - what draws us in, or what alienates us - is at the heart of all commerce, because it's at the heart of all life.

Mr. Hanlon has written a fun-to-read book that is not just about branding or marketing. It's about how societies work - how we know who we are - and the uses and perils of primal identity.