United We Brand [Hardcover]

Mike Moser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2003

Most executives know their company's values and brand message, but often they fail to make sure that everyone else knows them too. The result? A weak brand that conveys different messages inside the company--and out in the marketplace. United We Brand offers a hands-on action plan for building a cohesive brand strategy from the ground up.

Drawing from two decades of experience creating brand identities for companies including Dell, Cisco, and Kia Motors, Mike Moser provides a proven template for transforming disparate, "fuzzy" brand information into a concrete guidepost for making day-to-day branding decisions. Called the "Brand Roadmap," this valuable tool enables organizations of all sizes and kinds to leverage insights and strategies once only available through big-gun consulting and ad agencies.

Step by step, it guides readers through the four key components of brand strategy: identifying core values, creating a focused brand message, developing a distinctive brand personality, and choosing a consistent set of brand icons. Filled with vivid case examples and practical worksheets, United We Brand is essential for anyone involved in charting a company's distinctive path to success. Winner of five Clio Awards and two Cannes Lions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ad exec Moser, a veteran of some of the industry's highest profile campaigns, has composed an admirably simple guide for creating a powerful and enduring brand. This is a hands-on, forward-thinking workbook for executives who want a fast, clear primer on the basics of contemporary brand marketing, told in plain language rather than B-school jargon, mixing checklists and exercises with Moser's firsthand observations of what works. His focus is entirely on the initial stages of the branding process-defining what your brand stands for and the best way to tell customers about it-in which advertising agencies typically play a key role. His ideas aren't revolutionary; indeed, experienced marketers will recognize most as industry standards. Companies are assigned human values and personality traits, which in turn shape the way they sell and communicate. Or, as Moser exhorts, "Poof! You're a person, not a company," one who can be characterized as "honest," "aggressive," "nurturing" or "passionate." Those traits then establish an emotionally charged core message, to be echoed in the brand's name, logo and advertising. It's this holistic approach, in which a company's vision becomes part of the product itself, that's propelled brands like Nike, Apple and Saturn to superstardom. While Moser's book makes little attempt to explore the messy business of implementing this approach, it remains a delightfully breezy introduction to how marketers transform an ordinary sneaker into a statement of who we are and who we want to be.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Mike Moser was a principal in the US $500MM San Francisco agency Goldberg Moser O'Neil for 16 years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (April 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578517982
• ISBN-13: 978-1578517985
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity, Cohesion, and Impact, July 22, 2003

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: United We Brand (Hardcover)

Several hundred books on marketing and branding have been published since Ted Levitt's seminal article ""Marketing Myopia" appeared in the Harvard Business Review (September 1, 1975). He later wrote The Marketing Imagination (1986) which remains "must reading" for anyone directly or indirectly involved with marketing. There are several excellent recently published books on brand management and this is certainly one of the best. As its subtitle correctly indicates, Moser explains "how to create a cohesive brand that's seen, heard, and remembered." In the proverbial nutshell, that has become one of brand managers' primary objectives: To create a multi-sensory experience for the consumer which increases, enhances, and sustains the appeal of the given brand. Moser draws upon more than 25 years of experience in the agency world, having worked closely with a number of major corporations (e.g. Kia Motors, Cisco Systems, and Dell) to formulate a "brand road map" based on a template which, until now, has been inaccessible to most organizations. What he offers in this book is a step-by-step process by which to create cohesive brand strategies.

As Moser explains with meticulous care, citing examples along the way, there are four components of a brand: Core values (the foundation of any organization), brand message (the overall key message which must be communicated effectively), brand personality (the overall tone and attitude with which to deliver the brand message), and finally, brand icons (executional tools which help to deliver the brand message...all of the various elements that make all of an organization's marketing materials uniquely its own). These four components provide the foundation of a "brand road map" which, like all other roadways, requires conscientious maintenance to ensure expeditious delivery of the brand message to its destination.

Moser leaves no doubt whatsoever that this process is very difficult, requires an abundance of time and energy, and is subject to all manner of perils such as internal resistance which Jim O'Toole characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Why bother? "Capturing the essence of your brand [whatever or whoever it may be] and putting it into a form that's clear and concise will help ensure that your brand has the tools necessary to be seen heard, and remembered in the marketplace for years to come." Presumably Moser agrees with this follow-up thought which I now share: Even if Levitt and Moser personally worked closely with you and your associates on the formulation of a "road map" for your organization, it will be essentially worthless unless and until your brand (be it a product or service or both) is of the highest possible quality.

Readers of this brilliant book will be pleased and relieved that Moser's approach is eminently practical. His text is mercifully free of jargon. He seems determined to help any and all who would otherwise not have access to a step-by-step process which has been used for years by large corporations, branding experts, and brand consultancies as well as by multinational corporate identity firms and advertising agencies. Understanding this process will help those who read his book to achieve some of the same brand insights, brand focus, and brand consistency now delivered by various proprietary formulas.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Bible, by Mike Moser, March 15, 2003

By 

James R. Noble (Truckee, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: United We Brand (Hardcover)

Smart, relevant and witty.
And written for just about everyone at every level
of the communications business. Whether you're a Jr.
Copywriter, or a C.E.O. Moser gets to the heart
(and soul) of turning any business into a household word.
Finally, someone has written about the most difficult
task in advertising and made it incredibly clear, and
even more startling, incredibly easy.
The first textbook on branding that doesn't read
like a textbook.
And to think it was written by an Art Director.
Amen.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to sell, March 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: United We Brand (Hardcover)

My background is in law and network programming. What's amazing to me about this book is how well it translates to the needs of any business. Moser offers up a way to think clearly about how to sell whatever product/service you have. He also makes you aware of what is being sold to you and how! It's easy to read and offers invaluable advice. As busy as I am right now I'm glad I took the time to read it.