A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands (Hardcover)

by Michael Levine (Author) "There is no concept as vital, as discussed, as mentioned, as of the moment in the world of marketing and advertising today as Branding..." (more)
Key Phrases: brand expansion, brand maintenance, ultimate treat, New Coke, Soul Branding, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Praise for A Branded World

"A Branded World is a real insider’s guide to the elusive science of branding. With tremendous command over his subject material, Michael Levine has provided us with a primer that is a must read for all those who pursue careers in public relations and brand marketing."
–Howard J. Rubenstein
President, Rubenstein Associates, Inc.

"At last, a PR man who really understands what branding is all about. It certainly is worth learning what he appears to have learned. A good read."
–Jack Trout, author, A Genie’s Wisdom: A Fable of How a CEO Learned to Be a Marketing Genius

"The most valuable, indispensable part of the branding process, according to Michael Levine, is PR. He goes on to prove his point with dozens of pertinent case histories, including the imaginary launch of a new ice cream brand. A terrific guide to the role that PR plays in marketing today."
–Al Ries, author, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR

From the Inside Flap
Branding is ultimately the way you differentiate your product from the competition. Whether you’re selling a celebrity image, automobiles, or a financial service, your goal is to make your brand the most recognizable by the consumer. But there’s much more to effective branding than a memorable slogan and ubiquitous advertising–public relations is becoming key to the entire strategy. PR is much more than just damage control for when something goes wrong; it’s an effective way to communicate the story of your brand through media outlets that the public trusts.

A Branded World looks at branding from the unique perspective of one of America’s premier PR executives. In it, Michael Levine–whose clients include major Hollywood stars and top musicians–proves PR is a tool just as effective at turning everyday products into widely recognized brands as it is at turning talented artists into household names. Though it has a certain mystery to it, there’s nothing mystical about PR. Behind the scenes, it’s a discipline, one that can be taught and learned, practiced and analyzed.

A Branded World utilizes real-world examples and anecdotes from Levine’s experiences to show how PR fits into and supports a branding campaign. It follows a fictional product–in this case, a brand of ice cream–through the entire branding process, illustrating the many ways PR can help marketers build that once-in-a-lifetime brand. Levine offers a PR professional’s trenchant analysis of common branding concepts and looks at some of the inspired choices and phenomenal flops in branding history, explaining why some brands become almost sacred while others are simply forgotten. He also looks at the many ways PR impacts some of the most vital aspects of branding, such as e-branding, first impressions, and brand loyalty.

Filled with engaging stories and nuts-and-bolts tips for leveraging PR to build brands and communicate brand identity to consumers, A Branded World shows marketers and brand managers how to tap into the power of PR to build stronger brands.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471263664
• ISBN-13: 978-0471263661
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #889,987 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Book Or Just A Sales Pitch?, March 8, 2004

By	Daniel S Jordan (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

I have to agree with Steven Willis from Los Angeles. This book might hold up a little stronger if it wasn't written by a publicist who seems like he is just trying to drum up some business. It's like those chiropractic offices that set up booths for free spinal exams at various sporting events. They give you the free exam, then surprise, surprise! Turns out they seem to think your back needs some chiropractic work. It's the same idea here, and while the book has a few instances of making good points, they aren't really strong enough to persuade the reader to adopt the author's point of view. On the positive side, it is written in a manner that is pretty easy to understand so you can finish it quickly enough, but it's just never all that compelling.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ehh...There's Something Fishy Here, February 20, 2004

By	Rachelle Alexander (Ventura, CA) - See all my reviews

These reviews are just a little suspicious to me. They rave about this book as if it is the greatest thing they have ever read. Believe me, even if you did like this book, it DOES NOT deserve 5 stars. I found this book to be very trite and full of useless information--useless in the fact that it should be common sense to anybody who has come into contact with any sort of brand name at any time in their life.

This is just another example of people trying to cross over into fields where they don't belong. If this guy is such a great publicist as he claims, then he should really just stick to that. Don't give us the PR guy's view of what branding is to him, let's get people that know a great deal about Branding to write books on Branding. This book is nothing more than a glorified crossover which ends up insulting both the PR side and the Branding side.

I also can't believe people are reviewing the fictitious ice cream store as if it's a brilliant idea. To me it just undermined the facts the author was trying to present. In fact, it was just plain silly.

I'm not sure what the motivation was behind writing this book or what it was supposed to accomplish, and sadly I don't think the author did either.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ultimately Disappointing, May 4, 2004

By A Customer

This book is not without its good points, particularly the author's ability to address the audience equally regardless of PR background. However, the downsides cannot be ignored. The central theme of the book is credibility and how PR is the surest route to building it. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are a number of arguments based on correlation, rather than cause-effect. Even more irritating are the armchair assessments of what other companies/countries should have done when building their campaigns with no real supporting evidence that the recommended strategies would have been effective. In addition, even though the author asserts that PR is the best way to build a brand, it doesn't appear that the professional PR organizations (which are few and far between) even mention this fact in their charters. So, what it really comes down to is a very specific view of PR, using a very specific PR strategy which, as luck would have it, can't be found at a local PR firm.