The Infinite Asset: Managing Brands to Build New Value (Hardcover)

by Sam Hill (Author), Chris Lederer (Author), Kevin Lane Keller (Author) "TIME WAS, brands succeeded or failed based on their own merits-the quality of the products or services they represented,their positioning in the marketplace, the appeal..." (more)
Key Phrases: brand portfolio manager, portfolio molecule, brand portfolio management, John Deere, Miller Lite, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Sam Hill and Chris Lederer say brand-dominated business strategies will be the true road to commercial success for at least 10 more years. But when they say it, they aren't talking about today's prevailing approach, in which brands owned by a single company are combined in the manner of the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer. That's old news, contend Hill and Lederer, marketing veterans and partners at Helios Consulting. The next level, they say, is "brand portfolios"--actively managed collections of every brand, regardless of ownership, that intersects with another. Developing and running such systems (like those that connect Intel, Microsoft, and Dell, for example) is the subject of The Infinite Asset, a sharp and practical guide to adopting their well-considered suggestions on handling brand portfolios in the same way that financial portfolios are managed. The authors look at case studies of 3M and Miller Beer, among others, which help readers visualize the relationships that tie their brands to each other and to the outside world. They also put together an eight-part "toolkit" that covers brand extensions and repositioning, as well as an organizational design for implementing brand-portfolio management. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing book, which will strike most readers as a glib theoretical exercise, the authors contend, "the greatest brand value is now being created in the intersections between individual brands. Kmart and Martha Stewart are worth more together than they are apart." The authors, partners at Helios Consulting, lay out a formula for capitalizing on this idea: chart every interaction a brand has from where it's advertised to who its partners are and determine how to get the most out of every relationship, and they explain this formula in three simple chapters (understanding, optimizing and implementing).

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press; 1st edition (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578512492
• ISBN-13: 978-1578512492
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #636,237 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An alternative look at branding, November 6, 2001

By	Ib Olsen "olsenii" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hill and Lederer in this book give us a very convincing argument why branding must be treated as an asset on line with products and intellectual properties. They introduce us to the "brand portfolio molecule" [BPM], which comes across as a very powerful tool to understand the relationship between not only the different brands in a company's portfolio but also to other brands outside the direct control of the company as perceived by the customer. With this information the authors move on to show how active brand portfolio management can be used to identify new growth opportunities both within the portfolio and as natural extensions.
The book is full of actual examples of good and bad practice, and it covers both established companies that turns to active brand portfolio management and newcomers, that incorporate it from the beginning.
The message in this book is not only for marketing people but also very much for the business leader, who wants to understand the power of brands and how he or she can use it to grow the company.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful ... written by a consultant ..., January 20, 2002

By	"nmccutcheon" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This book does provide a valuable summary of others works in branding. Helps to explain and clarify how many different items have a link to your brand and shape the percpetion of it in customers minds. Not a new thought, but again a good succint summary that reminded me to think through how such relationships add value or take away from the organization and brands I work for. What this book does add is a way to depcit these relationships on a 3 dimensional model. Interesting ... but I would question the value of the time and effort spent to create such a diagram. I don't think the authors would disagree with me when I say it is the thought process that makes the difference .. not the fancy depiction.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars infinite asset, October 22, 2001

By A Customer

The true challenge for any business book is to be both interesting and relevant. The Infinite Asset was worth the time for me, and I think it will be for a wide range of audiences. Those managing large portfolios (and of course the consultants aspiring to help them) will like the "big idea" first section. Those managing individual brands, people trying to break into brand mgmt, and new MBAs will appreciate the second section.

Yes, it is organized more as two books in one, and often the best statement of the concept is at the end, rather than the beginning of the chapter. But it is well written (has great quotations) a fast read for the complexity of thought and experience it contains. Worth the time.