Citizen Brand: 10 Commandments for Transforming Brand Culture in a Consumer Democracy (Paperback)

~ (Author) "This book updates and further develops the concept of Emotional Branding explored in my first book, Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to..." (more)
Key Phrases: citizen brand, emotional branding, brand vision, Citizen Brand, New York, Home Depot (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As advertising becomes more insidious, seeping into taxis and bathroom stalls across the country, it's increasingly difficult for companies and products to stand out from the crowd and avoid being ignored by ad-weary consumers. In Gobé's follow-up to Emotional Branding, he outlines successful marketing strategies to help brands grow from conventional to innovative, assuring survival in a crowded marketplace. "The shift in thinking is from asking how we can motivate consumers to buy our product to asking instead how we can touch our consumers' lives." At the heart of Gobé's model of branding is the involvement of the brand in the community. Citing such famous examples as the Body Shop, Ben and Jerry's and Tom's of Maine, Gobé argues that given the choice, consumers will pick a brand that demonstrates concern for the environment, human rights and social equality over one that does not. Gobé's prescriptions include creating an environment where consumers can "experience the brand," which helps demonstrate trustworthiness, and uniting form and function through unique and practical designs. Strikingly absent from this guide, however, is sufficient hard data to back up the author's assertions that social responsibility will boost sales and insure the longevity of a brand. There are also relatively few comparative scenarios to highlight how poor community relations, bad design or political gaffes could devastate even the most well-established companies. Gobé's ideas, however, are well conceived, and the book does offer scores of articulate examples of brands that are using citizen branding.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Internationally Acclaimed Branding Guru Challenges Corporations: "It’s Time to Act as Good Citizens"

What have today’s brands in common with politicians? - They need to take an active, positive role in people’s lives in order to be elected —locally and globally, says Marc Gobé, the founder of the widely successful Emotional Branding concept. Today’s all-powerful, post-hedonistic consumers expect a deepening level of emotional commitment and social responsibility from the brands that they choose. In CITIZEN BRAND, an evolvement of his revolutionary EMOTIONAL BRANDING concept, the internationally acclaimed branding guru tells corporations how to become the socially relevant, caring community members that are elected in today’s consumer democracy.

Three quarters of consumers would vote for corporate community involvement and ethical business practices, say recent polls. Yet while "cause marketing" programs abound, few corporations truly understand the emotional power of the "Citizen Brand" approach, argues Marc Gobé. Using brands like Starbucks and The Bodyshop and Home Depot as examples, CITIZEN BRAND reveals how companies can create strong and deep partnerships with people in America and across the globe by enriching their lives in creative and truly relevant ways.

The bursting dot.com bubble, anti-globalization protests in Seattle and Genoa, an economic slowdown, and the September 11 tragedy. . .the events of the past three years have changed dramatically what consumers expect from today’s brands: they seek emotional support and orientation an increasingly complex, strenuous reality. Getting this right requires an intimate understanding of one’s customers and their deepest values, says Marc Gobé. CITIZEN BRAND reveals how smart companies have responded to this reality check by treating their customers–-and employees—with a new humanistic, emotional sensitivity. Nucor has made it a point to not lay off any of its people in the face of recession; other companies have followed the example of The Bodyshop by establishing community programs for customers and employees; Coca-Cola is using its trucks in Africa to bring medication and education to local customers.

As Gobé underlines, CITIZEN BRAND is not a comprehensive form of philantrophy or a new business strategy, but an inevitable consequence of global change: ". . .in a global world influenced more and more by local politics, religious upheaval, and social awareness, the role of businesses will change in a dramatic way. The need to reassess one’s corporate responsibility is critical in a changed world."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158115240X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581152401
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #274,140 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A definite winner!, November 4, 2002

By A Customer

A fantastic and very useful book--a must read for any marketing professional today. This book is about far more than how to build effective "cause marketing" campaigns. It is nothing short of a revolutionary/revelatory new approach to business in our difficult era!

Gobe is a branding visionary with a very insightful and inspiring approach to building strong brands. While I enjoyed and appreciated his last book, Emotional Branding, I am even more impressed with this one. He proposes here a whole new shift in thinking that is of course-- in a post-Enron, et al.. world-- very a propos today.

He argues that a holistic, consumer-centric and ethics grounded approach to both business and marketing strategies is not only "good" but also good business--it's the new expectation (and biggest opportunity as many will fail to recognize the changed landscape...). This is something I have believed strongly and observed in action for many years as a marketing executive for a global corporation with major consumer brands and it's rewarding to see these ideas put forth in such a fresh and engaging manner.

But besides giving us a provocative new way of looking at marketing strategies from a big picture perspective, the book also has a lot of value from a very practical, hands on point of view. It is full of useful information, such as highly original insight into the latest consumer trends and demographics research, lots of well thought out and unsually interesting case studes and examples of what the most innovative branding professionals are doing. Most of all, the book gives marketers a practical detailed process for how a brand can become a "Citizen Brand" for consumers today and continues the theme of his last book giving insight on how marketers can touch consumers on an emotional level that will inspire that rarity of all rarities--brand loyalty!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shifting into the future, the right way!, May 4, 2003

By	Deanna Dahlsad (fargo, ND United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A book, a philosophy, a plan for the future - and one after my own heart...

In an age where many business fear for the future, claiming that customers are jaded, and even anti-business, Gobé presents the situation in more than a constructive manner, he gives a hopeful one.

Rather than throwing his hands up to the sky, pointing to groups that plan 'Don't Buy Anything' days as the end of it all, he shows us that commerce is not over, it is evolving.

More than heart-warming, I think he is right. (He sure has described me as a consumer!) And I know I want to run my business by these ethics, goals & philosophies.

However, his message is more than an uplifting moment, or one of personal identification for me - he gives concrete examples of how businesses can connect with today's customers.

If you can invest in only one branding book this year, this is the one to get.

3.0 out of 5 stars "Interesting" but not "good"., May 19, 2004

By A Customer

I found this book less brilliant than his previous title ¡§Emotional branding¡¨. Gobe is simply repeating himself in a loosely knit 10-chapters format. There are many interesting case studies, but the author does not focus them tight enough to make those examples relevant to the chapter title. For instance in chapter 2 he talks about trust and cause marketing, but he cannot solidly tie the two together; as trust does not always equal well-carried cause marketing campaigns, what IS trust in terms of branding? What are the mechanisms of ¡§trust¡¨? I think he should give us a global definition before diving into the subject.

There are numerous examples of such poorly related text in the book, I would advise you to read his first book ¡§Emotional branding¡¨ and skip this one.