Married to the Brand: Why Consumers Bond with Some Brands for Life (Hardcover)

~ William J. McEwen (Author) "Marty has an important relationship -- but it isn't just with his older brother, who lives in the same neighborhood..." (more)
Key Phrases: brand marriage, brand encounters, brand attachment, Miracle Whip, United States, The Gallup Organization (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

How does a brand--a company or one of its products--stand out in an ever-louder and more chaotic marketplace? Why do customers develop intense and lasting bonds with some products they consume, but not others? What do winning brands do better than their competitors? Generations of marketers have pondered these questions, and Married to the Brand offers thought-provoking answers.

Based on 60 years of research from the Gallup Organization, the book combines a thoughtful, data-driven approach with a playful metaphor. Author and Gallup researcher William McEwen sees customers' interactions with brands as markedly similar to the in-depth, extended relationships we see in marriages. From his opening pages, McEwen draws parallels between customers' feelings about brands and romantic relationships. For example, he points to the differences between "dating" and "long-term engagement". He explains how both commercial and romantic relationships require trust to start and build, but passion to flourish and sustain. He describes situations in which people might fall in love, then later seek a "divorce".

Like other recent classics about brand marketing, like Scott Bedbury's A New Brand World and Al and Laura Ries' The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, McEwen's book makes good use of anecdotal personal examples. He uses stories about individual consumers' interactions with the Starbucks (coffee) or Morton's (salt) brands, for example, to illustrate one of his central points: that brands grow not just from products, but from an overall customer experience which may include the original advertising that first drew attention to the brand, personal memories tied to the product, interactions with sales staff, the appearance and location of the physical store in which the product was purchased, and so on. He summarizes by describing a framework of "5 P's" that drive customers' perceptions of brands: product, place, promotion, price, and people.

Taken as a whole, this book's lessons provide a provocative and interesting rethinking of brand management for marketers in a wide variety of industries. As McEwen himself writes, emotions connected to brands "aren't merely warm and fuzzy, nor should they be relegated to the world of greeting card poetry and Hollywood scripts. Emotions are both powerful and profitable, whether a company is marketing hamburgers or microprocessors." McEwen challenges his readers to build their brands patiently, over time. He attacks the conventional wisdom behind most companies' customer relationship management (CRM) or loyalty-marketing programs. Perhaps most importantly, he is realistic in stating from the book's outset that even the best brands will engage only a minority of their customers in true "marriage"-like relationships. But for the readers willing to invest the effort, in this book and then in the brand building that follows, the payoff appears worthwhile. --Peter Han

From Booklist

Marketers are always searching for the holy grail of brand loyalty--those elusive attributes that cause consumers to bond to a brand for life--and yet up to 95 percent of new products fail to connect with shoppers. McEwen looks into the psychology of the brand experience from the consumer's viewpoint, where it takes a total package of feel-good emotions to create lasting relationships. Whether it's Starbucks, Nike, Wal-Mart, or Kraft, the products themselves may have very little on the competition; but it's the intangibles such as confidence and integrity that count. Using data from 60 years of Gallup Organization research, McEwen establishes a foundation for creating a healthy brand marriage, and shows how companies topple the relationship when they take their base for granted and, in their zeal for growth, try to be all things to all people. This problem is evident today in the identity crises facing companies such as GM, Kmart, and Sears. Although he may not have all the answers, McEwen brings clarity to a subject often filled with cacophonous noise. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 135 pages
• Publisher: Gallup Press; illustrated edition edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595620052
• ISBN-13: 978-1595620057
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,466 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read For Anyone!, October 14, 2005

By	mam121 (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a great read for market researchers and the general population alike. Dr. McEwen has put together a truly compelling "tale" of how certain brands entice followings, and how or why said followings are either maintained and groomed, or discarded. A fascinating cultural study, as well as a meticulous scientific one, this is a great present for anyone who's ever wondered how Disney or Coca Cola has come to the prominence they enjoy today. To have put together so much information in such a fun, readable way is Dr. McEwen's true gift, and he should be lauded for it. Bravo!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chapters survey pride levels, common brand dilemmas, and more., January 6, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Why do some consumers bond to brand names for life? Sixty years of Gallup research into consumer habits and their psychology lend to MARRIED TO THE BRAND: WHY CONSUMERS BOND WITH SOME BRANDS FOR LIFE. Many marketers work on first impressions without considering the reasons why consumers will stick with a brand. MARRIED TO THE BRAND tells how the most successful marketer not only creates the bond, but strengthens it over the years so that consumers come to equate the brand with quality and value. Chapters survey pride levels, common brand dilemmas, and more.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Based on Sixty Years of Research, January 10, 2006

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dr. McEwen is a consultant with the Gallup polling people. For over sixty years they have researched brands and branding. In this book he analyzes and explains what he has discovered.

His comparison is that branding is a lot like marrying. It is a merger of company and customer and both have obligations to the other. The company has most of the responsibilities because they are the ones that have the power to change things that attract or drive away the customer. But like any marriage, the customer also has the obligation to buy the brand so long as it meets their needs.

And if brands are a marriage, he also talks about divorce. My family has always used Crest toothpaste. I go to the store, I want the same old Crest I used as a kid. Now there's Gel Crest, Mint Crest, Crest with special this, and special that. New is a magic word in marketing, but I don't want NEW, I want the same old stuff I had before. I honestly couldn't tell which was the same old stuff. I bought Colgate.

Sears was a great brand, then they went all goofy. But the Craftsman brand of Sears tool has held it's place. I bought some tools for Christmas presents. They were Craftsman -- but it was the only thing I bought in the Sears store.

This is the best book on understanding brands and branding I've ever seen.