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The Brand Marketing Book: Creating, Managing, and Extending the Value of Your Brand Joe Marconi NTC Business Books Chicago, IL 2000 xv + 247 pp. ISBN 0-8442-2257-7 US$39.95 The BrandMindset(R) Duane E. Knapp McGraw Hill New York, NY 2000 xi + 277 pp. ISBN 0-07-134795-X US$24.95
Keywords Brands, Product management, Marketing, Mindsets
Increasing competitive pressure, the rise of the Internet, and the globalization of the market place have contributed to a growing concern on the part of marketing managers and researchers with branding as a crucial competitive strategy. In an environment where many products and services are becoming more like commodities, margins and profits are under constant pressure, and the need to differentiate one's product from the competition is essential for survival, branding looks more and more like the key element of the successful marketing strategy. Indeed, within every corporate strategy, it seems, there lies a marketing strategy, and at the heart of every marketing strategy lies a branding strategy. Consequently, this interest in branding and branding related issues has recently yielded a spate of books and articles elaborating branding theory and practices. Two of these, The Brand Marketing Book and The BrandMindset(R) may be of some interest to readers of the Journal of Product & Brand Management.
Joe Marconi is a writer and marketing consultant (http://www.communi cationsresource.com). In The Brand Marketing Book he has written an extended essay on the practice of branding. The initial chapter introduces basic concepts and uses many examples, such as Jiffy Lube, AYDS weight loss candy, and People magazine, to make the point that the brand name conveys essential information about the product and therefore is a crucial component in the overall strategy. He provides several recommendations regarding successful brand names; they should be simple, have an upbeat character that conveys a positive image, and express the benefit. The importance of consistency and integration across the logo, signage, corporate identity are also explained. Chapter 2 describes ways to build brand equity. The roles of advertising and promotion are explained, as well as the concepts of positioning and value. Chapter 3 is devoted to building brand loyalty. Its twin foci are correctly matching the brand identity with the identity of target consumers and the importance of consumer satisfaction in creating...