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BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep It Simple and Succeed
Author: Allen P. Adamson, Managing Director, Landor Associates
BrandSimple is one of the latest attempts by an industry expert to explain both the concept of a brand and, more importantly, the process needed to brand a product successfully in today's hypercompetitive marketplace. The author, Allen P. Adamson, draws on his years of experience as a brand consultant working as the Managing Director of Landor Associates, a leading brand development firm with ties to marketing communications giant Young & Rubicam (Y&R). As the title of the book suggests, Adamson boils down what many perceive as a complicated marketing concept into a simplified, basic approach consisting of five steps.
The book is divided into two sections. Part I consists of three chapters that discuss "What the Best Brands Know." In the first chapter Adamson starts with the basics - the definition of a brand and branding. He provides examples such as HBO, Titleist, Fortes, Advil and Visa to demonstrate that a "good" brand communicates to its consumers how it is different and better from its competition in a manner that is relevant to them. In order to communicate, brands need to use "brand signals." According to Adamson, brand signals include external and obvious things like the traditional marketing mix considerations (price, product concept, promotion, distribution), as well as "experiential" considerations, such as the contact a consumer makes with retail personnel and/or other customer service encounters. Adamson also is quick to point out that that advertising is just one of the many brand signals a marketer can use to transmit the promise of the brand idea and does not equate to branding.
The following chapter provides a short history lesson on the brand concept, followed by a chapter discussing some of the major trends...