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Summary: A New Look at Branding
Review: I found Rob's book to offer a new look at Branding that has implications in a wide variety of markets. It is not just esoteric marketing claptrap, but offers practical, real world theories and advice for those businesspeople who either recognize or need to recognize the importance of a strong brand in the marketplace. It is a smart, fast-paced read that is suitable for any marketer or businessperson who is interested in getting an edge in the marketplace.
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Summary: The cure for navel gazing
Review: I like the "no-holds barred" style as well as the central theme of branding being about "them not us." There's too much navelgazing going on and this books helps the reader go outside of themselves to create brands that serve. I also like the action items -- the experience of doing something specific creates a lot of clarity.
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Summary: The cure for navel gazing
Review: I like the "no-holds barred" style as well as the central theme of branding being about "them not us." There's too much navelgazing going on and this books helps the reader go outside of themselves to create brands that serve. I also like the action items -- the experience of doing something specific creates a lot of clarity.
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Summary: Marketing Experts rate this book a winner!
Review: I want to add my voice to the prestigeous choir that includes John Audette, Audri Langford and Dan Janal. If you have to ask who they are, you don't know modern eMarketing and branding theory. Frankel's book has made branding accessible to people who never understood the "big theory" books, or thought they couldn't "afford" to do "branding". Get this book.Walt Boyes Senior Contributing Editor, _Industrial Marketing Practitioner_
CEO, MarketingPractice Consultants
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Summary: Brandistas and Brandolinas Everywhere:
Review: I've been in the branding biz for 15 years and have seen just about everything come down the pike. . Rob's book is without a doubt "BOB" (Best of Breed)! His insights are timeless, and especially valuable in these turbulent times. . I wouldn't be without this book myself, and have been asking my clients and colleagues to read it. . Might as well decommission the rest of my library!
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Summary: If you are one of my competitors, please buy something else.
Review: Monumental. Finally. This should be a textbook. The writing is quick, to the point, and devoid of all the fluff that is typically found in marketing books. The concepts and strategies are equally to the point. By the end of Chapter 5, I had 6 pages of notes regarding my company's brand development plans. Specific areas that were particularly helpful in my case were the discussions of brand differentiation and clear message delivery. Rob Frankel, "the branding king", discusses many other issues that are just as important. The book gave me a real feel for how to develop a brand and USE IT to market and sell my product. The extra attention paid to Internet applications, where "Brand is Everything", is priceless for any business that expects to have an Internet presence. This book should be read by all, from the graphic arts gal to the CEO. It is clear that the development of a brand, beyond just a funny logo, requires that everyone understand the ideas that are laid before us in this text. To quote from the book, "Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your competition; it's about getting your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem (SM)". One can see why Frankel & Anderson is becoming the dominant player in Internet brand development.
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Summary: Short & sweet, but packed with meat
Review: Not a manual for brand-building, but a fountain of smart thoughts. It won't tell you how to do everything, it expects you to have some clue yourself. But it does a great job destroying myths and shedding brilliance on the little things great brands do to achieve lasting power. You'll need to think & take notes to figure out how it all applies to your own brand, but if that's asking too much your brand is doomed anyway.
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Summary: Hire an editor
Review: Not for people who already understand brand, but an excellent introduction for those who don't. While there is some very strong info here for the novice, this book would have benefited greatly by a strong editor (and proof reader and typesetter). The writing is painfully choppy and chummy and strains at being "hip" (cyber cafes are "bitchen"?). The good news is, the greater percentage of the worthwhile info (and again, there is a lot) can gleaned by skimming the book.
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Summary: Not a good book. Don't be fooled by the mktg.
Review: Ordered the book with high expectations. I fell for the marketing. But am really disappointed. Apparently, though the author can't explain branding, he can market, at least for himself. Don't be fooled. Beneath the abundance of hype-filled phrases and stories, there is VERY LITTLE substance. No clear definitions or frameworks. It is easy to read, but as you read, you keep on waiting for the author to get the real point -- but that never happends. All you get is a bunch of little/random points along the way. This is a magazine article that was turned into a book by making the font big and including a bunch of useless pages, like the old pictures of websites. Aaker's books are better.
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Summary: Fun but flawed book
Review: Rob Frankel is an amusing writer with a tremendous enthusiasm for his subject. His book is full of pointed anecdotes and useful case studies that illustrate the principles he expounds. The book is also an excellent example in itself of a man branding himself -- the hierarchy of "Frankel's laws of branding" for instance. Frankel has a way of making a point from an unusual perspective that becomes obvious and clear after he explains it. However, the book is marred by several flaws. First, some of his examples of poorly branded companies simply don't hold up. He claims that Coca-cola is a weak brand because customers will accept a Pepsi in a restaurant rather than (I assume) leaving the restaurant to find one that serves Coke. No beverage company brand, of course, could ever inspire that kind of loyalty because soda just isn't important enough in anyone's life. Frankel's branding mantra is that it's all about your customers seeing you as the only solution to their problem. Is Coke supposed to be the only solution to my sweet carbonated syrup beverage problem? He's clearly missing an important part of the equation there. Another example is his discussion of Microsoft. After arguing that Microsoft has a terrible brand (which I won't necessarily dispute) he later says that if the branding is wrong, so is everything else. Because that branding problem has really hampered Microsoft from being a successful company. Apple, of course, is one of Frankel's favorite brands. This book would also have greatly benefitted from an editor (it was self-published) who could have tightened the organization, caught some of the inconsistencies, and fixed the embarassing number of hideous typos. For [what it's worth] Mr. Frankel's readers deserve a little more proofreading on his part.
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