Rating: 
Summary: inventive and common sense to branding in today's market
Review: My biggest complaint on branding (and any marketing books) is the fact that many authors suggest very grand ideas with little back up or prescriptive methods of application. I have been unable to put this book down (and I bought 3 other brand-related titles at the same time--no such problem with those). The logic and organization of the book is easy to follow, and the techniques make sense. I find every section has a practical application to my company and work-related projects. Of these applications, many I will apply to my work, and many others I will pass along to my company's upper management. Had I found Gobé's emotional branding first, there would be a need for fewer books in my branding library. Useful, concise, and practical.
Rating: 
Summary: Title is prime example of subject
Review: Problems: there is a lot of useless commentary; Gobe pushes political correctness in advertising; he generalizes about Baby boomers, Generations X and Y; he often supplies only anecdotal evidence for his ideas. On the other hand, he seems sincerely interested in the subject, and there's some real insight underneath all the BS. About what you would expect from an Ad executive.
Rating:
Summary: This belongs to the future
Review: This book gives insights that should bring Branding decisions from marketing department to business strategy at top management level. Marc Gobés Emotional Branding outlines the challenges and the future of Branding, and provides great tools to new holistic approaches to understanding and implementing new branding practises. Approaches that will make people connect with brands on an emotional level and build relationships. Marc Gobé covers the full field of Brand expressions, from logo and sensory packaging design to delivering Branded experiences.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative, inspiring AND practical
Review: This book has a lot of added value. It not only puts abosulutely everything we know about branding into a totally fresh, groundbreaking perspective that works in the new economy, but it is full of useful information, revelatory research, detailed processes for brand development and fascinating case studies. It is not just another book talking about branding, it shows the reader precisely HOW to reach consumers on an emotional level that will inspire long term loyalty - a rarity in today's market! As VP of Marketing at a Fortune 500 company, I have read all the hot branding book titles over the past few years as well as the arch-classics, and this is one of the very best of them all - if not the best! I found myself avidly taking notes, and also spurred on to many exciting ideas for my business. I look forward to Gobe's next book!
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Inflated Gibberish
Review: This book has all the appeal of an IKEA coffee table: it looks great on the outside, but when you get down to it, it's nothing but cheap filler.
The concepts are tired (this is mere repackaging of 1987 material by a designer/design firm who is trying to drum up business). The writing is self-aggrandizing. This book could have been written in less than a three-page memo.
If you still speak with an arrogant dot.com era vernacular; if you enjoy using mantras like "recontextualizing the brand"; or if you enjoy hearing yourself breath, then you will thoroughly enjoy this book.
In the end, this book says a lot without saying anything at all. Buy something by Aaker (though he is a bit dated) instead.
Rating: 
Summary: extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding
Review: This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991). One of my friends working for an Ogilvy company recommended Aaker and I must say that he was right. So why did I purchase this book? Well, given I was called in by an agency to look at the EQ side of one of their projects; I wanted to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996. The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets. In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one. Patrick Merlevede - author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"
Rating:
Summary: extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding
Review: This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991). One of my friends working for an Ogilvy company recommended Aaker and I must say that he was right. So why did I purchase this book? Well, given I was called in by an agency to look at the EQ side of one of their projects; I wanted to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996. The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets. In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one. Patrick Merlevede - author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"
Rating:
Summary: Lots of Fluff
Review: This book was a real disappointment. Don't be fooled by the strong editorial reviews. Upon reading the book it is clear that most are clients of Marc Gobe's concultancy. The main thrust of the book is that brands need to make an emotional connection with consumers. How they do this is never really detailed. How you measure the emotional connection is never really considered. A real disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but 50% too long
Review: This is a good book that explains the importance of creating an emotional connection with the consumer when designing a brand. It is however too long as the same (good) concept is repeated many times in different words.
Rating:
Summary: How to Market to the Heart as Well as the Head
Review: This is a great book. If you feel that people largely buy products and services for emotional reasons, and you want to learn more about branding strategies that address consumer emotions, this is for you. I would recommend you first read Lisa Fortini-Campbell's exceptional little book, "Hitting the Sweet Spot", then Chapters 3 and 10 (on "Brand Design" and "Advertising Strategy", by Bobby Calder, Steven Reagan and and Brian Sternthal respectively) in the new book by Dawn Iacobucci, "Kellog on Marketing" and then finish with "Emotional Branding". The Gobe book pulls everything together, yet maintains an unwavering, retriever-like focus on leveraging buyer emotions. Some of the new books like Hill and Rifkin's "Radical Marketing" stress the importance of buyer empathy and passion for the brand, but I have yet to read a book as good as "Emotional Branding" which tells the reader HOW TO DO all of these things.
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