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Summary: Microsoft Comments destroy his argument
Review: One sign of a book's relevance to my life is the degree to which I've underscored its text and written in its margins. My pen bled all over this book with notes and admonitions to myself filling the front and back pages as well. I'm grateful for this effort, because it reminded me of what it felt to be a student learning from an inspiring master. Too often I believe we look for "How To" and bypass the "Why?"--Scott Bedbury does well to right this oversight in a well-written and engaging effort with the help of Stephen Fenichell (despite grinding a bit of an overbearing axe against Microsoft). Unlike one-hit wonders crowding the bookstore shelves, Bedbury has at least two grandslam experiences (Nike and Starbucks) which more than validate that what he's suggesting should be considered among the enduring principles of brand management. The integration of brand strategy with a holistic view that embraces both the employee and corporate citizenship is particularly refreshing. If you find yourself unable to explain what your brand means to your company without using the word "profit" in the first three sentences, pick up this book and a pen--full of ink.
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Summary: Fresh air & Qualitative thoughts to manage Brand
Review: If you're looking for a very technical book on marketing plans or vehicles development and brand asset management, it may not be your choice. This book offers some fresh thoughts for marketers and brand managers on what's a brand and what kind of areas (e.g. short-term financial trade-off decisions) that will impact a brand's health. Within this book, this includes some clear thoughts and ideas on how to "maintain" a brand, areas should pay attention to and helpful cases sharing for better illustrate the ideas. Unexpectedly, the authors captured less advertising part but put more emphasis on the people, culture, product, retail environment rather than marketing / advertising. If you're looking for a more balance brand management overview, suggest to go for David Aaker's books, some Kotler's books and finally read this one to have a holistic idea on this topic.
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Summary: BRANDING, FOR EXECUTIVES. READ IT FOR THE CASE STUDIES.
Review: It is difficult to review a book that one has enjoyed reading and then say that it was not up to the mark (in terms, of course, of only my expectations.) No doubt that Scott Bedbury's work is a fast paced read, his writing is lucid and quite frequently quotably light-hearted. There is a lot of material here for people in larger corporations or even general marketing folks. And where Bedbury truly shines is in the case studies he presents in the 8 chapters. But if, like me, you set off on this book looking for some newfangled insights into the world of branding, then this is not the book for you. The title claims to proffer "8 principles". Let's face it, at the end of the day, principles are not that hard to create and this becomes quite painfully clear when you reach the end of this book and wonder if you have learnt anything new. But I am being unfairly critical. From his style, it seems an approachable business book was precisely what Bedbury's intended? As a comprehensive introduction to the field of branding, I'd still recommend "Strategic Brand Asset Management" by Keller. For a discussion of some innovative yet reasonable forms of brand creation, especially on a shoestring, I'd usually point to a PR related book, or perhaps the rapier wit "60-minutes Brand Strategist." But as a gentle introduction for executives in to the nebulous world of branding, or as a non-technical business book for business folk in general who place less emphasis on a structured analytical framework and are more interested in a soft springboard into the field, then "Emotional Branding" and this book from Bedbury are pretty near the top of my list of recommendations. Very accessible and insightful stuff, if you aren't expecting a summary of last decade's JCR.
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Summary: Pure Genius Strikes Again
Review: Scott Bedbury, the architect of building the Nike and Starbucks brands, invites us into the inner sanctum of building statement brands. For someone who loves both business biographies as well as strategy, I found this book as entertaining as I did informative and useful. It is no wonder to me why Scott was able to navigate two distinct brands to a lasting impression in America. As someone who is building my own brand (TotallySoccer), I found that Scott is right on: you must have the vision and the imagination as well as the ability to execute. A great and entertaining read.
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Summary: Bedbury's experience at Nike & Starbucks proves valuable
Review: The many things we should do for our brands (and the ones we have to avoid at all costs) are clearly presented in Bedbury's eight brand principles. Instead of using financial models and correlations, Bedbury tells stories of how each one of these things makes the difference on the company's bottom line. His experience at Nike and Starbucks thoughout the entire positioning process before and after these companies became power brands gives him the credibility and the parenthood needed to teach decision-makers about branding.
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Summary: Interesting information, but it gets old
Review: There is no shortage of books on this subject and I've probably read three-quarters of them. This one comes closest to cracking the code. In fact, the author uses that exact word in describing how marketers must go about cracking a brand's genetic code.
While some may find the heavy reliance on Bedbury's experiences at Nike and Starbucks limiting, I think they're quite instructive. Mainly because while one of these brands, Nike, was created largely using traditional mass media, the other achieved its preeminence doing exactly the opposite.
In either case, Bedbury does a great job of defining what a brand is, why it is of such financial importance to a business, how to go about discovering its genetic code, and how to maximize a brand's value and ubiquity. And he does it in a very readable fashion. Definitely something anyone who places any stock in branding will want to read.
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Summary: Interesting information, but it gets old
Review: This book was interesting and had some good information in it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to read a book on Starbucks and Nike. I found myself dreading another story about how wonderful Starbucks or Nike are, and how great a manager the author was. It really starts to get old. The principles are good, but you can read about most of them in any college marketing textbook.
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