Book Reviews
Welcome to the Book Review section. Some of the books that I have reviewed here are directly relevant to nation branding; some books have been included because they say something new and interesting about other aspects and applications of branding; and some books are reviewed because their subject matter is linked in some way to the huge diversity of issues that constitute nation branding. This book review section will be regularly updated. The reviews are deliberately short and to-the-point.
Keith Dinnie
Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for
Nations, Cities and Regions
by Simon Anholt (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
Place branding has become one of the hottest topics within the field of branding and Simon Anholt has been at the forefront of its emergence, through his authoring of various books and as Founding Editor of the journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. In this book, he explains that he now prefers the term ‘competitive identity’ to ‘nation branding’ because his approach “has more to do with national identity and the politics and economics of competitiveness than with branding as it is usually understoods”. Rather than dwelling on academic theory, Anholt clearly describes the practical steps that countries need to take in order to enhance their reputations and to achieve the economic benefits that can flow from such reputation enhancement.
Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia Builds Strong Brands
by Martin Roll (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)
Martin Roll is a Danish citizen residing in Singapore, consulting to many companies as well as acting as Visiting Professor in Strategic Brand Management at the China European International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. His book provides a fascinating insight into how Asian brands can emerge and compete against older established Western brands. Lenovo, Singapore Airlines, Haier, Shiseido, Samsung, Giordano, and Li Ning are some of the Asian brands given as examples of good practice.
The Brand Innovation Manifesto
by John Grant (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2006)
Brimming with ideas and new thinking, this is one of the most stimulating books on branding to be published in the last few years. Grant's main contention is that brands should be treated as molecules, given that “over time, the brand becomes like a molecule, built up of successive and connected ideas... Each new idea can add to a brand's interest and keep it alive in people's minds”. Rather than relying on the old, conventional advertising route to brand-building, the author's brand-as-molecule approach explores the potential of sophisticated customer relationship marketing, brand experience marketing, customer communities, and entertainment partnerships.
Brand Rejuvenation: How to protect, strengthen and
add value to your brand to prevent it from ageing
by Jean-Marc Lehu (Kogan Page, 2006)
Professor Jean-Marc Lehu's book on brand rejuvenation is structured around a three-stage process. First, how to recognise that the brand ageing process has begun. Second, how to conduct an audit to determine whether there is sufficient brand equity remaining to justify any rejuvenation efforts. Third, the formulation of brand rejuvenation strategy. In addition to the main focus on revitalising declining brands, Lehu also includes some useful material on brand identity and brand image which will be of interest regardless of whether or not a brand is in need of rejuvenation. The symptoms of brand ageing are very clearly listed, and followed by a wide range of initiatives that brand owners can take in order to reverse the brand's decline.
Moment of Truth: Redefining the CEO's Brand Management
Agenda
by Andreas Bauer, Bjorn Bloching, Kai Howaldt and Alan Mitchell (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006)
This is an excellent book — slick, well argued and solidly based on the core concept of what the authors term ‘values-based management’. Alan Mitchell is a well known and respected writer in the UK business media, whilst the other three authors are from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. This consultancy background has given the authors numerous insights into the many weaknesses in current approaches to brand management, eg, a disconnect between strategy and tactics, erratic processes, limited customer insight, lack of analytical rigour, data incompatibility, silo-itis, confusing brand architectures, poor innovation, and fence-setting. Bauer et al's most ambitious aim is to create a common language that unites and informs different specialists and departments across the company internally, thereby aiding implementation. Brand managers and marketing directors will find lots of good new thinking in this book.
Retailization: Brand Survival In The Age Of Retailer
Power
by Lars Thomassen, Keith Lincoln and Anthony Aconis (Kogan Page, 2006)
In some ways, the main threat to brands nowadays does not come from other brands but from the large and powerful retailers who decide which brands to stock and which brands to delist. The authors sum up this situation by stating that “when a few buyers at a few major retailers determine total effective consumer choice, it is clear where the real power liess”. Wal-Mart's immense power is observed through a statistic indicating that of China's exports to the United States, 10 percent goes to Wal-Mart and if Wal-Mart were an independent nation, it would be China's sixth largest export market. But Thomassen et al are not proclaiming the death of brands; on the contrary, they propose positive ways in which brand owners can develop creative strategies to ensure survival and success in the face of ever more powerful retailers. Anyone involved in FMCG branding should read this book.
The Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management
to People at Work
by Simon Barrow and Richard Mosley (John Wiley & Sons, 2005)
This very well written book successfully stakes out a niche at the interface between brand management and human resource management. Barrow and Mosley are consultants with a wealth of experience in helping companies manage that interface, and they clearly describe the steps that companies need to take in order to create a powerful, motivating employer brand. The benefits that the authors claim can be derived from building a strong employer brand include lowering costs, increasing customer satisfaction, and delivering higher than average return on investment and profitability. Reuters and Tesco case studies are provided to illustrate the employer brand concept in action.
How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural
Branding
by Douglas B. Holt (Harvard Business School Press, 2004)
This is a brilliantly written, fascinating book. Author Douglas B. Holt takes an advertising-focused approach to his analysis of how certain brands achieve iconic status, whereas other brands remain also-rans. This illuminating perspective on branding is encapsulated in what Holt terms the ‘cultural brand management process’, wherein brand managers are tasked with identifying emerging cultural contradictions within society, which can then be used as a basis for developing an iconic brand. There is plenty food for thought in this insightful and engaging book.
Sonic Branding
by Daniel Jackson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
It might still be considered something of a niche activity, but sonic branding sooner rather than later is going to enter the branding mainstream. Dan Jackson's book is an excellent introduction to sonic branding, the essence of which he describes as twofold: the creation of brand expressions in sound and the consistent, strategic usage of these properties across touchpoints. Sonic branding is shown to include not only music, but also the use of voice and ambient sound. The final part of the book describes the processes that the author's consultancy uses when working on sonic branding projects for clients.