Brands and Branding

Citation

Hao, A. (2010), "Brands and Branding", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 19 No. 7, pp. 519-520. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421011086964

What is a brand? How should brand value be evaluated? How can brands be made great? How can global brands be established? How can brands be developed in the digital age? The answers to all these questions are clearly described in the Brands and Branding. Written by 19 experts in the field, this book provides an excellent overview of all the important topics in the area of brands and branding. It contains three sections covering the following contents: the case for brands, best practices in branding, and the future of brands.

According to the book's preface, part 1 deals with the introduction of brand concepts and branding management. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this area or not in the field and those who want to develop some general knowledge of brand concepts and branding strategies, part 1 is a must‐read section that reviews the key issues in the field of brands and branding. Chapter 1 discusses why the brand is playing an important role for any types of organizations from several perspectives such as economic, social, and political. The author also presents some potential explanations about why brands are sometimes not taken as seriously as they should be. This chapter reveals a central tenet of the book that “brands are demonstrably the most important and sustainable asset any organization has” (p. 3).

Chapter 2 examines the history of brands, the elements of the brand, two new practices in the explosion of branding: corporate branding and services branding, and some guidelines for good brand management. This chapter provides readers with a basic introduction to brands and branding. Chapter 3 focuses on “the financial value of brands”. There is no consensus on how to quantify the financial values attached to brands either in academia or in industry. The author reviews the major brand evaluation models that have been developed in two categories: research‐based brand equity evaluations and purely financially‐driven approaches. Very short comments on the pro and cons of each type of methodology have been provided. Specifically, an example of a hypothetical valuation of a brand has been provided to illustrate how to capture the complex value creation of a brand.

Chapter 4 tackles “the social values of brands” (p. 45). The chapter looks at the social aspect of brands for both profit and non‐profit organizations. Chapter 5 discusses “what makes brands great” (p. 61). The author demonstrates that the great brands share the following principles:

• •

  a compelling idea;

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  consistency in delivering on their promise;

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  expression of the brand through every experience;

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  alignment of internal and external commitment to the brand;

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  relevance.

This chapter also contains a list of 23 models that examine how to evaluate brand performance. For readers interested in further exploring the financial aspect of brands in detail, this list can be used as supplemental materials for the brand valuation and evaluation approaches covered in chapter 3.

Section 2 is devoted to the “best practice in branding” (p. 71). It examines several crucial aspects of brand management. This section starts with chapter 6, which focuses on the brand positioning process. A real‐life example of InterContinental Hotels is used to show how to apply the six‐step positioning process, which includes:

1. 1.

   Define the market and customer target.

2. 2.

   Audit the current situation to identify potential opportunities.

3. 3.

   Model potential brand positioning territories.

4. 4.

   Refine the final positioning.

5. 5.

   Bring the positioning to life.

6. 6.

   Measure results.

This framework ensures a powerful positioning strategy. The rest of the chapter discusses brand portfolio management and growth strategies.

Chapter 7 proposes how to manage brands using a holistic approach that requires aligning traditional marketing activities with organizational capability. In chapter 8, the author first traces through the evolution of brand identity such as designer‐driven identity, strategy‐driven identity, controlling and category identity, diversifying identity, and non‐corporate identity. Furthermore, the author points out some future trends in terms of developing visual identity and verbal identity. For those who would like to read further on this subject, the reference list provided at the chapter's end is of great help.

Chapter 9 emphasizes the role of brand communication. “Everything a brand does is communication. It is impossible not to communicate” (p. 127). The author addresses three issues: how communications build brands; how brand communications influence behavior; and how brand communications create mental models. It is interesting that the high‐quality pictures of some great brand logos, such as BMW, Ben & Jerry's, Penguin, Shell, Kodak, UPS, BP, IBM, British Airways, Facebook, and Google, are embedded in the text. Chapter 10 presents the public relations perspective on branding. “Public relations is an important element in supporting the power and value of an organization's brand for all stakeholders” (p. 146). Four interesting cases, including The Coca‐Cola Company, Visa, US Postal Services, and Intel, are provided to have a thorough discussion on “how important PR is to brand strategy and to building and sustaining corporate reputation” (p. 155). Chapter 11 “looks at the importance of taking the necessary steps to ensure that a brand is legally protected” (p. 12). This chapter provides some general principles that cover both the areas of trademarks and copyright.

Section 3 provides some thoughts on the future of brands. Chapter 12 tackles the brands and branding issue in the context of globalization. The next two chapters (13 and 14) focus on the development and potential of Asian brands, especially in China and India. Actually these two chapters could be combined as one chapter. As suggested by the authors, China and India present not only a huge opportunity but also a huge challenge for any foreign companies seeking to extend their brand into these markets. “It is hard to identify a common set of values and preference that marketers can use to target a pan‐Asian consumer” (p. 197). In Chapter 15, the author expresses his view on how to promote places and nations as brands, which seems to be a fantastic topic. Chapter 16 explores brands and branding in the digital era and their implications. I wish the author had discussed more here. Chapter 17 provides an alternative perspective on brands: social and morals. The contents of this chapter are closely related to chapter 4. The readers may read these two chapters as a unit. Finally, chapter 18 summaries all the important topics covered in this book.

Overall, this is a good reference book for brand managers, marketers in general, and anyone who is seeking solutions for brands and branding problems. It covers all the important topics in the field of branding such as brand evaluation, brand positioning, brand strategy, social value of brands, brand communications, brand protection, global brands, and branding in digital age. This book provides a comprehensive and contemporary overview of brands and branding topics. There are useful references provided for some of the chapters where it is necessary. Another strength of this book is that it illustrates branding topics using well‐known brand names in the global market, which makes it easier for the readers to follow.