Brand Asset Management: Driving Profitable Growth Through Your Brands

Citation

Brodie, R.J. (2001), "Brand Asset Management: Driving Profitable Growth Through Your Brands", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 160-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsm.2001.15.2.160.1

In the last decade much has been written about the management of brands and the building of brand equity. This book is written specifically for practicing managers so differs from the textbooks by authors such as Aaker (1996), de Chernatony and McDonald (1998), Kapferer (1997), and Keller (1998) that play the dual role of being suitable as student text and also useful for managers. The “new” idea that is used to differentiate the book is the notion that brands are an intangible asset and need to be managed in a coordinated way with the other assets of the firm in order to create value.

Unlike textbooks the book does not make any reference to other writers but just presents a management framework. None of the content of the book is particularly original. The obvious strength of the book is the way Davis has been able to draw on his extensive practical experience to illustrate the application of the management framework. This experience comes from his earlier work experience at Procter & Gamble and later experience as consultant.

The book starts with an introductory section that presents brand asset management as superior to what he refers to as the traditional approach to brand management. However the arguments for the “newness” of the approach are similar to those that have been used for adopting a customer relationship management (CRM). This recognises the importance of focusing on customer loyalty, long‐term relationships and customer retention and developing metric to monitor the financial implications of these strategies. What is important and lacking from much of the CRM writings is the way Davis focuses on the brand and the central role that it plays in these processes.

Davis’s framework consists of a step‐by‐step procedure to develop and leverage the brand’s strength and to maximise its asset value. The four stages are:

1. (1)

   developing the brand vision:

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  elements of a brand vision;

1. (2)

   determining your brand picture:

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  determining your brand’s image,

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  creating your brand’s contract,

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  crafting a brand‐based customer model;

1. (3)

   developing a brand asset management strategy:

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  positioning your brand for success,

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  extending your brand,

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  communicating your brand’s positioning,

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  leveraging your brand to maximize channel influence,

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  pricing your brand at a premium;

1. (4)

   Supporting a brand asset management:

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  measuring your return on brand investment,

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  establishing a brand based culture.

While the language is slightly different this framework is not very different from the numerous other consulting books on brand management, although the content does differ somewhat, because of the integration of financial, relational and customer value constructs. However after the initial promise in the first chapter that the brand asset management was a new approach to brand management there is not as much “newness” as expected. Much of the content is based on solid management principles that have not changed and should not change because they work well.

The book has been written largely for a North American audience with a focus on branding for consumer products. Far less attention is given to the marketing of services or business‐to‐business branding and how the branding strategies may differ. While the Internet is mentioned as a means of supporting brands less attention is given to exclusive e‐branding strategy. Another major limitation is lack of attention to co‐branding, brand alliances and sponsorship.

In summary this is an easy to read book that provides an up‐to‐date and logical framework for managers. The strengths of the book are the wealth of practical examples that are used to illustrate the framework and the focus on the notion that a brand is an intangible asset that needs to be managed along with other assets of the firm to create value. Because the book does not have any references it is of limited use as a textbook but might be useful as supplementary reading.