Brand (It ain't the logo)

A book review.

Brand (It ain't the logo)

by Ted Matthews and Andris Pone

published: 2007

ISBN: 9781435700154

genre: Business (Marketing)

reviewed:2013.01.14

👍🏼👍🏼 a favorite!

This is a very useful discussion of what brand really is: much more than just marketing speak. The author shows how brand is in fact the organization's culture, the guiding principle of every facet of the day-to-day dealings both internally and with every external point of contact. The book is so well-written and full of practical advice that we're currently using chapter 15 directly as guidance on renaming our product suite to better reflect the our purpose, value-add, and yes "brand".

Strongly recommended.

One small quibble: this book is one of those sources of that belief that brand management is the only thing that's going to "save North America". That is, that brand management is the one distinguishing advantage that North American business has over Asian and other competitors. It's not. We've sold off our manufacturing base, gutted the middle-class professions such as IT through outsourcing, thrown out our labor laws, and now we're selling our brands to the BRIC's and beyong. It's going to take a lot more than ensuring that your customer service people know how their jobs relate to the business plan and "brand" to pull North America out of its decline.