UnBranding breaks through the noise of disruption. We live in a transformative time. The digital age has given us unlimited access to information and affected all our traditional business relationships – from how we hire and manage, to how we communicate with our current and would-be customers. Innovation continues to create opportunities for emerging products and services we never thought possible. With all the excitement of our time, comes confusion and fear for many businesses. Change can be daunting, and never have we lived in a time where change came so quickly. This is the age of disruption – it's fast-paced, far-reaching and is forever changing how we operate, create, connect, and market. It's easy to see why brand heads are spinning. Businesses are suffering from 'the next big thing' and we're here to help you find the cure. UnBranding is about focus – it's about seeing that within these new strategies, technologies and frameworks fighting for our attention, lay the tried and true tenants of good business – because innovation is nothing but a bright and shiny new toy, unless it actually works. UnBranding is here to remind you that you can't fix rude staff, mediocre products and a poor brand reputation with a fancy new app. We are going to learn from 100 branding stories that will challenge your assumptions about business today and teach valuable, actionable lessons. It's not about going backwards, it's about moving forward with purpose, getting back to the core of good branding while continuing to innovate and improve without leaving your values behind. Some topics will include: Growing and maintaining your brand voice through the noise How to focus on the right tools for your business, for the right reasons Maintaining trust, consistency and connection through customer service and community The most important question to ask yourself before innovation The importance of personal branding in the digital age How to successful navigate feedback and reviews It's time for a reality check. It's time to solve problems, create connections, and provide value rather than rush strategy just to make headlines. UnBranding gives you the guidance you need to navigate the age of disruption and succeed in business today.

UnMarket to build trust and make lifelong customers! In 2009, Scott Stratten and Alison Stratten wrote the bestselling UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging and began a journey that would take them around the world sharing their message of engagement with corporations, entrepreneurs, and students.They are now back with this second edition, because Everything has Changed and Nothing is Different, with all the brilliance of the first edition, plus new content and commentary to reflect the rapidly changing landscape we all live, buy, and work in today. For generations, marketing has been hypocritical. We've been taught to market to others in ways we hate being marketed to (cold-calling, flyers, ads, etc.). So why do we still keep trying the same stale marketing moves? UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You'll stop just pushing out your message and praying that it sticks somewhere. Potential and current customers want to be listened to, validated, and have a platform to be heard-especially online. With UnMarketing, you'll create a relationship with your customers, and make yourself the logical choice for their needs. We know you've been told to act like other people, talk like other people, and market like all the people, but it is time for you to unlearn everything and start to UnMarket yourself. UnMarketing includes the latest information on: Idea Creation, Viral Marketing and Video, Marketing to Millennials, Authenticity, Transparency and Immediacy, Ethics and Affiliates, Social Media Platforming, UnPodcasting, Word of Mouth, Customer Service, Consumer Advocacy and Leadership. With examples of what to do, and what not to do, from small business right up to worldwide corporations in areas such as real estate, travel, service, retail, and B2B.

The turbulent history of generic pharmaceuticals raises powerful questions about similarity and difference in modern medicine. Generic drugs are now familiar objects in clinics, drugstores, and households around the world. We like to think of these tablets, capsules, patches, and ointments as interchangeable with their brand-name counterparts: why pay more for the same? And yet they are not quite the same. They differ in price, in place of origin, in color, shape, and size, in the dyes, binders, fillers, and coatings used, and in a host of other ways. Claims of generic equivalence, as physician-historian Jeremy Greene reveals in this gripping narrative, are never based on being identical to the original drug in all respects, but in being the same in all ways that matter. How do we know what parts of a pill really matter? Decisions about which differences are significant and which are trivial in the world of therapeutics are not resolved by simple chemical or biological assays alone. As Greene reveals in this fascinating account, questions of therapeutic similarity and difference are also always questions of pharmacology and physiology, of economics and politics, of morality and belief. Generic is the first book to chronicle the social, political, and cultural history of generic drugs in America. It narrates the evolution of the generic drug industry from a set of mid-twentieth-century "schlock houses" and "counterfeiters" into an agile and surprisingly powerful set of multinational corporations in the early twenty-first century. The substitution of bioequivalent generic drugs for more expensive brand-name products is a rare success story in a field of failed attempts to deliver equivalent value in health care for a lower price. Greene’s history sheds light on the controversies shadowing the success of generics: problems with the generalizability of medical knowledge, the fragile role of science in public policy, and the increasing role of industry, marketing, and consumer logics in late-twentieth-century and early twenty-first century health care.

Branding guru Aaker shows how to eliminate the competition and become the lead brand in your market This ground-breaking book defines the concept of brand relevance using dozens of case studies-Prius, Whole Foods, Westin, iPad and more-and explains how brand relevance drives market dynamics, which generates opportunities for your brand and threats for the competition. Aaker reveals how these companies have made other brands in their categories irrelevant. Key points: When managing a new category of product, treat it as if it were a brand; By failing to produce what customers want or losing momentum and visibility, your brand becomes irrelevant; and create barriers to competitors by supporting innovation at every level of the organization. Using dozens of case studies, shows how to create or dominate new categories or subcategories, making competitors irrelevant Shows how to manage the new category or subcategory as if it were a brand and how to create barriers to competitors Describes the threat of becoming irrelevant by failing to make what customer are buying or losing energy David Aaker, the author of four brand books, has been called the father of branding This book offers insight for creating and/or owning a new business arena. Instead of being the best, the goal is to be the only brand around-making competitors irrelevant.

Easy to digest tips and tools on how not to run a business Experts are constantly telling us what we need to be doing to improve our businesses. Hundreds of books in the market are filled with advice from these experts. But how can you filter out all of the bad advice, misinformation, and misuse of business tools that is out there? None of us needs another list of what we should be doing. QR Codes Kill Kittens tells you what not to do. Easy to digest, easy to avoid. The book is separated into several sections, and each will include a story related to the topic in addition to tips and explanations on what not to do. Includes real-life examples along with tips and guidance on experts, human resources, marketing/branding, networking (in person and online), public relations, and customer service Written by Scott Stratten, author of UnMarketing and the President of UnMarketing.com, a company that combines efforts in viral, social, and authentic marketing; he has appeared on Mashable.com and CNN.com, and in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Fast Company It doesn't do you any good to do a few things right and a lot of things wrong. Find out what not to do. If reading this book saves just one kitten's life, it's worth it.

UnSelling is about everything but the sell. We put all of our focus on the individual purchase transaction, while putting the rest of our business actions second. We've become blind to customer service, support, branding, experiences and even product quality. Sixty percent of a purchasing decision is made before a customer even contacts you. We have funnel vision, and it needs to stop. Unselling is about the big picture: creating repeat customers, not one-time buyers. Create loyal clients that refer others, not faceless numbers. Becoming the go-to company for something, before they even need you. You don't need social media, but you can be connecting with your clients socially. Your video doesn't have to be viral in front of a million people, just contagious in front of your specific market. Content, connection, engagement. It's time to separate from the pack of noise. It's time to UnSell.

From the bestselling authors of The Go-Giver, Go-Givers Sell More, and The Go-Giver Leader comes another compelling parable about the paradox of getting ahead by placing other people's interests first. The Go-Giver Influencer is a story about two young, ambitious businesspeople: Gillian Waters, the chief buyer for Smith & Banks, a midsized company that operates a national chain of pet accessory stores; and Jackson Hill, the founder of Angels Clothed in Fur, a small but growing manufacturer of all-natural pet foods. Each has something the other wants. To Jackson, Smith & Banks represents the possibility of reaching more animals with his products--if he can negotiate terms and conditions that will protect his company's integrity. To Gillian, Angels Clothed in Fur could give her company a distinctive, uniquely high-quality line that will help them stand out from their competitors--if Angels Clothed in Fur can be persuaded to give them an exclusive. At first, the negotiations are adversarial and frustrating. Then, coincidentally, Gillian and Jackson each encounter a mysterious yet kindly mentor. Over the next week, while neither one realizes the other is doing the same, both Gillian and Jackson learn the heart of both mentors' philosophies: The Five Secrets of Genuine Influence. The story ends in a way that surprises everyone--and with lessons we can all apply in our efforts to resolve conflicts and influence others.