Brand Admiration uses deep research on consumer psychology, marketing, consumer engagement and communication to develop a powerful, integrated perspective and innovative approach to brand management. Using numerous real-world examples and backed by research from top notch academics, this book describes how companies can turn a product, service, corporate, person or place brand into one that customers love, trust and respect; in short, how to make a brand admired. The result? Greater brand loyalty, stronger brand advocacy, and higher brand equity. Admired brands grow more revenue in a more efficient way over a longer period of time and with more opportunities for growth. The real power of Brand Admiration is that it provides concrete, actionable guidance on how brand managers can make customers (and employees) admire a brand. Admired brands don't just do the job; they offer exactly what customers need (enabling benefits), in way that's pleasing, fun, interesting, and emotionally involving (enticing benefits), while making people feel good about themselves (enriching benefits). Providing these benefits, called 3 Es, is foundational to building , strengthening and leveraging brand admiration. In addition, the authors articulate a common-sense and action based measure of brand equity, and they develop dashboard metrics to diagnose if there are any 'canaries in the coal mine', and if so, what to do next. In short, Brand Admiration provides a coherent, cohesive approach to helping the brand stand the test of time. A well-designed, well-managed brand becomes a part of the public consciousness, and ultimately, a part of the culture. This trajectory is the fruit of decisions made from an integrated strategic standpoint. This book shows you how to shift the process for your brand, with practical guidance and an analytical approach.

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.

From two of the world’s leading experts on branding, brand benefits, and positioning, this strategic guide reveals how focusing on brand benefits can transform organizations and help them win in the marketplace. Today’s customers think less about products and more about brands, no matter whether those brands are organizational, nonprofit, individuals, or service oriented. Customers also care less about the features of your product—what it has—than about its benefits—what it does for them. While this sounds like common sense, shockingly few organizations actually conduct business this way. Drs. Allen Weiss and Debbie J. MacInnis, professors and branding, brand benefits, and positioning experts, are about to change that. In The Brand Benefits Playbook, Weiss and MacInnis help readers understand, and transition to, a benefits-based model. This focus on customer benefits will teach organizations: What market they are in (or could be operating in) How customers perceive their brand (and that of their competitors) in terms of benefits The most effective way to segment a market and position a brand in terms of benefits How to deliver benefits throughout the customer journey How a focus on benefits facilitates growth Evidence-based, integrated, and simple, this innovative approach can be applied to all markets—and ensures that any brand can deliver the benefits its customers truly want.

Why we choose companies and brands in the same way that we unconsciously perceive, judge, and behave toward one another People everywhere describe their relationships with brands in a deeply personal way—we hate our banks, love our smartphones, and think the cable company is out to get us. What's actually going on in our brains when we make these judgments? Through original research, customer loyalty expert Chris Malone and top social psychologist Susan Fiske discovered that our perceptions arise from spontaneous judgments on warmth and competence, the same two factors that also determine our impressions of people. We see companies and brands the same way we automatically perceive, judge, and behave toward one another. As a result, to achieve sustained success, companies must forge genuine relationships with customers. And as customers, we have a right to expect relational accountability from the companies and brands we support. Applies the social psychology concepts of "warmth" (what intentions others have toward us) and "competence" (how capable they are of carrying out those intentions) to the way we perceive and relate to companies and brands Features in-depth analyses of companies such as Hershey's, Domino's, Lululemon, Zappos, Amazon, Chobani, Sprint, and more Draws from original research, evaluating over 45 companies over the course of 10 separate studies The Human Brand is essential reading for understanding how and why we make the choices we do, as well as what it takes for companies and brands to earn and keep our loyalty in the digital age.

An exclusive look at one of the world's most successful and controversial companies, and the mysterious family behind it. BMW is arguably the most admired carmaker in the world. It's financial performance is the envy of its competitors, and BMW products inspire near-fanatical loyalty. While many carmakers struggle with falling sales, profits and market share, demand for BMWs continues to grow, frequently outpacing production. Now, David Kiley-Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today and author of Getting the Bugs Out, which covered Volkswagen's demise and rebirth, goes inside the fabled German automaker to see how it does what it does so well. With unprecedented access to BMW executives, Kiley goes behind the walls of BMW's famed "Four Cylinders" headquarters in Munich at a time when the company is in its most aggressive, and some say riskiest, expansion in its history and when some of the company's new products, like the 7 Series sedan and Z4 roadster, are for the first time drawing as many barbs from critics as bouquets. Kiley covers intimate details of the boardroom drama surrounding the company's nearly disastrous acquisition and subsequent sale of the British Rover Group and its expansion into selling MINI and Rolls Royce cars. Besides being a world-class carmaker, BMW is also considered one of the smartest consumer marketing companies and Kiley explores the extraordinary value and management of the BMW brand mystique. He also takes a revealing look at the mysterious and ultra-private Quandt family of Bad Homburg Germany, which owns a controlling stake in BMW: Johanna and Susanne Quandt, two of the wealthiest women in Europe and Stefan Quandt, one of the wealthiest bachelors on the continent. David Kiley (Ann Arbor, MI) is the Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today who has covered the auto industry for 17 years. He has been featured on Nightline, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and the Today show. He is also the author of Getting the Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall, and Comeback of Volkswagen in America (0-471-26304-4), also available from Wiley.

Discover proven strategies for building powerful, world-class brands It's tempting to believe that brands like Apple, Nike, and Zappos achieved their iconic statuses because of serendipity, an unattainable magic formula, or even the genius of a single visionary leader. However, these companies all adopted specific approaches and principles that transformed their ordinary brands into industry leaders. In other words, great brands can be built—and Denise Lee Yohn knows exactly how to do it. Delivering a fresh perspective, Yohn's What Great Brands Do teaches an innovative brand-as-business strategy that enhances brand identity while boosting profit margins, improving company culture, and creating stronger stakeholder relationships. Drawing from twenty-five years of consulting work with such top brands as Frito-Lay, Sony, Nautica, and Burger King, Yohn explains key principles of her brand-as-business strategy. Reveals the seven key principles that the world's best brands consistently implement Presents case studies that explore the brand building successes and failures of companies of all sizes including IBM, Lululemon, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and other remarkable brands Provides tools and strategies that organizations can start using right away Filled with targeted guidance for CEOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, and other organization leaders, What Great Brands Do is an essential blueprint for launching any brand to meteoric heights.

Lessons from HubSpot, Salesforce, Gainsight and Other Iconic Brands "The Uber of this" "The Salesforce of that" "It's like Instagram, but for..." There is no such thing as an original idea anymore – right? Actually, it turns out that the world’s most innovative companies have created so much more than just brand new products and technology. They've created entirely new market categories. The challenge is that successfully building new categories requires a perfect storm of luck and timing. Or does it? Category Creation is the first and only book on the topic written by executives and marketers actively building new categories. It explains how category creation has become the Holy Grail of marketing, and more importantly, how it can be planned and orchestrated. It's not about luck. You can use the same tactics that other category-defining companies have used to delight customers, employees, and investors. There’s no better strategy that results in faster growth and higher valuations for the company on top. Author Anthony Kennada, former Chief Marketing Officer at Gainsight, explains how he led Gainsight in creating the “customer success” category, and shares success stories from fellow category-creators like Salesforce, HubSpot and others. It requires much more than just having the best product. You have to start and grow a conversation that doesn’t yet exist, positioning a newly discovered problem in addition to your company and product offerings. The book explains the 7 key principles of category creation, including the importance of creating a community of early adopters who will rally around the problem they all share—especially if someone will lead them. · Identify the “go” and “no go” signals for category creation in your business · Activate customers and influencers as brand ambassadors · Grow a community by investing in live events and experiences · Prove the impact of category creation investments on growth, customer success, and company culture Written for entrepreneurs, marketers, and executives from startups to large enterprises, Category Creation is the exclusive playbook for building a category defining brand in the modern economy.