Introduction

This book is a creative compilation of thoughts, processes, frameworks, and visuals taken from my Advanced Branding Master Class, running for more than 10 years in more than 20 countries. This book is for those who haven’t yet had the opportunity to attend my seminars. Everyone is busy, with little time to read, so this book is a 60-minute read that could be finished on a flight from New York City to Chicago, or from London to Paris.

Brand is unarguably the most powerful business tool ever invented, after costing and pricing. There are a lot of myths about brand and brand strategy, including the right way to grow the financial and strategic value of a brand and the notion that brand strategy should always align with business strategy. People often place too much value in the power of a logo or a name, but rarely enough on their brand strategy. Many also assume that the brand strategy of larger companies is always robust, and only affordable because of their size. This is far from the truth; every successful business, large or small, global or local, must have a brand strategy and it needn’t be complicated.

Many assume a brand’s opportunity is only within its product/service category and often forget that the biggest opportunity for growth may exist outside or adjacent to the current definition of the market. All brands should be fighting two wars at the same time—growing existing market share within a defined product category and inventing a new one. The reality is most established product categories brand market shares change very little despite big increases in media spending. So the question is, how can a brand generate growth and create economic value?

For a brand to grow, it requires stepping back from the current situation to develop a systemic way of looking at it from a different viewpoint, then aligning that with business strategy and the competitive context—a robust brand strategy. How can that be used to change the game to your brand’s advantage? By bringing empathy into the process, understanding the brand’s core and its role in the context of business strategy, and discovering how to change the way customers/channel partners think about the category, not by fighting for incremental share gain within the category.

This little book can help any company succeed by using the brand to inspire and inform a game-changing strategy. Your investment into this book is well worth 60 minutes.