Foreword

Philip Kotler

MARKETING ISN’T WORKING TODAY. New products are failing at a disastrous rate. Most advertising campaigns do not register anything distinctive in the customer’s mind. Most products come across as interchangeable commodities rather than powerful brands.

Yes, there are still powerful brands—Coca Cola, Harley-Davidson, Apple Computer, Singapore Airlines, BMW. They have learned how to make their brand live in the customers’ minds. The brand, of course, must at least deliver a distinctive benefit. No amount of dressing up will make up for this lack. All of the aforementioned brands deliver a distinctive benefit.

But distinctive brands require something more. They have to be powered up to deliver a full sensory and emotional experience. It is not enough to present a product or service visually in an ad. It pays to attach a sound, such as music or powerful words and symbols. The combination of visual and audio stimuli delivers a 2 + 2 = 5 impact. It further pays to trigger other sensory channels—taste, touch, smell—to enhance the total impact. This is Martin Lindstrom’s basic message, and he illustrates it beautifully through numerous cases with compelling arguments.

Most companies take the easy way out to market their brands. They buy a lot of expensive advertising and make clichéd claims. The companies in Martin’s book are much more creative. One of the main reasons to read this book is that it contains a treasury of ideas for bringing new life to brands.