Don Schultz (professor emeritus, Integrated Marketing Communications, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University) and Amy Schultz, executive vice-president of a marketing and branding consulting firm, explode the many myths on branding. They show how every successful brand is the sum of relationships between buyer and seller, then explain how marketers best communicate with their customers through an integrated approach that reflects the nature of that relationship. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Soundview Executive Book Summaries Sense and Nonsense About Branding
The authors of Brand Babble , two marketing and branding gurus from Northwestern University, write that much of the current talk about brands and branding is merely nonsense posing as new marketing insight. To help companies break through the clutter and deliver the best value proposition to customers while increasing the financial value of a brand, the Schultzes offer a better way to brand. The authors write that brands are built, maintained and succeed because of the integrated and aligned activities and inputs from the brand maker, as well as those the buyer brings to an encounter with the brand. In this integrated view, the combination of the manufacturer's and the consumer's input forms the basis for a successful brand. The authors explain that there is a need for integration and alignment of the brand across the marketplace by both buyer and seller.
Today, an integrated group of activities, efforts, products and channels, etc., make a brand a success. There is no single "ultimate secret" that makes the difference between a hit and a flop. To achieve marketplace success, the Schultzes write, a company must know the basics of consumer behavior, communication, marketing, sociology, information technology, graphics and design, accounting and finance, and all the other tools that must be used to create and build a brand presence.
Throughout Brand Babble , the authors challenge and often debunk many of the branding concepts that have been offered by modern marketers over the years. While questioning the theories and opinions of the experts, and knocking down many of their unproved hypotheses, the authors offer solid theories and scholarly work to back up their integrated approach to brands and branding.
The authors write that brand babble is the clutter and confusion that fills the marketplace posing as expert branding information, including all the "hocus-pocus models, diagrams, geometric shapes, and clever analogies to explain what most of us have trouble verbalizing." To break through the brand babble currently inundating the marketplace, the authors present a rational and business-like approach to the subject. Throughout Brand Babble , they explain how brands are used, how they can help organizations, how they can be understood as a company's intangible assets, and how companies can use them to make money. They write that a brand is simply a way for the brand owner to make money: an economic tool that provides value for its owner and buyer.
'It's What You Get Back'
The Schultzes point out that brands should not cost money. Brands should make money. They write, "It's not how much you spend on a brand; it's what you get back that really counts." They explain that the reason a firm owns a brand is to generate future income flows.
To debunk the theory that a company must spend big advertising bucks to build a brand, the authors point to several successful companies that did not invest heavily in traditional media advertising. These include The Body Shop, Starbucks, L.L. Bean and even Dell computer.
The authors also dig into the underlying truth of brands and offer pointed advice about what makes them valuable. They explain that brands, "in all their intangible glory in the marketplace, really represent relationships. They connect the organization to the customer and vice versa." While offering advice about the value of brand marketing, communication and positioning, as well as brand tracking and budgeting, the authors present informative details that can help any organization get more from a brand.
Why We Like This Book
A brand is an elusive concept to pin down, but Brand Babble breaks through the fads and cliches to reveal useful truths that can be learned from the successes and mistakes of past and present brands. By casting light into the shadows of branding hype and revealing the hidden aspects of branding that create value and profits, the Shultzes ask the right questions and offer sound expertise to turn the babble into meaningful lessons. Copyright © 2004 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Schultz, Don E; Schultz, Heidi F

[Evanston, Ill.?]: Racom Communications ; Australia ; United States: South-Western

South-Western Educational Pub

Thomson South - Western

Cengage South-Western

United States, United States of America

Evanston, Ill.?], Australia

1 edition, March 1, 2003

Mason, Ohio, Ohio, 2004

Cincinnati, Ohio, 2004

1, PT, 2003

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Brand Babble: Sense and Nonsense about Branding is about both the "good news" and the "bad news" of branding. And, it's vitally important to the success of your business. As long-time branding authors, educators, and investigators, the Schultz's explode an array of myths that have been passing and passed on as "branding wisdom." They show that a brand will not rescue a flawed business concept, is not owned by one group or individual, nor does it depend on "media-by-the-ton" spending. The authors show how every successful brand is the sum of relationships between buyer and seller and explain how marketers best communicate with their customers through an integrated approach that reflects the nature of that relationship. Those approaches sets the stage for value-based branding that delivers the best value proposition to customers and increases the bottom-line, financial value of the brand to the organization and its owners and shareholders. That, today, is the "currency" of value-based branding. Getting to it is merely a matter of cutting through all the Brand Babble, all the nonsense about brands and branding that is posing as new marketing insight. This book will be the essential ingredient in more insightful, easier, and, most important, more profitable branding work for both your company and your customers.

Marketing consultants Don and Heidi Schultz present a plain-language deconstruction of branding jargon in this guide for executives who want to understand branding and build brands. The book's strength is its simplicity and clarity. At times, however, it reads like a series of articles that once were published separately, so that certain essential information is restated - often in virtually identical language. However, getAbstract.com finds that the information in the book is valuable, as is the authors' thoughtful approach to branding. Their book merits a read by marketers and corporate decision makers

Branding is a key consideration in any marketing or communications strategy, however, it has been subject to colossal overuse, misuse, and abuse. This text identifies key misconceptions in the field and shows professionals how to recognize them, avoid them, and replace them with strategic and tactical insight for marketing and management. The book explodes the myths and misconceptions that have developed as branding has become a hotter and more lucrative area for consultants

155 p. : 24 cm
"American Marketing Association"--Jacket
Includes index

2024-07-01