Brands and Branding: The Economist Series, 2nd ed.

Citation

Glynn, M. (2011), "Brands and Branding: The Economist Series, 2nd ed.", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 161-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761111116024

This second edition of Brands and Branding updates the successful first edition published in 2003. There are 18 chapters representing contributions from leading UK and European experts. The book is divided into three parts: the first is about the case for brands, the second covers branding best practice, while the third concerns the future of brands and blends a discussion of both brands and branding. In the Preface, Professor Patrick Barwise outlines several underlying themes important to brand managers, including brand accountability, brand support, the social impact of brands, and the need for the brand experience to match the brand promise.

At first glance the introductory chapter represents a defense of the brand and seems to be “preaching to the converted” as far as brand managers are concerned. However the book is aimed at a much wider audience than just marketing executives, as the Introduction by Rita Clifton, Chairman of Interbrand London, indicates. The first reason for this broader scope is the corporate ambivalence towards brands often encountered within firms. This ambivalence regards branding as a discretionary cost or as “expensive logo twiddling” and reflects a general lack of understanding amongst senior management as to what successful branding involves. The second reason is to counter the anti‐brand perspective championed by some, including Naomi Klein, author of the 1999 book No Logo.

The case for brands continues with four other chapters that first discuss what a brand is and focus on the brand as a marketplace identifier. A relevant chapter then follows on the financial value of brands, which reviews the practical difficulties of accounting for brand assets on the firm's balance sheet. This chapter, by Jan Lindeman, a former managing director of brand valuation at Interbrand, also provides an example of a brand valuation calculation. Next Giles Gibbons the CEO of Good Business, a corporate responsibility consultancy, examines the social value of brands and the role of brands in society including charity or not‐for‐profit brands. In this section many chapters use the Interbrand rankings to demonstrate a brand's economic worth. However there is little critical evaluation of the Interbrand method, nor is there much discussion on non‐financial brand equity methodologies.

The second part of the book focuses on best practice examples, starting with a useful discussion on brand positioning and brand portfolio strategies by Ian Ellwood, Head of Consulting at the Interbrand London office. For marketers wanting to better understand a brand's customers, Shaun Smith – a leading author and expert on customer experience – provides advice as to how brand managers can design and communicate a better brand experience. Tony Allen, CEO of the Fortune Street consultancy, and John Simmons, a visual identity consultant, then discuss the visual identities of many twenty‐first century brands such as Facebook and conclude that many of these internet brands have an “anti‐corporate” design, in contrast to some established “bricks‐and‐mortar” brands. Allen and Simmons warn against some established brands imitating the design approach of these newer brands. This chapter is supported with some excellent illustrations of how brand visual identity is evolving and can be adapted to suit different brand campaign requirements. For managers looking to extend marketing communications beyond advertising, there is a good chapter on the role of public relations and corporate branding. This chapter also underlines the role of the CEO when managing brands in times of organizational change or crisis. Allan Poulter, a partner at the London law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, finishes the best practice part by examining how the law can protect brands from unauthorized use, and he highlights what aspects of a brand should be protected.

In the third part, on the future of brands, attention is drawn to the global emergence of Asian brands such as Lenovo and Haier. Here, separate chapters discuss brand developments in China and India. Another chapter focuses on how place branding is used by nations to build a competitive identity and discusses the activities that can help build a nation's image. For those readers looking for new perspectives of the brand, Andy Hobsbawm, Chairman of new media company Agency.com, provides much food for thought when he considers the new environment of digital branding. Those managers wishing to increase their brands' digital presence will find this chapter very useful. An important point made here is that the information monopoly previously enjoyed by twemtieth‐century brands does not exist in digital media. Deborah Doane from the World Wildlife Fund then discusses the ethical dilemmas that confront many global brands. Global businesses also need to manage the anti‐brand sentiment that can arise when global brands dominate regional brands in certain parts of the world. This chapter also debunks the myth that customers will automatically reward brands when they adopt an ethical stance. In the final chapter Rita Clifton succinctly summarises each author's contribution and identifies some emerging product and service categories from which new brands will grow in the future. In this conclusion she states that the book is very much “Pro Logo”.

There are several audiences for this book. The first is the senior or non‐marketing business executive who wishes to quickly familiarize themselves with brand management processes. The second audience is the brand manager interested in future developments for brands. Here the book provides much good advice in terms of trademarks, visual identity and digital branding. The value of the book is not just confined to a commercial audience, as many branding and society issues are also addressed. Thus the book will appeal to those with a broad interest in branding.

The book adopts a corporate perspective, which means there is little discussion of consumer perspectives such as the role of branding in building long‐term customer relationships. Despite the many excellent topics covered, there are some other subjects missing, such as private label brands that compete alongside many well‐established brands. In the best practice part there is also no discussion about brand trade‐off decisions such as quality versus cost, nor is there much consideration about how to develop or rationalize a brand portfolio, which is especially important in times of recession. Furthermore, the book is largely silent as to how best practice directly affects this brand value.

With many authors contributing on the one subject the possibility of repetition exists, but the book largely avoids this, and there are good linkages between some chapters. Each chapter can also stand alone, and therefore the book functions very well as a reference resource. This reference aspect of the book could have been further enhanced with the inclusion of references or suggestions for further reading at the end of every chapter. For managers seeking to understand future directions for brands and those with an interest in branding this book provides a valuable overview of the key issues.