THE NEW STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT

Abstract

This is a book on strategic brand management. It capitalises on the success of the former three editions. As far as we understand from our readers worldwide (marketers, advertisers, lawyers, MBA students and so on), this success was based on six attributes which we have of course maintained: l Originality. Strategic Brand Management is quite different from all the other books on brand management. This is due to its comprehensiveness and its unique balance between theory and cases. It also promotes strong and unique working models. l Relevance. The cases and illustrations are new, unusual, and not over-exposed. They often represent business situations readers will relate to and understand more readily than over used examples using Coke, Starbucks, Cisco, Fedex, BMW and other great classics of most books and conferences on brands. l Breadth of scope. We have tried to address most of the key decisions faced by brands. l Depth of treatment. Each facet of brand management receives a deep analysis, hence the size of this edition. This is a book to consult. l Diversity. Our examples cover the fast-moving consumer goods sector (FMCG) as well as commodities, business-to-business brands, pharmaceutical brands, luxury brands, service brands, e-brands, and distributors’ brands – which are brands almost like the others. l International scope, with examples from the United States, Europe and Asia. This fourth edition is much more than a revision of the previous one. It is a whole new book for understanding today’s brands and managing them efficiently in today’s markets. Sixteen years after the first edition, so much change has happened in the world of brands! This is why this new edition has been thoroughly updated, transformed and enriched. Of course, our models and methodologies have not changed in essence, but they have been adapted to reflect current competition and issues This edition concentrates on internationalisation and globalisation (how to implement these in practice), on portfolio concentration (managing brand transfers or switches), on the creation of megabrands through brand extensions, on the development of competitive advantage and dominant position through an adequate brand portfolio, and on the efficient management of the relationships between the brand, the corporation and the product (the issue of brand archi tectures). There are many other significant new features in this edition, which reflect the new branding environment: l Because distributors’ brands (often wrongly described as private labels) are everywhere and often hold a dominant market share, they need their own chapter. In addition, in each chapter we have addressed in depth how the recommendations do or do not apply to distrib utors’ brands. l Significantly, this edition develops its new section on innovation. Curiously, the topic of brands and innovation is almost totally absent from most books on branding. This seems at odds with the fact that innovation and branding has become the number one topic for companies. In fact, as we shall demonstrate, brands grow out of innovation, and innovation is the lifeblood of the brand. Furthermore, contrary to what is often said or thought, the issue of innovation is not merely about creativity. It is about reinventing the brand. l This new edition is also sensitive to the fact that many modern markets are saturated. How can brands grow in such competitive environments? A full chapter on growth is included, starting with growth from the brand’s existing customers. l The issue of corporate brands and their increasing importance is also tackled, as is their rela tionship with classic brand management. l We also stress much more than previously the implementation side: how to build interesting brand platforms that are able to stimulate powerful creative advertising that both sells and builds a salient brand; how to activate the brand; how to energise it at contact points; and how to create more bonding. We provide new models to help managers. This book also reflects the evolution of the author’s thought. Our perspective on brands has changed. We feel that the whole domain of branding is becoming a separate area, perhaps with a risk of being self-centered and narcissistic. Too often the history of a company’s success or even failure is seen through the single perspective of the brand, without taking into account all the conditions of this success or failure. A brand is a tool for growing the business profitably. It has been created for that purpose, but business cannot be reduced to brands. The interrelationship between the business strategy and the brand strategy needs to be highlighted, because this is the way companies operate. As a consequence, we move away from the classic partitioning of brand equity into two separate approaches. One of these is customer-based, the other cashflow-based. It is crucial to remember that a brand that produces no additional cashflow is of little value, whatever its image and the public awareness of it. In fact, it is time to think of the brand as a ‘great shared idea supported by a viable economic equation’. In this fourth edition, we try regu larly to relate brand decisions to the economic equation of the business. Today, every business now wants to have its own brand, not for the sake of possessing it, as one possesses a painting or statue, but to grow the business profitably. We hope this book will help readers significantly, whether they are working in multinationals or in a small dynamic business, developing a global brand or a local one.