Brand Driven: The Route to Integrated Branding Through Great Leadership

As director of a nonprofit association that is beginning a strategic planning process, I found Brand Driven a great resource. Its step by step description of the internal process necessary to ensure that organizations integrate the branding process at all organizational levels and the necessary role of leadership in overseeing the process was especially valuable. The chapter specific to nonprofits was an unexpected bonus. I highly recommend this book to organizations seeking to focus their mission and services through the branding process.

I have always been a skeptic on spending a lot of money on branding in my industry (wholesale distribution). After reading Brand Driven not only was I convinced that I was wrong but we now have our biggest budget to date specifically for branding. This book opened my eyes on how important branding is and how it differentiates our company from the others. I read a lot of business books and this one has allowed me to put its priciples in action immediately and we are already seeing positive results.

I totally disagree with a recent review about Brand Driven that says, "it has all been said before." As a marketing professional of 20 years, I've read a lot of books on marketing. In this one I found a new, substantive approach to a subject other books approach with only smoke and mirrors. Rather than just expounding upon interesting philosophies, this book gave me actionable processes any company can use.Many people talk about aligning a brand promise with employee actions, company culture, and leadership activities. But these guys have clearly figured out how to actually make that happen. And provide something of unique value - a starting place to help companies achieve those goals. I particularly liked the authors' emphasis on tools that can be used to keep a company focused on a long-term strategy - and employees focused on achieving that strategy. Also, I've never run across their concepts of strategic role or brand principle anywhere else - concepts they back up with specific case studies from the authors' own experience.I recommend this book to anyone who wants to go beyond the idea of "living the brand," and to learn how to actually put it into practice.

Reading Brand Driven filled in a big question mark I've always had about improving quality organization-wide. The question of how branding relates to programs such as Six Sigma and ISO.While improving quality using these processes helps the customer experience, how can it be done in a way that differentiates us from competitors? If a competitor puts the same investment into quality that we do, won't we just be creating a very expensive (albeit high quality) commodity?Brand Driven shows how a company can have a unique approach to its products or services that customers will recognize and value. Moreover, it provides a roadmap for how to accomplish this and align company practices to it based on the authors' own experiences.Brand Driven is vsery usefull as a management resource.

I recommend this book to anyone who is implementing a new brand strategy, or problem-solving the strategy they now have. It reminded me of what is behind successful branding efforts: a leader who makes the brand come alive. It is something I thought I knew, but didn't really "get" until I read the book. It is written in a clear, intelligent voice - not too cutesy, and very straightforward. There are a number examples of why branding did or did not work for specific companies, and how leadership impacted their success or failure. I found it extremely helpful, as it broadened my thoughts about how to use branding to its fullest extent in my own firm.