As industries turn increasingly hostile, it is clear that strong brand-building skills are needed to survive and prosper. In David Aaker's groundbreaking book, Managing Brand Equity, managers discovered the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company's primary source of competitive advantage.
Now, in this compelling new work, Aaker uses real brand-building cases from The Body Shop, Kodak, Harley-Davidson, Smirnoff, McDonald's, and others to demonstrate how strong brands have been created and managed.
A common pitfall of brand strategists is to focus on brand attributes. Aaker shows how to break out of the box by considering emotional and self-expressive benefits and by introducing the brand-as-person, brand-as-organisation, and brand-as-symbol perspectives. Aaker also demonstrates how to manage the "brand system" - the interweaving of many brands - to achieve clarity and synergy, to adapt to a changing environment, and to leverage brand assets into new markets and products.
As executives in a wide range of industries seek to prevent their products and services from becoming commodities, they are recommitting themselves to brands as a foundation of business strategy. This important book will be essential reading for the battle-ready.
