Branding & Marketing, Advertising

Studies show companies that market their products or services without first establishing their brand identities are not likely to achieve return on investment. "If you're spending money to advertise and market without being connected to a brand position, you might as well pile the money up and burn it," Guge says.

Rob Frankel, a branding expert and author in Los Angeles, calls branding the most misunderstood concept in all of marketing, even among professionals. Branding, he says, "is not advertising and it's not marketing or PR. Branding happens before all of those: First you create the brand, then you raise awareness of it."

extracted from businessweek.

How small companies can build big brands

Brands and Branding by The Economist

Brands and Branding put together by The Economist is really a fantastic read! 

One important process that i learned is the brand positioning process: 

1. Understanding all stakeholders needs & desires
2. Opportunity modeling - include elements of Relevance, Credibility, Differentiation & Stretch
3. Brand Platform
4. Brand Identity
5. Brand Architecture
6. Continuous evaluation and development

I'm still reading other branding books.. so no comment on which is the best model to use.. i think i will likely end up with a set of tools for various scenarios..

4-D branding

just went to the new library at Bishan.. and borrowed a few books. One of them is titled "4-D branding" by Thomas Gad.

Wished i had more time to read but just managed to skim thru.. Finally knows what 4-D stands for.. they are the 4 dimensions of branding! (i) Social (ii) Spritiual (iii) Functional (iv) Mental.

Think after all the innovation we have and the IPRs & IPM in place, it's left with marketing and branding to bring the products and services to the customers or vice versa??