Landmark book for understanding international brand competition
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Western media coverage of emerging economies is focused to a large extent on poverty, hunger, bad infrastructure and corruption.  With this backdrop, it is difficult for a person schooled in a developed economy to comprehend that global brands are emerging from these same places riddled with such poor living conditions. Even people who do realize that emerging economies have some large-seller brands feel that these must be lower priced copycats of their Western counterparts. This landmark book puts things in perspective.  It provides a very insightful framework for understanding the growth of brands from emerging economies such as China, India, Taiwan and Turkey.  Furthermore, it gives excellent examples of brands that fall into the different pockets of the authors' framework. Everyone who wishes to compete in the international arena should read this book.
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Brand Resilience is an excellent guide to managing the risks associated with maintaining the integrity of your brand in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Jonathan provides a seven step process for successfully managing your brand risk. Each of the seven steps is explained in a concise, practical style and illustrated with real life examples. Given the escalating influence of social media on the perceptions of your brand, Brand Resilience is a must read. It is a terrific resource and well worth the time invested!
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Note: Note: Amazon US now has a policy of preferential placement for reviews of books that have been purchased from Amazon. Therefore, reviewers who borrow copies from friends or check them out of libraries are treated like second-class citizens. That's a really dumb policy.

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I have read all of Philip Kotlers previously published books and reviewed most of them. It has intrigued me in recent years to observe how skillfully he has adjusted his core concepts to the major changes that have occurred in what has become a much more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous global marketplace than at any prior time that I can recall. He has adapted his thinking to these changes and thereby helped countless business leaders to do so, also.

As he explains, In Marketing 3.0, we talked about the major shift from product-driven marketing (1.0) to customer-centric marketing (2.0), and ultimately to human-centric marketing (3.0)We believe that technology convergence will ultimately lead to convergence between digital marketing and traditional marketing. In a high-tech world, people long for high touch. The more social we are, the more want things that are made for us. Backed by big-data analytics, products become more personalized and services become more personal. In the digital economy, the key is to leverage these paradoxes.

In this transitional era, a new marketing approach is required. Thus, we introduce Marketing 4.0 as the natural outgrowth of Marketing 3.0. The major premise of this book is that marketing should adapt to the changing nature of customer paths in the digital economy. The role of marketers is to guide customers throughout their journey from awareness and ultimately to advocacyIn essence, Marketing 4.0 describes a deepening and a broadening of human-c entire marketing to cover every aspect of the customers journey.

This book was written with Hermawan Kartajaya and Iwan Setiawan but the voice is clearly Kotlers. These are the major business subjects on which they focus:

o Three power shifts to the connected customer
o Paradoxes of marketing to connected customers
o Three influential digital subcultures
o Fundamentals of Marketing 4.0 in the digital economy
o The new customer path
o Marketing productivity metrics
o Industry archetypes and best practices
o  Human-centric marketing for brand attraction
o Content marketing for brand curiosity
o Omnichannel marketing for brand commitment
o Engagement marketing for brand affinity

In L. Frank Baums classic, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gales ultimate destination is not the Emerald City; rather, her home in Kansas. With regard to Marketing 4.0, there are two destinations: WOW! and then a sale that begins a long-term, profitable relationship with each customer. WOW is an expression that a customer utters when experiencing a speechless delight. Three characteristics constitute a WOW: First, a WOW is [begin italics] surprising [end italics]. When one has a certain expectation but gets much more, that is a WOW moment. A deviation to an expected outcome is what creates a WOW. Second, a WOW is [begin italics] personal [end italics] and can be triggered only by the person experiencing itFinally, a WOW is [begin italics] contagious [end italics]. One who experiences a WOW moment will advocate and spread the good news to many others.

Then what? Winning companies and brands are those that do not leave WOW moments to chance. They create WOW by design. They productively guide customers from [begin italics] awareness [end italics] to [begin italics] advocacy [end italics]. They creatively set up customer interactions from enjoyment to experience to engagement. Are you one of them? If not, this book is a must read. In it, Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan explain HOW with an abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel. Theirs is a brilliant achievement. Bravo! Or perhaps more to the point, WOW!
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Brands represent relationships.
Cutting through "brand babble" the authors offer solid theories and scholarly work to back their message.  Brands should make money.
Brands are built, maintained and succeed because of an integrated and aligned approach on the part of both the buyer and the seller.  Understand the marketing essentials and your brands will be successful. Marketing essentials, they say, include consumer behavior, communication, marketing, sociology, information technology, graphics, design, accounting and finance
The authors, two Northwestern University branding experts, define brand babble as the confusion currently filling the marketplace.  This clutter often masquerades as expert branding information.  Included in this are "hocus-pocus models, diagrams, geometric shapes and clever analogies."
I like this book because it offers sound, analytic advice about the value of brand marketing, communication and positioning.  The authors' advice on brand tracking and budgeting will help every organization garner more value and profits from their brands.
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Tim Calkins has written a very thorough, comprehensive and candid assessment associated with the process of brand defense. Having spent 20+ years in the CPG industry I can relate to a number of important lessons identified by Calkins. More importantly, I learned a few new things as well. Chapters are well developed and provide for an appropriate stair step approach to this incredibly important task. Must reading for all brand marketers; sales professionals as well.
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In FusionBranding, Nick Wreden first warns his readers that his book is not 1) a cookbook (about how to "do more" or "do better", activities that do not necessarily ensure a brand); 2) a positioning user's guide (that builds a brand strategy over relying on competitive activities); 3) a celebrity marketing treatise (capitalizing on a passing fad, like e-brands or communities); or 4) a tactical book (spending time on PR, advertising, emails and other marketing tactics while ignoring the strategic mindset required for branding).  Wreden then debunks such die-hard branding myths as awareness equal to branding, overrated first-mover advantage, overestimated impact of the Internet on human behavior and business fundamentals, and disproportional relevancy of pricing to branding.  Wreden clearly demonstrates through his book that a brand is all about creating a set of positive expectations that generate trust, commitment, loyalty, respect, and satisfaction based on the ability to deliver constantly what is promised to the target audience.  Wreden concisely explores the evolution of branding through the ages of the Mass Economy, Customer Economy, and Demand Economy.  To his credit, Wreden not only emphasizes customer equity (lifetime value of customer) and accountability, but also operational excellence.  What is indeed the value of a brand if operations cannot deliver what marketing and sales promise?  To summarize, FusionBranding brings a breeze of fresh air into branding that keeps its paramount importance in convincing the target audience to take a ride and hopefully make a journey together until death separates them.
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16 chapters covering the global marketing aspect of: cultural social forces, political climate, competitors, market research, entry strategies, product strategies, service, brands, social marketing, distribution channels, promotion, advertising, and organization.

All of these topics were taught in Marketing courses.  But to take it to the world level, the strategies are not the same as in USA.  I used it for my Global Marketing course at a local University.  Each chapter is easy to follow.  Short cases at the end of the chapter provided critical thinking, and challenging topics.  Students love this book.  I recommend this book, to all professors and students.
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The Elusive Fan may be about sports, but the principles and strategies the authors discuss can be applied to any sector in the world of business.  I am in the film and entertainment industry and have benefited greatly from the innovative concepts The Elusive Fan develops.  I particularly liked chapter three on how fans connect, which details the critical connection points that encourage fans to choose one product over another.  The book's branding focus has also helped me refine my segmentation strategies and develop a marketing plan.  I wouldn't call myself a sports fan, but reading how competitive the sports industry has become -- and what the authors recommend to attract and engage fans -- gave me insight into how to market my own products and brand. Whether it's sports, film, or insurance, we're all searching for our Elusive Fans, and Rein, Kotler, and Shields have the definitive guide on how to capture them.
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Bob Thompson's insightful new book, Hooked on Customers, covers all of the most important  enterprise customer-centricity, experience optimization, and stakeholder behavior landscape bases. Notable in the book are deep discussions of culture, brand and innovation effect, employee roles in driving customer value, data leverage, and customer research, and  the real meanings and value of satisfaction, loyalty, effort, recommendation, advocacy, and delight.  Every manager, irrespective of function, will find this an informative and contemporary reference
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"Micah has distilled his 15 years of Chinese business experience into a concise `how to behave' guide for Western executives traveling to China.  While many others wrap China in mystery and riddles, Micah offers clear-minded and indispensable advice for foreign business people in need of a commonsensical and comprehensive understanding of Chinese business behavior and how they should comport themselves in China." James McGregor, author, "One Billion Customers -- Lessons From the Front Lines of Doing Business in China"
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In one generation brand communications has been transformed.  But into what? And how? I was raised on the traditional David Aaakers, McKinsey, SWOT, AIDA models but but The Physics Of Brand is the first workable framework for understanding brands in our mobile, always on, social on demand world..

The central premise of the book is that brand value is the result of a brands interactions with people across time and space; or simply put, a brand is the result of customer experience. The authors go on to present a framework with three models that show how brands operate in Time, in Space, and how the customer experience rolls-up into Brand Value.

The Time Model identifies three critical areas: 1) The first moment of contact with a brand, when that initial memory is made; 2) The total amount of time people invest in a brand, an indicator of brand value; 3) The velocity of increase in time people invest in a brand, another indicator of brand value. Then the Space Model identifies four main players in the eco-system of a brand: A) The Brand Owner; B) Brand Handlers (the suppliers, distributors, consultants, etc., who help are extensions of the brand); C) Community; D) The Individual.

And finally, the Jacobs Ladder Model shows how brand value is created  moving from Signals, to Senses, to Moments, to Memories, to Energy, to Sales, to Profits, to Brand Value. These models are the guts of the book, and the authorsall three are leading practitionersdeliver useful tools to build a brand.

What these raw models cant do is provide all the nuanced aspects that surround this new way of thinking. The book has fascinating excursions into neuroscience, brand valuation and the history of brands and branding. Ive been involved in marketing for years, and I learned much from this book. The concepts apply to digital marketing, traditional marketing, finance and operations. The Physics of Brand is the only book I know of that links Branding (what you communicate) with Marketing (how you go to market) and the critical component, Customer Experience (why it matters to customers).

After buying a Kindle version I bought a hard copy of the book so I could add notes tin the margins.  Its that kind of handbook for analyzing, describing and planning a brand todaynot just theory, but in practice.
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Don Tapscott and his research team have sought to define the dynamics of the digital revolution through a series of books.  Wikibrands is part of this effort and for people who like Tapscott's style and approach; this is the book for them.  Sean Moffitt and Mike Dover, each affiliated with Tapscott, provide a thorough analysis of the impact of social media on branding and marketing.

Wikibrands makes of a good reference, particularly for those who have been unaware of social media.  The authors offer their version of a common social media marketing model called FLIRT or Focus, Language (content), Incentives, Rules and Tools.  The framework provides a guide for how you conduct a social media based marketing and branding initiative.

Overall Wikibrands provides a solid look at the role of social media in marketing.  It is a solid contribution to this body of research and thinking.  While other books are more `marketing' focused - in terms of short books filled with hype and promise.  Wikibrands takes a measured and focused approach to describing the unique aspects and promise of social media in marketing.

Strengths

The FLIRT model is comprehensive in terms of discussing social media and its use in branding and marketing.  Each letter covers a key topic and just about every social media/marketing book has a similar acronym based model.

The book is comprehensive in its approach and discussion of the `wiki' phenomenon.  This is particularly helpful for people who are new to this space and may not comprehend its impact.

The authors provide a myriad of examples of established and new companies that help illustrate the points in the book.

Challenges

The book asks many questions, seeking to help the reader understand the impact of social media on their situation.  Unfortunately the authors offer little direct advice on how to address these questions.  Rather they tend to discuss the issues and offer multiple examples of the issue but not the path to resolution.

The authors seek to brand things themselves as the book gives the impression that anything with a "wiki" modifier is some how new and different.  It's a little like describing everything as hyper.  Helpful but the branding gets in the way of the message.

Despite pointing to a considerable research base, the authors structure much of the book as a discussion rather than an analysis of what is going on. This weakens some of the analysis, particularly points where you may not agree with the authors.
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This is an excellent book for anyone who can gain from insights into changing consumer buying habits and motivations. I'm recommending it to everyone I know in retail and wholesale as well as those interested in building brands. It is a vivid reminder of just how much has changed in the last five years.
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Return on Influence is even more relevant today than when it was first published. The rise of online influencers and involvement of brands has increased dramatically and is only set to continue to develop at a rapid pace. Despite this being an important topic in the field of marketing and communications, so much of what has been written to date is surface-level, introductory content. ROI stands out, as the author is clearly a true practitioner. He wrote the book with the rigor of an academic, delivered in an easy-to-follow, business-friendly manner. His anecdotes, stories, and interviews make for an engaging read - definitely not another dry business book. Highly recommended for anyone interested in influence marketing.
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I read this book when it was first published (in 1979) and recently re-read it prior to reading his most recent work, Redefining Health Care which I will also review in the near future. In the Introduction (which then became the first chapter of Competitive Strategy, published in 1980), Porter observes that competition "has intensified over the last decades, in virtually all parts of the world." That is even more true of competition - especially global competition -- during the 27 years since Porter shared that observation. Nonetheless, the core concepts which he and his collaborators rigorously examine remain relevant...indeed, in my opinion, have become even more relevant. Consider these assertions:

1. Competition shapes strategy

2. Successful strategy creates a "fit" among all organizational activities

3. Information can provide a decisive competitive advantage

4. Declining industries require an "end-game" strategy

5. Successful corporate strategy "builds" on three premises: Competition occurs at the business unit level, diversification inevitably adds costs and constraints to business units, and, shareholders can readily diversify themselves.

6. "Moving from competitive strategy to corporate strategy is the business equivalent of passing through the Bermuda Triangle."

Porter carefully organizes the material within three Parts: First, he focuses on competition and strategy for companies at both the level of a single industry and then for multinational or diversified companies; next, he addresses the role of location in competition; and then he Part III, he addresses some important societal issues (e.g. environment, urban poverty, health care, and income inequality), each of which he asserts - and I wholly agree - is "inextricably bound up with economics and, more specifically, with competition."

All but two of the articles originally appeared in Harvard Business Review, the exceptions being "Clusters and Competition: New Agendas for Companies, Governments, and Institutions" and "Competing Across Locations: Enhancing Competitive Advantage through a Global Strategy." In the former, Porter explains his concept of clusters, clusters which are geographic concentrations of firms, suppliers, related industries, and specialized institutions that occur in a particular field in a nation, state, or city. In the latter, Porter brings together the two dimensions of international strategy - location and global networks. As he observes, "The concept of activities, so important to understanding competitive advantage in general terms, provides the basic framework for international strategy as well."

This is by no means an "easy read" but it will generously reward those who read it with appropriate care. By all accounts, Michael Porter is among  the most influential and productive knowledge leaders, justly renowned for his cutting-edge thinking on the subject of strategy formulation and implementation  but in this volume and in countless others, he also has much of great value to say about competitive and corporate strategy insofar as their global impact is concerned. That said, many of his greatest concerns are those specifically related to the U.S. economy. Hence the importance to me of what he and his collaborators (Claas van der Linde, Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg, and Gregory B. Brown) have to say in Part III: "Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems."

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Porter's other works as well as two recently published books: Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage and C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
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This volume greatly benefits from many different perspectives and authors in tightly written essays that focus on brands, brand management and the future of brands.
Part one examines the definition of what a brand is, the history of brands and the social and economic importance of brands.  Many will be intrigued to see that there are now methodologies for valuing brands independently of the operations of the companies that own them.  For many public companies, the operating value is relatively slight without the brand values.  There are a number of mini cases involving the world's most valuable brands (such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's).  This background will be especially relevant to the general reader and for students new to the subject.
Part two looks at brand development and management in detail.  This section will be very valuable to those who have not had much experience with brands.
Part three looks at the future of brands.  I found this section to be the most interesting as the book looked at issues like the global debate about whether brands "steal" from poor consumers and workers in developing countries, the rise of Asian brands, country branding, adding social agendas to brands and protecting brands from counterfeiters worldwide.
The essays are nicely summarized in Rita Clifton's concluding essay, "The Future of Brands."
Each essay contains many references that can allow those who wish to learn more the pathway to take such steps.
I was pleased to see that the essays did not simply espouse the traditional wisdom on brands, but chose to "push the envelope" to provide more up-to-date and aggressive thinking.
I have a hard time imagining that you could find a better introduction to the subject in such a slim volume.
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The authors have done their research on the many different countries of eastern asia and their individual cultures.  Of course, they all crave luxury, but the degree of their obsession differs.  Brand executives and salespeople alike should study this book closely.  I work in the luxury field and this is a look at the leading market consumer of the future, if not the leader already.  I recommend this book to those in the luxury goods field and someone looking for basic social and economic understanding of Asia.