Kapferer promises "new approaches" and delivers the same tired pablum. Not worth the time it takes to read it--you won't find anything applicable in the book.This book is a comprehensive and holistic approach to brand architecture. The author presents an expanded view of the meaning and role of brands and gives a new dimension, deeper than the single, limited conceptualization of a brand as a product. The role of the organizational associations, of the culture values and the emotional imput is very well integrated to understand the multidimensional meaning of a brand. This book will help brand, marketing and/or commercialization managers to best leverage their corporate, range and product brands. Additionally, the insights presented to understand brand and company valuations are very well explained. This book, by Jean Noel Kapferer, can be complemented with books written by David Aaker.Unlike many brand experts who consider brand to be something that shifty marketers invent in dark rooms and then overlay on products, Kapferer suggests that there is an organic genesis to brand, having to do with the culture of the corporation that creates them. It's a refreshing concept, and one that is extremely valuable for the non-profit and service sectors, who don't usually create new products or services based on the latest market fad.

This is a much more conceptual approach to branding than I've seen in other works, and one that will serve as a good introduction to brand for someone who has no background in it. It's equally good, though, for someone who has trudged through other more tactical books, and even for someone who has a solid background in branding.Before brand image and positioning, other things are needed. Kapferer explains why these include : identity, vision/purpose, brand architecture and charter. All ways of integrating marketing as an organisation-wide learning process. Every brand owner needs a copy of this book. If you'd like to form a discussion group debating key lessons on branding (and when it is/isn't the most valuable corporate asset), please e-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk. Sincerely, Chris Macrae, author Brand Chartering Handbook & editor MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/Kapferer's scholarly investigation of ways of creating and managing brand-equity should be a welcome addition to the office-shelves of both corporate brand managers and professors of business schools. This book fills a pressing need for a comprehensive text of Brand Management that is grounded in sound theoretical concepts. While the majority of previously-published books on brand management have relied solely on providing shining industry exemplars, their theory-development leaves much to be desired. Instead, Kapferer provides a systematic and rigorous treatment of brand-equity creation and management, that should be appreciated by all who have serious interest in this aspect of contemporary marketing. The author holds a Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University and is a respected professor at HEC, France. One caveat that I may offer prospective readers is the multiplicity of examples of French companies that may be somewhat unfamiliar to an American audience. However, this last-mentioned issue may also be seen as an advantage, insofar as it reveals the branding issues in a global marketplace.

Thousands of companies now recognize that brand names are their most valuable assets, but too often branding is merely a tactical decision, almost an afterthought. In this thought-provoking work, Jean-Noël Kapferer, an international authority on brand management and marketing, provides the most comprehensive model for strategic brand management to date. With hundreds of examples and case studies of brands throughout the world, Kapferer deals with the very essence and culture of branding and provides an overall philosophy for every aspect of brand management.

At the heart of the book is Kapferer's concept of the brand as a pyramid with three levels: the apex is the "kernel" or core identity; the middle is the style or personality; and at the bases are the underlying themes and advertising programs. A brand, Kapferer argues, is not a product, but the product's essence, its meaning, and its direction. Strategic brand management starts with a holistic understanding of this gestalt rather than its component parts: the brand name, logo, design or packaging, and image. This gestalt must be "managed," not just in marketing, but throughout the entire company.

The most successful brand managers, Kapferer explains, search for new opportunities and new markets through the explosive phenomenon of global branding. Kapferer takes the reader through a comprehensive list of benefits, dangers, and pitfalls, and also step-by-step through each of the globalization phases -- from name transitions to maintaining consistency. He describes the conditions under which global branding works best, and the appropriateness of a multi-domestic marketing mix as opposed to a global mix. He also deals with the corporate barriers to having global brands and the structural changes that corporations may have to undergo if they are to fully maximize the benefits of global branding. This hook, already a standard reference in Europe, brings branding in the U.S. into the 1990s. suria review reviews analysis analyze