From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation: 3rd edition

Inspired by the backdrop of the Alps and a view onto lake Lugano, not to mention the pestering of
Butterworth-Heinemann, the journey to provide a complete revision to every facet of rom Brand !ision to
Brand "valuation has been undertaken, including making over #$% hours of on-line video to back this
book &http'((www$elsevierdirect$com(product$jsp)isbn*+,-.-%/.,,,001$ Having completed this task, I
offer some thoughts about brand management$

Brands are multidimensional concepts that benefit numerous stakeholders in society$ However, their
amoebic nature makes their management demanding$ If successfully managed the rewards to the diverse
stakeholders can be significant$ 2he first stage is therefore to identify the key stakeholders, appreciate the
role the brand needs to play for each group then consider how the brand can best be developed to
boundary span$ 3one are the days of the consumer is king with many organisations recognising the
power of stakeholders$

4inning brands come from stables where there is clear agreement about the brand concept and a fle5ible
approach to enacting the brand concept by different internal functions$ Aligned through a core set of
values that are not taught but are second nature, key actors play their parts in delivering a unified brand
e5perience$ 2hriving brands have shaken off the need to have several tiers of supervisors 6uality
checking brand enactment7 staff automatically sense what is appropriate behaviour since they believe in
the core values$ A mantra commonly noted amongst world class brands is 8tell me and I9ll forget, involve
me and I9ll commit8$

Brand leaders abhor the notion of opportunism, since any road will take the brand anywhere &even over
the precipice1$ :ather leading brands follow the guiding light of a brand vision$ And it is a well
defined brand vision, not a fluffy brand mission$ 2hrough a participative process, yet under inspirational
leadership, staff map out their brand visions in terms of an e5citing envisioned future, a purpose and core
values$ It is a brave leader who does this as ;andora9s jar &or the mis-translation 8bo581 is opened< =uch
leaders recognise that there is a wealth of innate talent amongst their staff who wish to make a difference
in the world through their brand$ As one visionary leader 6uestioned, 8when did you find someone who
woke up and enthusiastically said I9m looking forward to doing yet more bad work today)8$ :ecall the
Athenian doctrine whereby children were continually reminded that at their funeral people needed to know
how had they left Athens a better place$ How many brands meet this criteria)

"ver wondered why, when travellers are faced with two flights going about the same time to the
same destination, one airline is more popular) >o its not the aircraft9 technical characteristics and they
are both safe and fast airlines$ 2he differentiator is the corporate culture$ What travellers get is a generic,
however how they get the benefit can become a key brand motivator$ =uccessful brands are
characterised by welcome and relevant organisational cultures$ 2hese are not static organisational
cultures, but rather are cultures that evolve to reflect the dynamic nature of markets$ IB? and @# are but
two corporate brands that understand the power from a relevant, aligned and evolving organisational
culture$

=o if brands are amoebic concepts, how is it possible to grow and sustain them) 2here is no simple
answer, however rather than blood, sweat and tears, winning brands are characterised by well conceived
strategic brand plans$ 4hy strategic) Because a long term perspective is adopted, a pan-company
approach is followed and corporate resources are being used to leverage core competencies and
organisational culture in a bid to grow stakeholder value$ A model of the strategic process of growing and
sustaining brands has been developed in this book$ 2his has stood the test of time and in this new edition
has been more firmly grounded in the literature and brought to life through numerous e5amples$ 2he book
is also supported by over two and a half hours of on-line videos from @5ford Learning Lab
&http'((www$elsevierdirect$com(product$jsp)isbn*+,-.-%/.,,,001$

I hope you enjoy<

Leslie de Ahernatony
;rofessor of Brand ?arketing
BniversitC della =viDDera italiana, Lugano, =witDerland and Aston Business =chool, BE