FOREWORD
What is a brand, really? In my thirty-plus years working in this industry, I’ve observed the following: Every brand is a promise, and everything is a brand—from products and services to institutions and communities.
Building, maintaining, and growing a brand was once all about trust. And trust is something that is earned over time and performance. So the challenge used to be simpler: Demonstrate what your brand believes in, then prove it over time through actions across all touchpoints.
Today, the challenges of building a brand are more complex. We’re now short-term thinkers, in chase of the next shiny object. Our time is limited. Our attention spans are even shorter. Additionally, the ecosystem in which brands live has evolved. It’s a barter system. To get what we need from the consumer, we have to give them something, too. We have to give them a meaningful experience. To that end, we barter with entertainment, utility, and shared values. The entertainment and utility bring them into the brand, and the shared values make them stay.
So the key to engaging and inspiring consumers today is to make a brand stand for something bigger than its products, to make it share a cultural relativity that connects on a deeper level.
As chief executive of Partners + Napier, an ad agency with offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Rochester, New York, I’ve had the privilege to work with many great brands through a lot of different stages. As a consequence, I’ve read countless books on the subject of launching, growing, and building brands.
This new edition contains all the bits of wisdom and insight Brad has garnered as a veteran of branding, as well as new insights and in-depth information on all the new influences that have exploded in the evolving brand landscape in recent years—from the analytic, such as the importance of big data and social media, to the more fundamental humanistic elements, such as storytelling, social responsibility, and meeting basic human needs.
You’ll find detailed and extensive coverage of critical aspects that most branding books tend to overlook: from creating consumer brand insistence to nontraditional brand marketing techniques that work, and what it takes to develop a fully functional, empowered, well-running building organization, to the thirty-five most common brand problems and twenty-one keys to success.
I met Brad for the first time when he was the brand manager of an e-learning brand that we were pitching. Through the course of the pitch process, I sensed that he would be a great client. I also sensed that there was much that I could learn from him. I was impressed not only with the extensive knowledge he had of his brand, but also with the insights he brought to every working session, and his ability to understand the big-picture landscape of branding as well as the subtle nuances that are so critical. And indeed, he proved to be a great client—working with us as a true collaborator, letting us become an extension of his team.
As our relationship evolved over the years, he remains a steadfast friend, adviser, and industry colleague whom I truly respect. I’ve never had a meeting with Brad, even an impromptu one at Starbucks, where I did not glean at least one nugget of invaluable advice.
My father used to say, “Be prepared; be overly prepared.” Because in life a lot of people are going to be smarter than you, but not a lot of people are going to be really prepared. Now I say that to my kids all the time—“You’re smart, but did you prepare for it?”
With this new edition of Brand Aid, Brad VanAuken gives us a comprehensive and insightful look at what it really takes to build, nurture, and grow a brand today—as well as what it takes to build and cultivate a brand-driven organization.
So who should read this book? Everyone involved in any facet of the branding process—whether you’re just launching your career or, like me, you have thirty-plus years in the field.
More than a manual of dos and don’ts, it’s a catalyst, a map for optimal brand health, and a truly insightful and substantive book on the changing brand landscape. Brad has written it in a way that breaks down the issues and simplifies them, while uncovering new and big insights, providing the preparation needed for any reality today or eventuality that may come your way tomorrow.
Everyone who knows me knows that much of what I’ve learned about leadership, I learned playing basketball—whether it was as a player or from my coaches. For me, within my ad agency, the key is building bench strength. I want everyone on my team, regardless of his or her role, to be prepared. To that end, you can be sure that all the employees at Partners + Napier will have a copy of this invaluable reference tool on their desks. As well, I’ve made a tradition of giving a book a year to clients and colleagues, and this will be my book for 2014.
Sharon Napier, CEO
Partners + Napier