Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team, 4th Edition - Hardcover

Wheeler, Alina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118099206 ISBN 13: 9781118099209

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons, 2012

Synopsis

A revised new edition of the bestselling toolkit for creating, building, and maintaining a strong brand

From research and analysis through brand strategy, design development through application design, and identity standards through launch and governance, Designing Brand Identity, Fourth Edition offers brand managers, marketers, and designers a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand identity. Enriched by new case studies showcasing successful world-class brands, this Fourth Edition brings readers up to date with a detailed look at the latest trends in branding, including social networks, mobile devices, global markets, apps, video, and virtual brands.

• Features more than 30 all-new case studies showing best practices and world-class
• Updated to include more than 35 percent new material
• Offers a proven, universal five-phase process and methodology for creating and implementing effective brand identity

About this title

Review

Ten Imperatives for Branding Success

Brands represent an organization's most valuable asset--influencing customers, prospects, investors, and employees. Why do some brand initiatives just expire midstream after an initial investment of capital and resources? Whether you are a consumer brand, a nonprofit, or a mid-size service business, here are some tips to increase the chances of positive outcomes for your initiative.

1. Ensure that your leadership team endorses the brand initiative and process. There must be a strong mandate from the top. If the commitment to revitalize the brand is tepid, it will fizzle in the middle. Do you have a plan and a disciplined process that is easy to understand?
2. Establish clear goals and an endpoint. Why are we doing this? How will things be different at the initiative's end? Will we have new guidelines to make it easier to communicate consistently about our brand to our customers and employees? Will we clearly articulate who we are and what we stand for? Will our website will work on mobile devices?
3. Establish clear responsibilities. Acknowledge that your investment will require staff time, not just writing checks. It's a collaborative process. Identify an internal person to be the direct contact for the branding firm--a "make it happen" person with superior organization skills.
4. Use a disciplined process with realistic benchmarks. Agree on what the brand stands for before any creative work is done. Use a tool like the brand brief to ensure that key decision makers agree on your brand's essence, its competitive advantage, your target market, and your value proposition.
5. Stay customer centric. The best brand decisions can only be made with the customer's needs and experiences in mind. See the world through the eyes of your customers.
6. Commit to a small decision group at the beginning of the process. Never bring in decision-makers in the middle of the process. Key decisions makers must be present throughout the process and at all key decision points.
7. Determine your readiness to make a commitment? Is your company ready to invest the time, capital, and human resources to revitalize your brand? Readiness is a critical success factor.
8. Determine how you will measure success. Consider benefits like employee engagement, and a more efficient, cost-effective marketing toolbox. Communicate that it's everyone's job to protect and grow the brand asset.
9. Launch internally first, then externally to key stakeholders. Remember to communicate why you made these changes and what they mean. Thoughtfully consider your list of stakeholders as you plan your launch. Make sure that all of your vendors have access to the new guidelines.
10. Demonstrate—don't declare—why customers should choose you over others. Seize every opportunity to communicate your value, and to radically differentiate your brand from others. Identify touchpoints where your can build trust, attract new customers, create buzz, and inspire customer loyalty.

From the Back Cover

Who are you?

Who needs to know?

Why should they care?

How will they find out?

The bestselling toolkit for the whole branding team

Whether your goal is to revitalize an existing brand or launch a new one, here is a proven, universal five-phase process for amplifying differentiation, fueling recognition, and building brand champions. From research and analysis through brand strategy, from design development through brand standards, and from launch to governance, Designing Brand Identity is the most comprehensive resource used by brand builders all over the world as an essential reference for the entire process.

This thoroughly updated Fourth Edition offers insights into current trends in social networks, mobile devices, global markets, and virtual brands as well as emerging tools such as apps and video. More than 30 new case studies showcase global best practices and successful world-class brands, from IBM to Starbucks to Santos Brasil.

Praise for Designing Brand Identity

Writers have The Elements of Style. Managers have The Effective Executive. Chairpeople have Robert's Rules of Order. And now brand-builders have Designing Brand Identity. If you have (or would like to have) responsibility for managing, measuring, critiquing, or designing a brand, you've found your bible.
Marty Neumeier, author, The Brand Gap

Designing Brand Identity is a recipe book for brand-builders. Wheeler does for branding what Julia Child did for cooking.
Patricia Martin, author, RenGen

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1118099206
• ISBN 13: 9781118099209
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 326