Brands in the Balance: Meeting the Challenges to Commercial Identity

From the Back CoverThe world is speeding into the information age. Style is taking a seat next to substance. The language of commerce is shifting from nuts and bolts to images and perceptions, and in the swamped global marketplace the strongest brand shouts loudest.But whilst brands are more visible and valuable than ever before, they are increasingly coming under threat as customer loyalty becomes harder to maintain.Brands in the Balance asks managers of the world's leading branded goods and service companies how strong brands are built, maintained, rescued, extended, valued and understood. Their answers provide us with some of the most enthralling stories from today's world of business, as well as invaluable strategies for brand survival."An intelligent, informative and highly readable book about any organization's most important assets — their brands. This book is a great contribution to the history and future possibilities of branding. It is recommended for anyone with an interest in brands, whether brand lovers, or brand skeptics."—Rita Clifton, CEO, Interbrand"Kevin Drawbaugh's book is a wonderful portfolio of case studies in the global marketplace, with both positive and negative examples giving an excellent, practical, useful and highly readable account of where brands are today."—John Wakely, Lehman BrothersAbout the AuthorKevin Drawbaugh has written about business for seven years as a correspondent for Reuters in New York, Chicago, and London. His work has appeared in newspapers worldwide, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. He was formerly an editor and reporter covering business and government for daily newspapers in Indiana, Maryland and Virginia. He holds degrees in US history from Indiana University and in economics and communication from American University in Washington DC. He lives near London with his wife and two sons.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.INTRODUCTIONJUMPING ON THE BRAND WAGON'Brand! Brand!! Brand!!! That's the message ... for the late '9Os and beyond'Tom Peters, in The Circle of Innovation, 1997I drove our rented minivan out of Malaga airport and pointed it towards Granada, anticipating a long-awaited family rendezvous with Spanish history. I wanted to share with my wife and two sons a cherished fascination with the Alhambra.Cruising down the highway under a bright Mediterranean sun, I told them about the Moors and the Christians, about Ferdinand and Isabella, about Washington Irving and his timeless story of the mighty hilltop fortress. There was no sound from the safety seats in the back. Finally, one of the boys gleefully exclaimed, 'Hey, look Dad, there's a Toys R Us! Cool!'Sure enough, there it was - the familiar gawking grin of Geoffrey the Giraffe. Down the road were billboards for Ford, Volkswagen, Fanta Orange, Pizza Hut. Soon appeared the inevitable Golden Arches and I was fending off desperate pleas for Happy Meals. This was exotic Spain? Indeed it was. But, in some ways, it could have been Illinois or Italy or Mexico or Japan.Brands are everywhere today, in distant lands you might not expect and in familiar places. Stickers on the soccer goals at my sons' school chirpily proclaim, 'Coca-Cola, Enjoy!' Brands are plastered all over clothing, household items, buildings, buses, taxis, train carriages. On the internet they pop up out of nowhere trying to sell you something. The world is under brand bombardment.Why? Because brands - the ideas, words, graphic designs and sounds that symbolize products, services and the companies behind them - are the hot idea in business today.The world is speeding into the information age. Style is taking a seatnext to substance and the language of commerce is shifting to images and perceptions from nuts and bolts. As a result, everyone is jumping on the brand wagon. Not just the usual consumer goods companies, but banks, brokers, insurers, utilities, publishers, athle