Build Your Own Brand: Strategies, Prompts and Exercises for Marketing Yourself
ISBN: 9781440324550
Build Your Own Brand: Strategies, Prompts and Exercises for Marketing Yourself by Robin Landa and published by How Books is another book on how to build successful brands similar in subject matter to our recent review on ‘Build Your Own Brand’.
It seems like everyone is talking about branding and I think there’s a good reason for it. I think we have seen in recent history the importance of branding when it comes to making sales. I am always taken back by the simplicity and message of Apple’s television advertising which demonstrates very technical and technologically advanced systems in a really simple way. Apple is all about packaging what historically has been products for the nerds but has made it simple and available to the mass market. Not only is it a marketing angle but it is a marketing message that is warmly received by the market. And likewise when it comes to Nike clothing vs. a no-name company. We all know that most likely their clothing items probably come from the very same factory or at least the same quality of factory yet we perceive more value in the Nike brand so customers and willing to pay a premium for this item. Because customers want to identify with that brand they purchase that item – and something we don’t realise is that when we wear clothing items that have brand names attached we are also providing free advertising for these companies so in a sense it is a continuous cycle of success for these major brands.
From these previous examples you start to get an idea of the importance of branding and the book Build Your Own Brand tries so steer you through this process in a really innovative way – whether this is a successful way well that is something to be discussed. This is one of the first interactive fill in books I have seen of this genre. Build Your Own Brand is designed to be a scrap book like book as it is wire bound and it is somewhat encouraging you to rip out pages and photocopy them. As you go through the book it asks you questions and the idea is that you fill in your answers and literally build your own brand – hence the title. Although the idea of ripping pages out from a nice book terrifies me because I have ruining things, one could still photocopy the pages and go through the book step by step. It asks really simple questions and provides lots of help. I think this is an innovative way of putting words into action; instead of just reading about how to build a band, why not try and make your own brand in the process. All this concept is nothing new in the book genre, it is one of the first times I have seen it in a title of this design book/business development genre.
But before you get to this interactive section the book starts with some of the basics in branding from archetypes, ethical virtues and associations. It is also talks about logos and design and has some great case studies from some world renowned organisations from people like Debbie Millman, Paul Renner, Rich Arnold, Seunghyun Shon, Manik Rathee, Grace Duong, Michael Sickinger, Kelly Thorn, Kenny Barela, Jim Godfrey, Jon Contino, Allison Kerek and Gui Borchert. It also talks about colour and branding, a glossary of symbols and type and visualisation techniques.
Build Your Own Brand is presented in a consistent way with this baby blue light frame and consistent diagrams and typography. It’s worth mentioning that there are no colour photographs in this book, instead the title has chosen a grey scale theme. And I don’t quite understand why this is, because there is the blue colour so it’s not like they were trying to save money; and I find it strange that you can have a marketing book without having any colour. It means that some of the demonstration work has been flattened into greyscale potentially removing some visual information. However this really isn’t a big deal as this book is about short snippets of information as appose to a visual information. I think a better approach to this book instead of fill in pages might have been to have a website for the book where one can fill in a web form and save brand profiles. Because the book isn’t cheap I just feel crazy writing on the pages, but at the same time I think it is important you do fill it in!
I recommend this book particularly for designers however it is also good for marketing managers and executives. It is great for creative professionals and sole traders who use themselves as their brand. So it is applicable for professionals from song writers, actors, athletes, celebrities…you name it! With more than 80 exercises and a very practical approach I think Build Your Own Brand is a great resource that is easy to use and is very applicable to a range of individuals or teams.
[rating:4.5]
