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Hardcover
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
ISBN13: 9780071364157
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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A brand's meaning--how it resonates in the public heart and mind--is a company's most valuable competitive advantage. Yet, few companies really know how brand meaning works, how to manage it, and how to use brand meaning strategically. Written by best-selling author Carol S. Pearson (The Hero Within) and branding guru Margaret Mark, this groundbreaking book provides the illusive and compelling answer. Using studies drawn from the experiences of Nike, Marlboro, Ivory and other powerhouse brands, the authors show that the most successful brands are those that most effectively correspond to fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind known as archetypes. The book provides tools and strategies to:
• Implement a proven system for identifying the most appropriate and leverageable archetypes for any company and/or brand
• Harness the power of the archetype to align corporate strategy to sustain competitive advantage
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| Art and Science |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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There is a point where science must yield to art. This is where insight, inspiration, and intuition trump rigorous methodologies. This is the area of non-verbal communication, subliminal perception, and the ineffable. Indeed, it is not surprising that advertising agencies have separate research and creative departments. Mark and Pearson have done a nice job of explaining this very important aspect of brand viability.
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| Need clarity of your brand? Read this book |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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"The Hero and the Outlaw" provides a structured, intelligent, logical way to firstly categorise brands and then secondly to understand them.
The text is readable, sufficiently academic to provide credibility and clarity, while practical enough to provide the basis for understanding brands in all types of businesses.
That said, it is not a once-through read, but rather should be seen as a text book to which to refer, to keep own brand on point, as well as to understand the behaviours of brands with whom your company may do business.
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| Fascinating book! |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I've found this book fascinating!
It covers 8 archetypes in relation to branding. There's a summary section and what's almost a "cheat sheet" for each archetype, with loads of examples.
It is lacking the "archetype story" eg Cinderella for each archetype which would be useful when you're writing copy. However, there are enough examples that you can more or less work it out.
The "cheat sheet" with the stages for each archetype is extremely useful and helps you see quickly what people are looking for in products and services that you're branding with that archetype.
One of the best books on this topic I've found so far...
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| Interesting..but a little light on the real thinking. |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Well there isn't much new info in here. I really enjoyed pearson's first book on Archetypes - this one however lacks, as another reviewer put it "rigorous thinking"- for Jungian Branding Tactics I prefer Mythmaking on Madison Avenue. I forget who wrote it - but it's a remarkable work.
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| Disappointing |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I was disappointed by the lack of rigorous thinking in this book.
Sure, different companies have different personalities and personality is part of the brand. We could even create our own set of Jungian archetypical brand personalities, and go about attaching them to different brands.
But now for a test. Is Coca Cola a Creator -- helping inspire its users to do great bubbly things? Is it a Caregiver -- showing care for others? Maybe it's a Ruler -- a tough competitor and long the top dog in Cola Wars? How about a Jester -- always at the center of a good time? Or just it's just the drink for Regular Guys and Gals? Look at the ads -- maybe its a Lover or at least a drink for Lovers sharing a soda with two straws? Or, how about an almost Heroic presence, again from ads? Sometimes, it has a sort of Outlaw feel (with folks like Mean Joe Greene playing Robin Hood handing a Coke to a kid). In the old days Coca Cola ads praised it both for giving energy and a calming effect -- though there's no archetype for either of those. So, maybe it is more a Magician -- think of some of those magical ads past and animated present and its ability to give both energy and calm the soul. Given Coca Cola's global ubiquity and appeal, it might well be the drink of Explorers. It might even be (given the caffeine) the energy drink for yuppie Sages? Well, it turns out (according to the authors), that Coke is clearly so successful because it's an "Innocent." The toughest competitor in the Cola Wars, a mixture of caffeine, water, and sugar, almost wizened from a century of success -- yeah, it's clearly an Innocent and that explains everything.
My point is that the book lacks any sense of rigor, proof, or science-like basis in fact. The authors do a clever job of retrofitting achetypes to brands, and several of the cases are interesting, but the whole thing appears to work better in hindsight than proven principles for brand success. One could equally well, in this reviewers opinion, talk about aligning your brand with top-rated TV shows, Tarot cards, signs of the Zodiac, or (with at least a tiny bit of science) Myers-Briggs personality types --- "proving" the case with stories about how GE, Toyota, Google, etc. etc. all fit some stellar or personality pattern.
The kernel of truth in the book is that people like their brands, products, and companies to have a predicatable, attractive, and aspirational subtext. Creating an enduring and attractive personality makes sense, at least as long as the personality remains relevant.
Speaking of personalities, what's the Jungian archetype for the Maytag repair man? Is he a Regular Guy, sidekick to a Hero, or a Jester? Is the Ultimate Driving Machine (BMW) a Hero or an Explorer . . . with maybe the 3 Series for Regular Guys and Gals with higher aspirations than Honda and Toyota owners? No doubt the authors could tell us, though I doubt their hindsight would be of much value in predicting past or future business success.
What might be of value to some readers, especially those who think Jung had the last meaningful words on human decision making, is that some structure (almost any structure, even the Yellow Pages or TV guide) can be useful in brainstorming product and brand alternatives.
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