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Marketing - Branding 

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Introduction and Overview

3 Golden Rules of Naming	Short but good!

Articles

A View on the Future of Branding	The traditional perception of branding has cast brands as being cynically manipulative. It is time for brands to prove their worth to consumers, their guidance to employees and business partners.
Auto-branding: beyond trans-portation…to trans-formation	Take a ride in the realms of automotive history and discover how cars were imbued with aspirational and emotional branding elements, elevating the product far beyond its initial purpose of existence.
B2B Branding: Consumer Branders Need Not Apply	B2B marketers sometimes talk about B2B branding as if it were just like branding Coke. Inappropriately applying the techniques used by B2C companies to B2B companies, however, can result in painfully ex-pensive mistakes.
Bank on the Brand	The financial services market is notoriously lacking strong brands. This summary of a recent global study investigates the strong value that branding can deliver and recommends how to maximize this value amongst all of a company’s audiences.
Battling for the Brand - Branding for Business Schools	Interview with Al and Laura Ries.
Brand Assimilation - Aligning Employees Around Your Brand	Making the brand the central focus of the organization clarifies for any employee what is “on-brand” and what is “off-brand.”
Brand Battle	When premium brands need a scrappy sibling. The article discusses when and why to introduce a two-product, or even a two-brand, strategy to fight no-name players.	TOP
Branding and M&As	The risks in "getting the deal done". The handling of brand-related issues can make or break a deal. Why? Because brand moves send messages, intended and unintended, to the companies' stakeholders.
Branding in a Recession	Do you consider your brand well managed? If it is, it should be able to sustain your company through the economic pains of a recession.
Brand-relationship-interaction (BRI) Matrix	In this paper the authors consider various types of brand constellations and propose a four-cell matrix based taxonomy of brand linkages as a contribution to the further understanding of this complex area.
Brands are about relationships, not transactions	Too many people today seem to misuse the term "brand" as if a brand an a product name are the same thing. However, this is not the case. Karen Post's article describes the key differences with brands helping to provide an emotional relationship with the consumer and this is what distinguishes a brand from a product name.
Building Brand Tradition	We may be accustomed to traditions in our personal lives, but how can tradition apply to brands? This paper delves into the usefulness and importance of brands creating their own traditions.
Comprehending Corporate Brands	This article examines the nature, importance, typology, and management of corporate brands. We argue though that making a distinction between corporate brands, corporate identities, and product brands the underlying characteristics of corporate brands can be uncovered.
Corporate Brands with a Heritage	This article articulates a concept of “heritage brands,” based primarily on field case research and studies of practice. We define brand heritage as a dimension of a brand’s identity found in its track record, longevity, core values, use of symbols, and particularly in an organisational belief that its history is important. 2007
Corporate Rebranding: Learning from Experience	This qualitative study examines seven UK-based organisations which have re-branded in the past five years. The aim was to understand better the complex and infrequent process of re-naming, and to identify key issue areas which those undertaking a re-branding process need to manage.
Developing a Trademark Licensing ROI Model	As Kirk Martensen explains in this article, licensing a brand name is much more than making money on royalties. If handled properly, licensing a brand or trademark can add to the brand's image and make marketing communications more effective.
Experience Counts - Establishing a Road Map for Brand Experience	Martin Payne of Through the Loop and Ross Urquhart of RPM take a look at the meaning of Brand Experience to identify its true meaning and the factors that are driving its development.
Four Ways to Generate Greater Brand Efficiency	Anyone can do marketing with a blank check. Lean times, or even the threat of lean times, force us to be more careful with our decision making. Taking the right decisions and behaving accordingly will protect brands in difficult times, and also provide long-term solutions for building strong brands, during any economic period.
From Chaos to Constellation	Creating Better Brand Alignment on the Web. It’s easy for an organization to put up a few Web sites. It’s quite another feat, as Eliot Phillips makes clear, to ensure that they are brandbuilding, coherent, compelling, up-to-date, and easy to use.
How to Brand a Midsize B2B Company	Branding in B2B markets is certainly more than finding a clever name for a product or company. Successful branding requires discipline and focus.
International Branding: Analysis and Implications of Three Decades of Past Research	Over past decades, the field of international branding has developed in different directions. However, it seems that so far no review of this literature has been published. 2007
Learning from the lucky thirteen	Bain & Company research from early this year found that, of the top 90 winning brands in 2001, only 13 continued to be winners through 2007. Bain's analysis identified two major missteps that could endanger even the most successful brands. 2008
Managing Image in a Dynamic Corporate Environment	How can a company create and maintain a corporate reputation that effectively addresses the key audiences, simultaneously supporting the marketing of its products and services, enhancing the value of company stock and strengthening the sense of corporate culture among its employees?
Marketers Challenged to Respond to Changing Nature of Brand Building	This article examines how societal shifts resulting in a better-informed consumer are changing the nature of the customer-brand relationship as well as the nature of branding building.
Marketing v. Branding	Why these two business tools should be kept separate
Measuring Brand Risk	Measuring Brand Risk. How big are the risks to a company's brand? In direct proportion to one's willingness to find out.
More Than Employees: Brand Evangelists	Although it is nurtured and managed by your marketing department, your brand is represented by your entire organization.
Now What Shall We Call This Widget?	Why companies come up with good names, bad names, and terrible names.
Orchestrating a Successful Brand Identity	Creating Harmony Instead of Cacophony. Managing a brand identity is somewhat akin to conducting a symphony orchestra. The audience's expectations of quality and selection must be clearly understood.
Small Business Branding - The Personal Connection	Small business marketing shares many features with marketing for larger organisations. However, one area where small businesses can excel is through promotion of their owner or founder.
Store Brands	Overview about store brands, for what products they are used and what advantages they have
The branding failures of tomorrow	Having a successful brand does not always ensure long-term success. There are many examples of brands that were once considered category leaders but are now viewed as nostalgia or even museum pieces.
The Evolving Nature of Branding: Consumer and Managerial Considerations	This paper is primarily a review of the brand literature and has two aims. The first is to bring together two separate streams of literature: (1) the literature about brand concepts developed by management and (2) the literature about brand images developed by consumers.
The Influence Of Product Variety On Brand Perception And Choice	The authors propose that the variety a brand offers can influence brand quality perceptions, and consequently, affect brand choice, even when the available option set is held constant. pdf-file. 2006
Three "C"s of Branding	This article looks at three aspects of good brands. In describing the three "C"s of branding, William Arruda provides an easy-to-use device that can help a brand manager ensure that the brand remains focused. Autumn 2003
Viral Ad Parodies and their Impact on Brands	FWD: This Made Me Laugh. How Viral Ad Parodies Impact Your Brand. This paper looks at the four key questions to ask when looking at a parody, and gives tools to assess how a parody may be impacting your brand.

Brand Strategy

Brand Leadership Matrix	Adapted from the BCG Matrix developed in the ‘70s to analyze corporate investment strategy, the Brand Leadership MatrixTM was developed with the purpose of helping brand owners measure and analyze the strength of their brands and the effectiveness of their branding and marketing strategies.
Deciding to fight or play in the private-label arena	How to best compete as private labels gain ground? It depends on the nature of your category and your brand's position.	new
General Strategies for Global Brands	This paper introduces four general brand strategies and examines the internal and external factors that influence these strategies for global brands.
Mistakes and confusions: 3 strategies in 7 years	A lesson on how one systematically irritates and frightens customer and coworker alike with confused brand guidance is shown by the example of the 'Deutsche Bank' (German Bank).
Shareholder-value-based brand strategies	This paper looks at how brands contribute to the firm’s strategy and how brand planning needs to be geared to market economics and management’s central objective of creating shareholder value.

Branding Globally

Branding a Country	Brands have the power to influence how we percieve things, and that not only includes products and services, but countries as well. A country's success relies on its image -- its brand. With that said, how exactly do you go about branding a country? Pdf-file April 2003
Consumer Attitudes Toward Cross-Border Brand Alliances: Adding A Consideration Of Country Of Origin Fit	This research examines the growing phenomenon of cross-border brand alliances and the potential factors that influence consumers’ attitudes toward these alliances. Master's Thesis. Pdf-file 100 KB
Creating the Preeminent Global Brand:	Building Powerful Strategies that Strengthen Brand Equity. Pdf-file
Foreign Branding	Foreign Branding and Its Effect on Product Perceptions and Attitudes. Pdf-file
General Strategies for Global Brands	This paper introduces four general brand strategies and examines the internal and external factors that influence these strategies for global brands.
International Brand Architecture	Development, drivers, and design
Language and Brand Attitudes	Impact of Script and Sound Matching in Chinese and English. Pdf-file
Taking Global Brands to Japan	Some successful retailers offer their strategies.

Brand Portfolios

Brand Consolidation	Bringing Discipline to Brand Consolidation – the right choice for capturing value in the face of ballooning portfolios and brand dilution. Facts reveal large benefits of a successful brand consolidation.
Brand Portfolio and Architecture	An online guide for the management of a brand portfolio.
Building Your Brand	Customized brand architecture programs can help companies manage their brand portfolios.
Finding New Paths to Growth by Managing Brand Portfolios Well	The active management of brand portfolios has become more important for several reasons. This article discusses the four key principles of brand portfolio management. pdf
Guidelines for Umbrella Brand Concepts	To establish and improve the acceptance of umbrella brands, two things are essential: safeguarding consumer safety and avoiding misleading consumers about product characteristics. These guidelines set out the framework of conditions and explain which basic principles need to be met to support companies in the introduction of umbrella brands.
How to Slim Down a Brand Portfolio	The objective is not merely to divest brands, but to achieve higher rates of growth for the brands that remain. 2006
Linking the relationship between brand portfolio structure and corporate reputation: a customer perspective	This study will explore the significance of corporate brand portfolio structure in determining corporate reputation.
Making Brand Portfolios Work	Rigorous economic analysis and strong insights into consumers can help marketers clarify the competitive positioning of their brands, avoid offending the core consumers of repositioned or discontinued ones, minimize cannibalization, and seize growth opportunities. pdf 2004
Optimal Brand Umbrella Size	Umbrella branding is a superior strategy when there is a significant overlap between the set of buyers of each of the firm's products. This result extends the well-known notion that brand extensions and umbrella branding are only successful if there is a good "fit" between the different products under the same umbrella.
Short-term brands revolutionize branding	In recent years, consumers have exhibited an unprecedented readiness to try new brands and have shown a clear preference for brand variety over brand loyalty. In order to cope with this, marketers have to not only develop Long Term Brands but also have to manage profitable Short Term Brands.
Solving the puzzle of complex brand portfolios	This issue of Lippincott Mercer's Magazine 'Sense' features articles and case studies about brand portfolio management, such as 'Until brands are managed collectively, as portfolios, they won’t do all they can do for shareholders.' and 'Achieving the ideal brand portfolio often means beating back the naysayers.' pdf
Strike Up the Brands	Companies can positively impact top- and bottom-line growth by becoming smarter about the way that they manage their brand portfolios. To increase returns from brands assets, companies must adopt a more structured approach to portfolio management. 2003

Brand Extensions

Brand Engagement – How Long a Fad?	When the big agencies start building brand engagement practices, you know they’re on to the Next Big Thing. But before we rush off to the altar is anyone else out there having cold feet over the term “brand engagement”? Forgive an impertinent question from the back pew, but what does brand engagement really mean and why has it become the latest marketing buzzword? 2006
Brand Extensions	How to Conduct Successful Brand Extensions. Brand extension can be a very dangerous strategy. Get it wrong and the core brand is damaged. If it is undertaken correctly, the extension adds to the equity of the core brand. Daniel Edelman provides a number of lessons for companies that are looking at extending their brands.
Brand Extensions We Could Do Without	Marketing by brand is big money, but just how far can you stray from your core product or service before consumers say no?
Extending a Brand	This article gives an overview on - What you need to know - What to do - What to avoid. Thus it lists several approaches for brand extension. pdf
Extending the Brand	How to optimize the brand-customer relationship across multiple contact points. Pdf
Factors influencing successful brand extensions	Organisations frequently follow brand extension strategies. This paper investigates the impact of category similarity, brand reputation, perceived risk and consumer innovativeness on the success of brand extensions in FMCG, durable goods and services sectors. pdf-file September 2001
How To Successfully Extend Your Brand	The method by which consumers form brand extension “fit” judgements is often poorly understood.