Establishing, expanding and leveraging brand meaning is critically important yet exceedingly complex. Successful brand meaning management is foundational to both brand differentiation and to outcomes like brand identification and brand attachment. Yet, managing this meaning over time is complex. Noted contributors to this special issue add new insights to this complex domain. A group of papers lend insight into the myriad entities involved in the meaning making process itself, such as marketers, celebrities, brand users, and the broader culture in which consumers live. A second set emphasizes the critical impact that brand meaning has on consumers and brands themselves-outcomes that include brand identification and attachment, social relationship management, and brand evangelism. The final set addresses when and how brand transgressions can threaten these outcomes, and what brands must do to recover from lost or tainted meanings. The volume co-editors provide an overview of the chapters and identify future research issues on brand meaning management in B2B (vs. B2C) markets, and how multi-product firms manage the collective set of meanings that comprise their brand portfolio.

Brand relationships are critical because they can enhance company profitability by lowering customer acquisition and retention costs. This is the first serious academic book to offer a psychological perspective on the meaning of and basis for brand relationships, as well as their effects. "The Handbook of Brand Relationships" includes chapters by well-known marketing and psychology scholars on topics related to the meaning, significance, and measurement of brand relationships; the critical connections between consumers and the brand; how brand relationships are formed through both thoughtful and non-thoughtful processes; and how they are built, repaired, and leveraged through brand extensions. An integrative framework introduces the book and summarizes the chapters' key ideas. The handbook also identifies several novel metrics for measuring various aspects of brand relationships, and it includes recommendations for further research.

Brand Admiration uses deep research on consumer psychology, marketing, consumer engagement and communication to develop a powerful, integrated perspective and innovative approach to brand management. Using numerous real-world examples and backed by research from top notch academics, this book describes how companies can turn a product, service, corporate, person or place brand into one that customers love, trust and respect; in short, how to make a brand admired. The result? Greater brand loyalty, stronger brand advocacy, and higher brand equity. Admired brands grow more revenue in a more efficient way over a longer period of time and with more opportunities for growth. The real power of Brand Admiration is that it provides concrete, actionable guidance on how brand managers can make customers (and employees) admire a brand. Admired brands don't just do the job; they offer exactly what customers need (enabling benefits), in way that's pleasing, fun, interesting, and emotionally involving (enticing benefits), while making people feel good about themselves (enriching benefits). Providing these benefits, called 3 Es, is foundational to building , strengthening and leveraging brand admiration. In addition, the authors articulate a common-sense and action based measure of brand equity, and they develop dashboard metrics to diagnose if there are any 'canaries in the coal mine', and if so, what to do next. In short, Brand Admiration provides a coherent, cohesive approach to helping the brand stand the test of time. A well-designed, well-managed brand becomes a part of the public consciousness, and ultimately, a part of the culture. This trajectory is the fruit of decisions made from an integrated strategic standpoint. This book shows you how to shift the process for your brand, with practical guidance and an analytical approach.

Work on relationship marketing suggests that developing strong relationships between consumers and brands is important given their implications for customer loyalty and price insensitivity. In turn, these customer responses can lower costs and increase company revenues. Brand Attachment provides a theoretical construct about the factors that underlie strong brand relationships. The authors define the construct of brand attachment and differentiate it from other constructs arguing that brand attachment is critical to outcome variables that underscore the brand's value to the firm. This monograph adds to the literature by articulating the antecedents to strong brand attachments including both the bases on which strong brand attachments form and the marketing activities that foster them. The authors posit that strong brand-customer attachments derive from the brand's success at creating strong brand self-connections by gratifying, enabling, and/or assuring the self. These successes are themselves contingent on the effectiveness of marketing activities that use affect, typicality, vividness, and rich information to foster a strong brand self connection through a strategic brand exemplar. Brand Attachment describes the attachment construct, its relationship to other constructs, the nature of brand-self connections, and the role of strategic brand exemplars in creating these connections. The authors also examine theoretical and managerial issues around this topic.