David Aaker has become the guru of brand strategy with his impact research, twelve books, hundred-plus articles, consulting, and speaking. From Fargo to the World of Brands details the intellectual journey that led to a focus on brands--with stops in marketing models, market research, advertising management, emotional advertising, and business strategy--and chronicles his attempts to influence management practices. It provides a profile of academic life, the story of a brand consulting company, and a description of the rich experience associated with his second professional home in Japan.

This warmhearted autobiography also describes Aaker's personal life--growing up in the Midwest in the '40s and '50s, his roots, how a Fargo boy over his head survived at MIT and Stanford, his entrepreneurial failure, his passions and relationships, and how the Aaker family evolved over forty years.

Today's firms need a social effort that is serious and impactful to be relevant. It's not enough to make a commitment to reduce energy or have an ad hoc unbranded budget for grants and volunteering-the world needs their resources and agility to address existential threats in society, and their customers (and employees) demand it. As an influential voice in branding and market connection, David Aaker examines how businesses can adapt their approaches for social betterment in, The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding: Signature Programs that Impact & Inspire Both Business and Society. According to Aaker, the future of branding demands that businesses: Create a purpose and culture that nurtures social and environmental efforts Create signature programs to carry that message Build strong signature brands in part with five branding "Must Dos" Use the signature brands to advance a business to get their endorsement and access to their resources The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding demonstrates how firms can create signature programs, build their brands, and use them to advance a business brand, in order to maintain relevance and connect with future consumers.

Owning Game-Changing Subcategories is about creating organizational growth in the digital age by creating and owning game-changing subcategories fueled by digital. Owning Game-Changing Subcategories outlines the path to finding, managing, and leveraging new subcategories. In the digital age, the path has been made wider, shorter, and more frequently traveled. Throughout Owning Game-Changing Subcategories, David Aaker discusses certain aspects of the digital age that alter this path, such as E-commerce providing fast, inexpensive market access bypassing the cost of gaining distribution into storefront retailers or creating personal sales teams and social media and websites enabling communication on steroids in comparison with traditional use of advertising or events. Growth is not only a success measure but also creates energy and opportunity for customers and employees. And such growth almost never occurs with "my brand is better than your brand" marketing. Owning Game-Changing Subcategories explores the only ways to grow a business (with rare exceptions) which is to: develop new "must haves" that define a game-changing subcategory that provides a new or markedly superior buying or use experience or brand relationship to a core customer base; become the exemplar brand that represents the subcategory and drives its visibility, positioning, and success; and create barriers to competitors that could include "must-have" associations and a basis of relationships that go beyond functional benefits.

"Aaker on Branding" presents in a compact form the twenty essential principles of branding that will lead to the creation of strong brands. Culled from the six David Aaker brand books and related publications, these principles provide the broad understanding of brands, brand strategy, brand portfolios, and brand building that all business, marketing, and brand strategists should know.

"Aaker on Branding" is a source for how you create and maintain strong brands and synergetic brand portfolios. It provides a checklist of strategies, perspectives, tools, and concepts that represents not only what you should know but also what action options should be on the table. When followed, these principles will lead to strong, enduring brands that both support business strategies going forward and create coherent and effective brand families.

Those now interested in and involved with branding are faced with information overload, not only from the Aaker books but from others as well. It is hard to know what to read and which elements to adapt. There are a lot of good ideas out there but also some that are inferior, need updating, or are subject to being misinterpreted and misapplied. And there are some ideas that, while plausible, are simply wrong if not dangerous especially if taken literally.

"Aaker on Branding"offers a sense of topic priorities and a roadmap to David Aaker's books, thinking, and contributions. As it structures the larger literature of the brand field, it also advances the theory of branding and the practice of brand management and, by extension, the practice of business management.

"Aaker on Branding" presents in a compact form the twenty essential principles of branding that will lead to the creation of strong brands. Culled from the six David Aaker brand books and related publications, these principles provide the broad understanding of brands, brand strategy, brand portfolios, and brand building that all business, marketing, and brand strategists should know.
"Aaker on Branding" is a "go-to" source for how you create and maintain strong brands and synergetic brand portfolios. It provides a checklist of strategies, perspectives, tools, and concepts that represents not only what you should know but also what action options should be on the table. When followed, these principles will lead to strong, enduring brands that both support business strategies going forward and create coherent and effective brand families.
Those now interested in and involved with branding are faced with information overload, not only from the Aaker books but from others as well. It is hard to know what to read and which elements to adapt. There are a lot of good ideas out there but also some that are inferior, need updating, or are subject to being misinterpreted and misapplied. And there are some ideas that, while plausible, are simply wrong if not dangerous--especially if taken literally.
"Aaker on Branding" offers a sense of topic priorities and a roadmap to David Aaker's books, thinking, and contributions. As it structures the larger literature of the brand field, it also advances the theory of branding and the practice of brand management and, by extension, the practice of business management.

Stories are orders of magnitude which are more effective than facts at achieving attention, persuading, being remembered, and inspiring involvement. Signature stories-intriguing, authentic, and involving narratives-apply the power of stories to communicate a strategic message. Marketing professionals, coping with the digital revolution and the need to have their strategic message heard internally and externally, are realizing that a digital strategy revolves around content and that content is stories. Creating Signature Stories shows organizations how to introduce storytelling into their strategic messaging, and guides organizations to find, or even create, signature stories and leverage them over time. With case studies built into every chapter, organizations will realize the power of storytelling to energize readers, gain visibility, persuade audiences, and inspire action.

Ein kompakter UEberblick uber die nutzlichsten Konzepte und Methoden fur die Entwicklung starker Marken, die sich im Wettbewerb erfolgreich differenzieren. Die 20 Grundsatze basieren auf dem weltweit aktuellsten Wissensstand uber Marken, ihre Etablierung und Weiterentwicklung. Sie zeigen die verschiedenen Moeglichkeiten auf, die Manager bei der Gestaltung von Marken haben, und wie Sie damit direkten Einfluss auf Unternehmensstrategie und -erfolg nehmen koennen. Die deutsche Ausgabe ist mehr als eine UEbersetzung. Die Autoren veranschaulichen anhand von Fallbeispielen aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum, warum man Marken als Vermoegenswerte betrachten sollte und wie man eine strategische Markenvision entwickelt, diese ganzheitlich umsetzt und gegenuber Kunden einloest. Gleichzeitig wird gezeigt, wie man Marken in neue Produktkategorien erweitert, sie gegenuber Angriffen des Wettbewerbs schutzt, ihre Relevanz langfristig erhalt und warum man das eigene Markenportfolio als OEkosystem betrachten sollte.

David Aaker has become the guru of brand strategy with his impact research, twelve books, hundred-plus articles, consulting, and speaking. From Fargo to the World of Brands details the intellectual journey that led to a focus on brands--with stops in marketing models, market research, advertising management, emotional advertising, and business strategy--and chronicles his attempts to influence management practices. It provides a profile of academic life, the story of a brand consulting company, and a description of the rich experience associated with his second professional home in Japan.

This warmhearted autobiography also describes Aaker's personal life--growing up in the Midwest in the '40s and '50s, his roots, how a Fargo boy over his head survived at MIT and Stanford, his entrepreneurial failure, his passions and relationships, and how the Aaker family evolved over forty years.