"Perhaps what I enjoyed most about this book is the parallel Matthews draws between brand and culture. Matthews believes (as I do) that in today's world – where the average consumer is savvy, active and hyper-connected – your brand is the culmination of customer experience. Every interaction, therefore, will impact your brand – either to the positive or the negative. As the average consumer gets bombarded by more and more messages in a given day, that window in which to make an impression (hopefully positive!) grows smaller and smaller. We need to be clear, we need to stand for something and, most importantly, we need to be consistent."
Chris Taylor Actionable Books Founder and Editor-in-Chief
"Ted's lessons, 3 tools and 3 rules can be applied to any organization. Whether you have an established culture or an emerging one, read this book."
John Warrillow Author, Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
"Ted Matthews is the smartest brand specialist I know, and Brand: It ain't the logo* is the best, clearest, most sensible guide to the subject around. As branding plays an increasingly important role in an ever more competitive world, this is the book you need to build a better business."
Bo Burlingham Author, Small Giants: Companies that Choose to be Great Instead of Big Editor-at-Large, Inc. Magazine
"This is a book about perspective and understanding. The kind of perspective that marketers need – not just for themselves but for those with whom they work every day and rely upon for support at planning time. Brand: It ain't the logo* (*It's what people think of youTM) should be required reading for anyone who sits around the ‘big table’ and for anyone who seeks to influence their decisions."
Ken Wong Associate Professor and Distinguished Professor of Marketing Queen’s School of Business Director, Canadian Marketing Association
"The battle for top talent is heating up in North America as more and more baby boomers retire and there are nowhere near enough skilled workers to replace them. If you want to attract, retain and inspire great people, you need to clearly define who you are, what you stand for and what difference you make – exactly what Matthews outlines in Brand: It ain’t the logo* (*It's what people think of you). Frankly speaking, this is the best book on Branding that I've ever read."
Gabriel Bouchard Former President and Chief Brand Officer, Workopolis
"This is really a book about organizational culture. Ted Matthews teaches us that 'the only synonym for Brand is culture' and that if you want to have a Brand that resonates with all types of stakeholders, inside and outside an organization, you need to go to work on building a strong and inspiring culture. This is the recipe for success in today's marketplace."
Lisa Zangari Senior Vice President, Human Resources, IAMGOLD
"Marketing is going digital. Customers and prospects are interacting with Brands in ways we never anticipated. It is up close and personal...and there is nowhere to hide. Understanding a Brand’s equity, and delivering it consistently on-line, is a whole new challenge for marketers. Failure is everywhere – but Ted Matthews’ book is an excellent, easy-to-read roadmap to success in this future."
Tony Miller Former CEO MacLaren McCann and Vice Chairman of McCann Worldgroup
"From Bangkok to Beijing and Sydney to Singapore, Ted's advice rings true because the Branding principles he so clearly articulates are universal. This makes Brand: It ain’t the logo* (*It's what people think of you) a must-read for marketing success in any hard-fought international arena."
Ron McEachern Past President, PepsiCo Asia
"Ted Matthews wraps a persuasive argument in a lively read. This book is packed with fascinating examples that back up its clear-sighted analysis of how to build your Brand, and – just as important – how not to. If you want highfalutin academic analysis, look elsewhere. But if you want clear, convincing and actionable advice on how to build your Brand, you've come to the right place."
Jim McElgunn Senior Editor, PROFIT Magazine
"Brand: It ain’t the logo* (*It's what people think of you) is a great read. I couldn’t put it down. Great stories and great insights. I plan to lay it on our MBAs to help them in GettingItDone!"
Brendan Calder Professor, GettingItDone, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
"Marketing has a handful of essential truths and I can think of nothing more essential than Ted's oft-repeated mantra that a Brand is ‘what people think of you.’ Ted's ability to cut through the clutter and deliver a message that sticks is legendary. It has been a joy to learn from him."
Ashwin W. Joshi Director, MBA Program, Associate Professor in Marketing, Schulich School of Business, York University
| Foreword | |
| Chapter 1 | The Three Threats It took me the better part of a 37-year career in marketing communications to convince myself that my definition of Brand was the right one – and to start convincing others. |
| Chapter 2 | What "Brand" Really Means Properly understood, the Brand has exciting potential to be the operating principle for everything your organization ever does. |
| Chapter 3 | Be Remark-able Brand-Building Tool #1 – To break through the noise and reach your target market – and to avoid online wrath or irrelevance – your only option is to have a Brand worth talking about. |
| Chapter 4 | Own a Position Brand-Building Tool #2 – To stand out in our overcommunicated world, you've got to establish and own a unique, honest, meaningful and clear position. |
| Chapter 5 | A Brand's Worst (and Next Worst) Enemies At this very moment, there are people conspiring against your Brand. They may be keen up-and-comers or some of your most trusted long-term associates. One thing is for certain: they must be stopped. |
| Chapter 6 | Build a Foundation To keep your Brand focused, effective and safe from the constant threat of change, it must be formalized and carved in stone. |
| Chapter 7 | Be the CBO Because the Brand lives and dies with the actions of every employee, it's got to be owned by the CEO – the only person with the power to make delivering it everyone's responsibility. |
| Chapter 8 | Marketers: Surrender Your Brand If the marketing department truly wants the organization to live and breathe the Brand, they've got to give it up – to the CBO. |
| Chapter 9 | Listen to Your Stakeholders Ask your stakeholders what they think of you. It takes humility, but it's the most cost-effective and underrated way to take your business to the next level. |
| Chapter 10 | Evolution, Not Revolution The only thing tougher than establishing your stakeholders' thoughts is changing them. But when change is absolutely unavoidable, please: don't do anything rash. |
| Chapter 11 | Branding is a Process, Not an Event It takes time and persistence for your Brand to sink in with stakeholders. But losing hard-won Brand equity can happen in the blink of an eye. So pass on the Super Bowl approach – and stay focused on the long run. |
| Chapter 12 | Deliver Great Experiences Brand-Building Tool #3 – Because every stakeholder interaction either adds to or detracts from your Brand, you’ve got to deliver at every touchpoint. |
| Chapter 13 | Make the Story Live and Breathe Strong Brands are profoundly rich with elements that cannot be captured in a single Brand Foundation. But these attributes are every bit as vital to the Brand's sense of identity. |
| Chapter 14 | Be the Mythographer Although it's vital that formal Brand components be conveyed verbally and in print, they can only achieve full clarity and viral power when ingrained in stories. |
| Chapter 15 | Great Names Mean Business Brand naming is one of the most cost-effective – and underused – opportunities to tell your story and connect with stakeholders. |
| Chapter 16 | Inspire the Team Building your Brand from the inside out is the best way to ensure that your employees will instinctively deliver it to the world. |
| Chapter 17 | Stop Giving Focusing your charitable activities on a single cause will help you face the complex challenge of finding and keeping employees and customers – by telling them exactly what you stand for. |
| Chapter 18 | Mine the Equity Many of the strongest Brands hold out their heritage with pride. But due to panic, neglect or the passage of time, too many Brands deny their full potential by ignoring their history. |
| Chapter 19 | Protect Your Brand Enlist yourself and those around you to stay on the lookout for threats to your Brand. And be sure to look in the mirror. |
| Chapter 20 | Ride Your Brand Through the Storm Consistently observing strong Brand discipline in good times will carry your Brand through heavy seas – provided your problems do not conflict with the heart of the Brand promise. |
| Chapter 21 | Make Them Want You The most underused capability of Brands is also the most promising for the future: their ability to attract and keep the people you want most, and filter out those you don't. |