In the world of global competition that we are living in nowadays, brands are each time more used by companies as a strategy to create value and differentiation and this way to be one step ahead of their rivals.
Branding has become one of those marketing concepts that are vague and can become confusing quickly.
To help you out, we put together a list of 5 branding books that will kick your branding knowledge to a whole new level
Start With Why
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Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever.
START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
The Brand Gap
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THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand-building. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a “charismatic brand”―a brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:
• the new definition of brand
• the five essential disciplines of brand-building
• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• how design determines a customer’s experience
• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• the importance of managing brands from the inside
• 220-word brand glossary
Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team
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Whether you’re the project manager for your company’s rebrand, or you need to educate your staff or your students about brand fundamentals, Designing Brand Identity is the quintessential resource. From research to brand strategy to design execution, launch, and governance, Designing Brand identity is a compendium of tools for branding success and best practices for inspiration.
Creating a Brand Identity: A Guide for Designers
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Creating a Brand Identity goes behind the scenes to explore the creative processes involved in designing a successful brand identity, one of the most fascinating and complex challenges in graphic design.
This bestselling book is ideal for students, professionals, and agencies working in the fields of:
Graphic Design
Branding
Brand Management
Advertising
Marketing
Communications
Authored by design and branding expert, Catharine Slade-Brooking, Creating a Brand Identity includes exercises and examples that highlight the key activities undertaken by graphic designers to create successful brand identities, including:
Defining the audience
Analyzing competitors
Creating mood boards
Naming brands
Logo design
Client presentations
Rebranding
Launching a new brand identity
Case studies throughout the book are illustrated with brand identities from a diverse range of industries including digital media, fashion, advertising, product design, packaging, retail, and more.
The book uses images of professional design concepts, brand case studies, and diagrams throughout to illustrate the text. Flow charts are also used extensively to highlight the step-by-step methodology applied by industry professionals to create a brand.
The content of the book has been derived from Catharine Slade-Brooking’s own experience of entering the world of branding as a graduate and having to learn the hard way, ‘on the job’. This, in turn, enabled the author to develop teaching materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students on the BA Graphic Communication course at the University of the Creative Arts, where Slade-Brooking is a lecturer. The book has been recommended across a wide range of university courses, from graphic design school to animation, digital media, textiles, and interior design. It includes a full glossary of brand terminology and a list of recommended further reading.
Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
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More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times best-selling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.
If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.
In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares the proven system he has created to help you engage and truly influence customers.
The StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their companies. Without a clear, distinct message, customers will not understand what you can do for them and are unwilling to engage, causing you to lose potential sales, opportunities for customer engagement, and much more.
In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller teaches marketers and business owners to use the seven universal elements of powerful stories to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses.
His proven process has helped thousands of companies engage with their existing customers, giving them the ultimate competitive advantage. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching you:
The seven universal story points all humans respond to;
The real reason customers make purchases;
How to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and
How to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media.
Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion-dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.