Brand Leadership: Building Assets In an Information Economy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'll save you some effort. Read the first five chapters of this book and stop. Aaker is the king of brand equity and successful strategies for organizing and developing brands but he also has a knack for being a bit long-winded.
Don't get me wrong. The guy's a genius and the world of marketing is much the better for having him (and Joachimsthaler) around. However, in Management Communications at Business School they teach you to know your audience. There's a reason most business books are 160-220 pages. Business leaders don't have time to spend 12-15 hours reading texts. Aaker ignores this fact when offering the 330-page "Brand Leadership."
That being said it's a great book for the frameworks and approaches it provides. Aaker truly is one of the elite few that really rises above the clutter in offering marketing insights to today's manager. Unfortunately like Michael Porter with Strategy, he feels that this level of insight affords the right to pontificate beyond the attention span of most managers.
His theories on brand identity, brand architecture, and brand equity are invaluable though and for this reason the book is well worth the money and time. Particularly outstanding is the chapter on Brand Architecture which provides a stark contrast to the "focus" theories of Ries & Trout.
Shortcuts:
Chapter 6 -- Discusses Nike-Adidas market dynamics. Least interesting chapter in the book.
Chapter 7 -- Addresses sponsorships and is fairly interesting and useful for today's marketing manager. If you really enjoy Chapter's 1-5 then give 7 a go as well.
Chapter 8 -- If you recognize the names Fast Company, Business 2.0, Red Herring, or The Industry Standard, this chapter on the role of webs in building brands is not neccesary.
Chapter 9 -- Pretty good chapter on building brands beyond advertising, but only if you have a couple hours to spare. By the end of the book this chapter felt like miles 16-25 of a marathon.
Chapter 10 -- Read "The Lure of Global Brands" from the 12/99 Harvard Business Review as a substitute. More condensed and effective.
Five star (and then some) book if edited down to 200 pages.

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