Books Worth Reading
Books Worth Reading
June / July 2010
Volume 8 Number 3
What, Exactly, Is in a Brand?
Building Brand Authenticity
Authenticity, by its very nature, can’t be faked—at least not for long. Consumers know intuitively when something is authentic, regardless of what marketers say. People yearn to feel enthusiastic about the products they buy. They seek brands that make them feel validated, understood and connected, and when they find them, they demonstrate their loyalty. That’s why fans display tattoos of the Harley-Davidson logo, or make pilgrimages to the Zippo Visitors Center, or even pay hundreds of dollars for Manolo Blahnik high heels. Yet these brand-devoted consumers are quick to blog, tweet or text when a product doesn’t meet their expectations for authenticity and quality. You’ll nod in recognition as branding expert Michael B. Beverland identifies “seven habits” of authentic brands, including passion for excellence, devotion to a craft, and respect for heritage, tradition and place. His use of inside-the-arena marketing war stories will intrigue any marketer and many consumers. While smoothly written, his book would benefit from a fresher graphic design, since its long, unbroken paragraphs make it challenging to read. But, if you stick with it, we promise you’ll find smart, knowledgeable—and authentic—branding advice.
Michael B. Beverland. Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands. Palgrave Macmillan, Inc., 2009. 260 pages, List Price: $45.00. ISBN-13: 978-0230580312
Clever
Clever employees dream up intriguing new products and services, and develop revolutionary processes that catapult their organizations over their competitors. As such, they are crucial to a company’s success. However, as consultants Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones explain, leading them can be a huge challenge. Manage them too much, and they will leave and take their brilliant ideas to your competitors. Manage them too little, and they may waste precious corporate resources on impractical activities that do not contribute to your bottom line. In this thoughtful, illuminating book, Goffee and Jones describe how to lead them so they will be happy and so your company will benefit. The authors emphasize that cleverness is not everything society makes it out to be, but that, properly managed, clevers can take your organization to the heights, so you want to nurture them. getAbstract finds that this book shows you how, in the cleverest possible way.
Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones. Clever: Leading Your Smartest, Most Creative People. Harvard Business Press, 2009. 208 pages, List Price: $26.00. ISBN-13: 978-1422122969
Creating Passion-Driven Teams
Don’t try to motivate your employees by manipulating them; be honest with them and you’ll discover that they motivate themselves. Don’t humiliate them when they make mistakes; instead, treat errors as valuable learning experiences. Don’t automatically tune staffers out when they speak; listen and you will discover a lot. Don’t hold meetings just to meet; make sure every conference has a purpose. And above all, don’t micromanage, because that drives good people out the door. This is an ample list of management “don’ts.” But what should you do to manage well and instill fervor in your employees? Training expert Dan Bobinski says the answer is simple: Provide the conditions that will spark passion in your people and motivate them to top performance. Although his anecdotes are overly simplified and may seem contrived, getAbstract believes Bobinski presents his points persuasively. His colorful, elementary guide will give newbie supervisors and human resource managers much pause for thought.
Dan Bobinski. Creating Passion-Driven Teams: How to Stop Micromanaging and Motivate People to Top Performance. Career Press, 2009. 220 pages, List Price: $15.99. ISBN-13: 978-1601630759
Rolf Dobelli is chairman of getAbstract, the world’s leading provider of business book summaries. www.getabstract.com.
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