Marketing Aesthetics - Softcover

Simonson, Alex

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1439172927 ISBN 13: 9781439172926

Publisher: Free Press, 2009

Synopsis

There is no way to mistake the ubiquitous trademarked Coca-Cola bottle, or the stylish ads for Absolut Vodka with any of their competitors. How have these companies created this irresistible appeal for their brands? How have they sustained a competitive edge through aesthetics? Bernd Schmitt and Alex Simonson, two leading experts in the emerging field of identity management, offer clear guidelines for harnessing a company's total aesthetic output -- its "look and feel" -- to provide a vital competitive advantage. Going beyond standard traditional approaches on branding, this fascinating book is the first to combine branding, identity, and image and to show how aesthetics can be managed through logos, brochures, packages, and advertisements, as well as sounds, scents, and lighting, to sell "the memorable experience." The authors explore what makes a corporate or brand identity irresistible, what styles and themes are crucial for different contexts, and what meanings certain visual symbols convey. Any person in any organization in any industry can benefit from employing the tools of "marketing aesthetics." Schmitt and Simonson describe how a firm can use these tools strategically to create a variety of sensory experiences that will (1) ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty; (2) sustain lasting customer impressions about a brand's or organization's special personality; (3) permit premium pricing; (4) provide legal "trade dress" protection from competitive attacks; (5) lower costs and raise productivity; and (6) most importantly, create irresistible appeal. The authors show how to manage identity globally and how to develop aesthetically pleasing retail spaces and environments. They also address the newly emergent topic of how to manage corporate and brand identity on the Internet. Supporting their thesis with numerous real-world success stories such as Absolut Vodka, Nike, the Gap, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Starbucks, the New Beetle Website, and Lego, the authors explain how actual companies have developed, refined, and maintained distinct corporate identities that set them apart from competitors.

About this title

Review

Clay S. Timon "Chairman, President and CEO, Landor Associates This seminal book on the aesthetics of brands, identity, and image reveals through superb real-world examples how these tools can be marketed -- and managed for great profit.

David A. Aaker "author of "Managing Brand Equity" and "Building Strong Brands" Visual imagery has been the neglected element of branding, usually treated in an ad hoc manner. Thanks to this pathbreaking book, we now have a more scientific knowledge of how visual imagery works to build strong brands and how it can be actively managed.

Marc Gobe "President, CEO, and Executive Creative Director, Desgrippes Gobe and Associates Brings the underestimated sensory experience to the customer-brand relationship, helping corporations create a greater cohesive presence for the company and its products.

Peter Laundy "Practice Leader, Corporate and Brand Identity, Doblin Group Schmitt and Simonson cut fog into cubes for executives unschooled in aesthetics and provide tools to help them present their companies to the greatest advantage.

Sal Randazzo "Worldwide Strategic Planning Director, McCann-Erickson Worldwide, and author of "The Mythmakers" A powerful new perspective which explains how marketers can gain a competitive advantage in the new psychological arena, by creating and cultivating "a unique corporate aesthetic."

From the Author

Review from the Design Management Institute News
I'd like to share with the Amazon.com audience the highlights of a review of the book, which was just published in the Design Management Institute News. The review was written by Rob Wallace, managing partner of Wallace-Church Associates, a strategic brand consultancy.

"If you have not already done so, read this book. Read it from cover to cover. Read every word, from Tom Peter's entertaining forward straight through to the 137 footnoted references. Read it with a highlighter. Read it with a pencil because you'll want to take notes. Read it full knowing that it is one of the most comprehensive and articulate texts on branding. Read it because it's enjoyable as well as informative. Read it because you need to know what's inside. When brand identity and design management are taught at Harvard and Columbia, this work could be the only required textbook. It's a complete analysis of the branding process highlighting its most effective component, the 'sensory brand experience.'"

About this edition

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1439172927
• ISBN 13: 9781439172926
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 362