The most important assets of any business are intangible: its company name, brands, symbols and slogans and their underlying association, perceived quality, name awareness, and customer base. These assets, which comprise brand equity, are a primary source of competitive advantage and future earnings, contends David Aaker, a national authority on branding. Yet, research shows that managers cannot identify with confidence their brand associations, level of consumer awareness, or degree of customer loyalty. Moreover, in the last decade, managers desperate for short-term financial results have often unwittingly damaged their brands through price promotions and unwise brand extensions, causing irreversible deterioration of the value of the brand name. In an examination of the phenomenon of brand equity, Aaker provides a structure of the relationship between a brand and its symbol and slogan, as well as each of the five underlying assets, which will clarify for managers exactly how brand equity does contribute value. The author opens each chapter with an historical analysis of either the success or failure of a particular company's attempt at building brand equity: the fascinating ivory soap story; the transformation of Datsun to Nissan; the decline of Schlitz beer; the making of the Ford Taurus; and others. Finally, with dozens of additional real company examples, Aaker shows how to avoid the temptation to place short-term performance before the health of the brand and, instead, to manage brands strategically by creating, developing, and exploiting each of the five assets in turn.
Peter S. Sealey Senior Vice-President and Director, Global Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company Highly readable and packed with useful information...Aaker captures the very essence of brand equity in this first class work. Every marketing professional in America should read this book and take its message to heart.
William Wells
Executive Vice-President, DDB Needham Worldwide
Brand equity is among the hottest topics in advertising and marketing today. This book is the most comprehensive and most insightful source available.
Vijay Mahajan
The University of Texas at Austin
A fascinating, practical, and insightful book that brilliantly examines the "assets" that define brand equity to create, develop, market, and manage brands strategically in the l990s.
Nicholas Staveley
Editor, ADMAP
Great brands have become multinational properties, with a worth in the same order of magnitude as the corporations who own them. Aaker has created a comprehensive taxonomy of branding: its roots, benefits, and variety, and the complex skills and techniques it demands.
Peter S. Sealey
Senior Vice-President and Director, Global Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company
Highly readable and packed with useful information...Aaker captures the very essence of brand equity in this first class work. Every marketing professional in America should read this book and take its message to heart.
Tom Peters
The Tom Peters Group
A must for all managers' bookshelves. In an increasingly crowded marketplace, fools will compete on price. Winners will find a way to create lasting value in the customer's mind. This book is for those who would be winners -- it mixes snappy case studies with sound academic research.
David E. R. Dangoor,
Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Philip Morris
Properly managed, no equity can yield a better return over time than a trademark -- David Aaker's book is an excellent tool to assist both students and the experienced to understand more about the complexities, sensitivities, and opportunities in the area.
John O'Toole
President, American Association of Advertising Agencies
Aaker presents the critical importance of brands, and intelligent counsel on how to create, nurture, and evaluate them. This could be the book that finally directs the attention of American business away from quarterly earnings statements and onto permanent growth.
William WellsExecutive Vice-President, DDB Needham WorldwideBrand equity is among the hottest topics in advertising and marketing today. This book is the most comprehensive and most insightful source available.
Vijay MahajanThe University of Texas at AustinA fascinating, practical, and insightful book that brilliantly examines the "assets" that define brand equity to create, develop, market, and manage brands strategically in the l990s.
