Brand Aid: An Easy Reference Guide to Solving Your Toughest Branding Problems and Strengthening Your Market Position

Brand Aid covers topics ranging from research, positioning, and advertising to brand equity management, legal issues in brand management, and creating a brand-building organization. It includes an overview of the entire brand management and marketing process, as well as in-depth discussions of brand building on the Internet and internal brand building. A treasure trove of techniques, templates, and rules of thumb, Brand Aid! is an indispensable roadmap for anyone responsible for building their organization's brand.

Book Description

"Written by an acknowledged expert with 20 years of experience building world-class brands, Brand Aid is a day-to-day quick-reference guide that provides solutions for the 22 most pressing problems faced by brand managers. This comprehensive, practical how-to guide also gives readers 17 invaluable end-of-chapter checklists to help them assess and advance their own brand management efforts. Succinct and easy-to-read, it features exercises, formulas, case studies, proprietary research findings, and other useful tools -- including a template to help them do a complete brand audit.

Brand Aid covers topics ranging from research, positioning, and advertising to brand equity management, legal issues in brand management, and creating a brand-building organization. It includes an overview of the entire brand management and marketing process, as well as in-depth discussions of brand building on the Internet and internal brand building. A treasure trove of techniques, templates, and rules of thumb, Brand Aid! is an indispensable roadmap for anyone responsible for building their organization’s brand."

The challenge of market positioning, business-to-consumer and business-to-business, has intensified. Buyers' minds have become crowded-no, cluttered-with a bombardment of messages urging them to select one product or service over another. Organizations that desire to positively influence people about their offerings must be concerned about brand. And "organizations" encompasses more than just manufacturers, retailers, and other for-profits. Not-for-profits, schools, civic groups, causes, and even individuals need to pay more attention to developing, enhancing, and defending their brands.

This high-content book is written for beginners as well as those who think they know at least something about what they're doing. In chapter after chapter, "Brand Aid" delivers critical knowledge that is both educational and though-provoking. The chapters conclude with sets of questions to help readers measure just how well they're doing...and what needs to be done. No matter how good you think you are, you will find reinforcement and unsettling feelings for work to be done in each of these check-off lists. "Did You Know" inset boxes throughout the book provide interesting facts, case studies, and other material to effectively supplement the primary text. The three appendices deliver even more knowledge...and challenging questions.

As I read this book, I felt like I was taking a college course-maybe a graduate course-in branding. I found myself wanting to talk with the professor to explore even further than the depth I was experiencing. The style of the book is quite engaging and will certainly hold the interest of people in the field. I'd recommend it as well for business owners and executives who may not be directly involved with branding; indirectly, you are a part of the process, and gleaning the messages and insights in this book will enable you to serve as a much more effective leader.

The comprehensive index and the book's website make "Brand Aid" even more useful. A glimpse of the cover and acknowledgement of what comes immediately to mind will stimulate your thinking, then turning the pages will start you on an exciting adventure. You'll be motivated to take action from practically every chapter, so get ready for an application-oriented reading experience. Great as a read-through and as a reference book.


Required Reading on Brand Management   September 20, 2003
Thomas J. Miller (Dove Canyon, CA USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

"Brand Aid" is the most comprehensive of all the materials that I've read on brand management. It is packed with resources to gain understanding in what branding is and how it can be implemented to benefit an organization. The case studies are engaging and relatable, and the checklists are thought provoking. The succinct content in each chapter makes this book an invaluable reference tool.

Even the most basic branding concepts in the early chapters were insightful and deepened my belief in the importance of building strong relationships with customers and employees.

My organization began a branding initiative earlier this year. I now wish I had read "Brand Aid" before we started. This book should become required reading for all business leaders responsible for driving the growth of their organizations.

Thomas J. Miller
Product Marketing, Director
Newport Corporation, Inc.


Book Sets Standard in Field of Branding   July 29, 2003
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

I found the book "Brand Aid" highly informative and I believe VanAuken has set a new standard in the study of branding. Whether it's the Case Studies, "Did You Know?" items or checklists throughout the book, he is able to provide PRACTICAL advice that can be used to develop or enhance brands.

This book could very well become the "Bible" for branding now and in the future. I would give it 5-plus stars.


most helpful marketing book I ever read   December 10, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Most helpful marketing book I ever read. It had information I never knew I needed in a brief,descriptive format that I put to use while finishing the book. The reference materials were also very helpful.


The Good Brand Book   December 24, 2006
T SANTOSO (Surabaya, Jatim Indonesia)
Our company does web design, graphic design, corporate communication. I like this book that is not only an easy reference guide, but also a comprehensive approach to branding. The book can stand alone as a Brand teach-in, and require no prior knowledge about branding. The book is also relatively complete and can be used as taxt book or self-learning Branding book. This book is good.