As founder of one of the first branding firms in Los Angeles, California, HOW Creative, Howard A. Lim has been building Authentic Brands for more than two decades. His passion is in supporting and empowering businesses to transform products and services into rich brand experiences that motivate and inspire from the inside culture out. He has shepherded the brands of emerging and leading Fortune 100 companies such as DreamWorks, Mattel, Xerox, Fujitsu and Honda, influencing billions of dollars in clients' profits, brand value and equity.
A stimulating, smart book on what it means to live in a brand culture Brands are everywhere. Branding is central to political campaigns and political protest movements; the alchemy of social media and self-branding creates overnight celebrities; the self-proclaimed “greening” of institutions and merchant goods is nearly universal. But while the practice of branding is typically understood as a tool of marketing, a method of attaching social meaning to a commodity as a way to make it more personally resonant with consumers, Sarah Banet-Weiser argues that in the contemporary era, brands are about culture as much as they are about economics. That, in fact, we live in a brand culture. AuthenticTM maintains that branding has extended beyond a business model to become both reliant on, and reflective of, our most basic social and cultural relations. Further, these types of brand relationships have become cultural contexts for everyday living, individual identity, and personal relationships—what Banet-Weiser refers to as “brand cultures.” Distinct brand cultures, that at times overlap and compete with each other, are taken up in each chapter: the normalization of a feminized “self-brand” in social media, the brand culture of street art in urban spaces, religious brand cultures such as “New Age Spirituality” and “Prosperity Christianity,”and the culture of green branding and “shopping for change.” In a culture where graffiti artists loan their visions to both subway walls and department stores, buying a cup of “fair-trade” coffee is a political statement, and religion is mass-marketed on t-shirts, Banet-Weiser questions the distinction between what we understand as the “authentic” and branding practices. But brand cultures are also contradictory and potentially rife with unexpected possibilities, leading AuthenticTM to articulate a politics of ambivalence, creating a lens through which we can see potential political possibilities within the new consumerism.
"Public Relations, Branding and Authenticity: Brand Communications in the Digital Age explores the role of PR and branding in society by considering the notion of authentic communications within the context of an emerging digital media environment. This qualitative analysis explores the challenge of developing authentic brand narratives in the digital age, whilst questioning the problematic nature of authenticity itself. Case studies of public relations activity of successful brands, and those in crisis, are supplemented by interviews with senior public relations and branding practitioners. The book lays out three specific arguments. Firstly, a repositioning of the relationship between public relations and brand practice is explored. It is argued that public relations practitioners are well placed to facilitate brands in the digital age, because of the inherent acceptance of the value of relationship building, adaptation and boundary spanning embedded in PR practice and best practice theory. Secondly, the book introduces a new concept of riparian brands. Such brands are based on solid core values, but have an ability to atune, adjust and naturalise to the prevailing social, cultural and economic environment. Thirdly, the book presents an ontology of the riparian brand in the form of an authentic brand wheel and 15 real-time interaction success factors. Aimed at both academics and practitioners interested in the theoretical development of PR and its emerging relationship with branding, it will also be of interest to scholars of corporate communications, corporate reputation and branding"--
The projection of authenticity is one of the key pillars of marketing. Research reveals that consumers seek authenticity through the brands they choose. Based on extensive research with consumers and brand managers this book offers seven guiding principles for building brand authenticity.
This book offers an advanced breakthrough formula to build, implement, maintain, and cultivate an authentic, distinctive, relevant, and memorable Personal and Corporate Brand, which forms the key to enduring personal and business success. The new Personal Branding blueprint entails a systematic and integrated journey towards self-awareness, happiness, and enduring marketing success. If you are branded in this holistic way you will automatically attract success and the people and opportunities that are a perfect fit for you. Hubert Rampersad has introduced an advanced authentic Personal Branding model and practical related tools, that provide an excellent framework and roadmap for building a strong authentic Personal Brand, which is in harmony with your dreams, life purpose, values, genius, passion, and with things what you love doing. This new blueprint has been proven in practice to produce sustainable results, not only for individuals but also for companies. By aligning employee’s Personal Brand with their Corporate Brand you can realize the ‘best fit’ between employee and company, which creates a highly engaged and happy workforce.
Engage on a deeper level by disrupting the typical business development script Authentic Marketing offers a forward-thinking approach to achieving an entirely new level of engagement with today’s purpose-driven and skeptical audiences. The heart of this process involves finding the soul of your organization. When moral purpose becomes central to your organization, it can deliver benefits to both the bottom line and mankind: a profit meets purpose proposition. This path requires a reinvention of today’s dated business model, abolishing the inefficient, siloed approach of developing a business strategy first and then later creating separate strategies for marketing, HR, manufacturing, R&D, etc. The new integrated model fuses a tight integration of business, technology innovation and engagement strategies, all of which are bound together by a company’s moral purpose. When moral purpose is central to an organization’s core, everything branches out from a place of authenticity. Rather than a siloed CSR effort, you develop employee and customer relationships based on real—not curated—connections with a brand’s moral mission. You build true engagement, trust and evangelism. And, along the way, your customers will actually help to co-create your brand. This book shows you how to transform your business by putting moral purpose to work for your stakeholders and the planet. Embrace a new model that integrates business, technology innovation, and engagement strategies with moral purpose as the glue that binds them together Learn the key steps to find your moral purpose Discover how to engage audiences with a transparent, authentic marketing approach that forges powerful connections and builds trust. With a world of options at their fingertips, today’s purpose-driven customers want a brand they can identify with and trust. Authentic Marketing shows you how to make your brand more human, more likeable, more genuine and guides you on how to connect with audiences on a moral level. This process will build a new level of engagement that will benefit both your long-term value and the world.
Buying (RED) products—from Gap T-shirts to Apple—to fight AIDS. Drinking a “Caring Cup” of coffee at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to support fair trade. Driving a Toyota Prius to fight global warming. All these commonplace activities point to a central feature of contemporary culture: the most common way we participate in social activism is by buying something. Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser have gathered an exemplary group of scholars to explore this new landscape through a series of case studies of “commodity activism.” Drawing from television, film, consumer activist campaigns, and cultures of celebrity and corporate patronage, the essays take up examples such as the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign, sex positive retail activism, ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, and Angelina Jolie as multinational celebrity missionary. Exploring the complexities embedded in contemporary political activism, Commodity Activism reveals the workings of power and resistance as well as citizenship and subjectivity in the neoliberal era. Refusing to simply position politics in opposition to consumerism, this collection teases out the relationships between material cultures and political subjectivities, arguing that activism may itself be transforming into a branded commodity.
Public Relations, Branding and Authenticity: Brand Communications in the Digital Age explores the role of PR and branding in society by considering the notion of authentic communications within the context of an emerging digital media environment. This qualitative analysis explores the challenge of developing authentic brand narratives in the digital age, whilst questioning the problematic nature of authenticity itself. Case studies of public relations activity of successful brands, and those in crisis, are supplemented by interviews with senior public relations and branding practitioners. The book lays out three specific arguments. Firstly, a repositioning of the relationship between public relations and brand practice is explored. It is argued that public relations practitioners are well placed to facilitate brands in the digital age, because of the inherent acceptance of the value of relationship building, adaptation and boundary spanning embedded in PR practice and best practice theory. Secondly, the book introduces a new concept of riparian brands. Such brands are based on solid core values, but have an ability to atune, adjust and naturalise to the prevailing social, cultural and economic environment. Thirdly, the book presents an ontology of the riparian brand in the form of an authentic brand wheel and 15 real-time interaction success factors. Aimed at both academics and practitioners interested in the theoretical development of PR and its emerging relationship with branding, it will also be of interest to scholars of corporate communications, corporate reputation and branding.
This book offers an advanced breakthrough formula to build, implement, and cultivate an authentic, distinctive, and memorable personal brand, which forms the key to enduring personal success. This new personal branding blueprint entails a systematic and integrated journey towards self-awareness, happiness, and enduring marketing success. If you are branded in this holistic way you will automatically attract success and the people and opportunities that are a perfect fit for you. Dr. Hubert Rampersad has introduced an advanced authentic personal branding model and practical related tools, that provide an excellent framework and roadmap for building a strong authentic personal brand, which is in harmony with your dreams, life purpose, values, genius, passion, and with things what you love doing. This unique authentic personal branding system will help you to unlock your potential and build a trusted image of yourself that you want to project in everything you do. It also opens your view to new ideas, possibilities and opportunities. It is combined with powerful tools to deliver peak performance and to create a stable basis for trustworthiness, credibility, and personal charisma. This innovative methodology is spiritual, measurable, holistic, organic, authentic and sustainable. It taps deeply into self-awareness and helps others to develop innovative ways of doing business with social media and to position themselves strongly in this individual age. It has been proven in practice to produce sustainable results, not only for individuals but also for organizations. It’s neither cosmetic nor cloudy, and therefore clients are experiencing concrete and sustainable results within 2 months.
Praise for 60-Minute Brand Strategist "A fresh take on the wisdom of putting brand strategy at the heart of corporate strategy. Brilliant insights for a fast-moving world." —Angela Ahrendts, CEO, Burberry "Idris Mootee paints a sharp, comprehensive, and finely articulated analysis of the potential of meaningful brands in the 21st century's cultural scenario and business landscape. The result is a smart manual that reminds you and your company how to build relevant, authentic, sustainable, and successful brands in an evolving society." —Mauro Porcini, Chief Design Officer, PepsiCo Inc. "Idris's book teaches us how to engage today's increasingly cynical consumers on a deeper emotional level to build real equity and leadership. He demonstrates how to break out of the box and connect business strategy to brand strategy, and how the right brand story never really ends!" —Blair Christie, SVP and CMO, Cisco Systems, Inc. "It's rare to find a book that's both inspiring and practical but Idris nailed it! He has crafted the ultimate guide to brand building in the connected world with visual clarity and thought-provoking strategy." —Eric Ryan, cofounder, Method Products, Inc. This book is about one thing only: branding. Period. In this economy ruled by ideas, the only sustainable form of leadership is brand leadership. 60-Minute Brand Strategist offers a fast-paced, field-tested view of how branding decisions happen in the context of business strategy, not just in marketing communications. With a combi-nation of perspectives from business strategy, customer experience, and even anthropology, this new and updated edition outlines the challenges traditional branding faces in a hyper-connected world. This essential handbook of brand marketing offers an encyclopedia of do's and don'ts, including new case studies of how these concepts are being used by the world's most successful and valuable brands. 60-Minute Brand Strategist is your battle plan, filled with powerful branding tools and techniques to win your customers' hearts and defeat the competition.
