My review
Brand – a tiny unubiquitous word, which has 5 only letters in it, but yet when joined together becomes a power, all on its own. We all love the word ‘brand’ and probably use it practically everyday. But do we ever think about what goes in the background of choosing a name and making it a brand? Hardly ever!!
And before reading this book, I never knew the sheer hard work which went in, to make a brand. Sophia S Ahn’s book The Brand Strategist’s Note raises the curtain to the back stage and gives us a view to the entire drama behind it.
“When one has an identity, life gets a whole lot simpler. The problem is an identity that matters is insanely hard to inculcate. Insanely hard to maintain.”
– Tom Peters
The beginning of the book is so powerful with these words, that it got me thinking deeply. I have been having thoughtful conversations, arguments with my friend, regarding brand development, and this book fell into my lap, at exactly the right time for me.
The book does not give pointers or tips, but rather gives the categories on which a brand name has to be defined and worked upon. It gives a direction to the thoughts and the research that is needed in starting and developing a brand.
All these points are well illustrated by drawings done by the author herself, and they make a huge visual impact. I felt I understood her words better when I saw these diagrams. An intelligent way by the author to put her point across! The author’s drawings hit me with a ton of force, making their point, about how the market strategists and managers don their thinking caps to bring about the brand.
The author with her vast experience and her passion in such strategies made me realize that brand not only means advertising, it also means to think beyond the word, discover the differences in the context, the brand logo, and the tagline. Writing this book with examples meant that I could visualise the different concepts which Sophia has mentioned, and adapt it to my thoughts about my brand.
I always thought that brand meant meant buying and using it, I never realised that I am using the philosophy of the brand and adopting it as my own. Looking back on various brands I understood this to be the truth. As I read down the pages, Sophia made me appreciate a true fact, that the brand is an identity, it is a living force which we not only buy and use but adopt it as our own.
There are lot of things I need to do research on, but the author Sophia has given me a direction, a pathway to follow, which was much needed. I wish I could scratch her brain further, reach down her intelligence and experience, and get her help in my brand development.
I end the review with her words which has had a huge impact on me
“You can’t truly differentiate the brand without thinking outside the box and see the world with a new point of view”
No truer words have ever been said regarding both brands and life in general!!
My rating : 5 stars
About the Author
Sophia Ahn is a brand strategist consulting multinational corporates and not-for-profit organizations including schools and foundations both in the United States and Korea. Strategic planning is not only Sophie’s area of excellence but it is also her area of passion. Propelled forward by years of experience as a project leader in the arts and cultural communities in both Korea and United States, she aspires to be a leader in the creative sector, exploring the opportunities of new digital communications trend. With a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a knack for thriving in culturally diverse business settings, Sophia hopes to discover creative solutions to brand related problems and generate positive energy for people around her.
Contact details
Book blurb
For brand thinkers and marketers. A Brand Strategist’s Note is an easy-read book of 70 things explained with the casual illustrations for brand strategists and brand marketers. Branding is tricky and complex in many ways and requires lots of theoretical works and deep thinkings. The author intends to provide only short propositions and leave the readers with questions so that they can go ahead and research more on the topics and develop their own thinkings from then on.
Product Details
Publication date : 14th January, 2018
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language : English
Available on Amazon
Book Publicity by Shalini
12 Responses
That sounds like something I need lol
Haha… Yp my friend and I were also talking about it yesterday… This book helps.. So now on to research
If it helps I better get one.
It gives pointers and directions for research
That’s always useful…
True that
Me too! I’m in desperate need of some guidance for starting this whole writing business, but I’m not sure guidance on researching will be as useful to me as a book that is tailored to my business and already has done the research. Especially if this is just a big guide to SWOT analysis, I’m just not sure if my tiny book budget needs to make room for this.
There’s loads of book branding, selling and marketing tips in the blogs. Look up Sacha Black, she’s great!
Book about a brand…. Never heard before
Something new. Not about a brand, but how to create a brand
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thank you Michael