What Great Brands Do - by Denise Lee Yohn (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

It's tempting to believe that brands like Apple, Nike, and Zappos achieved their iconic statuses because of serendipity, an unattainable magic formula, or even the genius of a single visionary leader. However, these companies all adopted specific approaches and principles that transformed their ordinary brands into industry leaders. In other words, great brands can be built--and Denise Lee Yohn knows exactly how to do it. Delivering a fresh perspective, Yohn's What Great Brands Do teaches an innovative brand-as-business strategy that enhances brand identity while boosting profit margins, improving company culture, and creating stronger stakeholder relationships. Drawing from twenty-five years of consulting work with such top brands as Frito-Lay, Sony, Nautica, and Burger King, Yohn explains key principles of her brand-as-business strategy.

• Reveals the seven key principles that the world's best brands consistently implement
• Presents case studies that explore the brand building successes and failures of companies of all sizes including IBM, Lululemon, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and other remarkable brands
• Provides tools and strategies that organizations can start using right away

Filled with targeted guidance for CEOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, and other organization leaders, What Great Brands Do is an essential blueprint for launching any brand to meteoric heights.

From the Back Cover

Spotting an exceptional brand is easy, but building an exceptional brand is one of the most overwhelming and elusive challenges organizations face. Many business leaders mistakenly believe that brand-building superstars like Apple, Lululemon, Zappos, and Nike achieved their successes as a result of good timing, years of experimentation, or just plain luck. Denise Lee Yohn knows the truth: these companies employed specific techniques that elevated brand building from a niche marketing function to the core driver of their business, turning them into industry icons.

In What Great Brands Do, Yohn sheds light on these proven techniques and identifies the seven key principles that the world's top brands consistently live out. Yohn reveals how:

• Great brands start inside
• Great brands avoid selling products
• Great brands ignore trends
• Great brands don't chase customers
• Great brands sweat the small stuff
• Great brands commit and stay committed
• Great brands never have to "give back"

Demystifying the brand-building process, What Great Brands Do lays out clear steps for implementing each of these principles. These philosophies contribute to Yohn's innovative brand-as-business approach, which puts the brand at the heart of every company decision and fuels faster growth, increased profit margins, stronger corporate cultures, and superior stakeholder relationships. Examining how this approach operates in the real world, What Great Brands Do features case studies that analyze the brand-building successes and failures of companies including Google, Trader Joe's, IBM, Patagonia, Shake Shack, and many others.

A vital resource for CEOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, and other leaders, What Great Brands Do paves a clear and accessible road to building a world-class brand.

Review Quotes

Yohn, a branding consultant and speaker, with an all-star client list that includes Sony, Frito-Lay, and Burger King, knows exactly what it takes to raise a brand to the top and keep it there. Here she shares techniques that can elevate a brand to icon status. She explores how a great company can avoid obsolescence by using its brand as a management tool to fuel, align, and guide its people and initiatives. The eponymous seven brand-building principles are each given a chapter: start with a brand-building corporate culture; ignore trends; don't chase customers; commit and stay committed; and avoid selling products. Yohn's exercises, tools, and action steps will help elevate the conversation and undoubtedly enhance any company's focus on branding. In addition to case studies that feature Google, Trader Joe's, IBM, and Shake Shack, Yohn provides her most valuable recommendations in her "Brand as Business" chapter, which ties together the seven principles and shows how to integrate them to produce growth and brand strength. Yohn's book is helpful reading for executives and managers at all levels, and it will guide the next generation of great brands. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly, December 2013)

About the Author

Denise Lee Yohn is an in-demand consultant and speaker with more than twenty-five years of experience helping organizations take their brands to new heights. She developed her innovative brand-building philosophy while working with such companies as Burger King, Frito-Lay, Land Rover, and Sony. An influential writer and speaker, Yohn has contributed to outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard Business Review, and her powerful speeches regularly inspire business leaders around the country.

To learn more, please visit www.deniseleeyohn.com