Marty NeumeierThe Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design

Marty struck gold with this book. Definitely a good way of understanding branding and what it takes to build a brand that stands the test of time.

Marty Neumeier in his book “The Brand Gap” brings a simple clarity to the concept of brand, provides five clear axis by which brand is created, and leaves the reader with a helpful glossary pf terms used in the branding industry.Neumeier reveals common misconceptions about brand, first in terms of what brand is not; brand is not logo, brand is not corporate identity, and brand is not product. Neumeier defines brand as “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It’s a GUT FEELING because we’re all emotional, intuitive beings, despite our best efforts to be rational. It’s a PERSON’S gut feeling, because in the end the brand is defined by individuals, not by companies, markets, or the so-called general public. Each person creates his or her own version of it. While companies can’t control this process, they can influence it by communicating the qualities that make this product different than that product. When enough individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can be said to have a brand. In other words, a brand is not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY say it is.” (Kindle Locations 109-114)Neumeier presents brand using five axis of discipline: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate, and cultivate.In terms of differentiation, Neumeier quotes brand consultant Greg Galle of Creative Capital; “demand unambiguous answers to three little questions: 1) Who are you? 2) What do you do? 3) Why does it matter?” (Kindle Locations 213-216).Collaborate is represented in terms of allegory; “Building a brand today is a little like building a cathedral during the Renaissance. It took hundreds of craftsmen scores of years, even generations, to complete a major edifice." (Kindle Locations 327-328).Innovate calls for zagging when others are zigging; “Would-be leaders in any industry must come to grips with a self-evident truth—you can’t be a leader by following. Admittedly, it’s difficult to zag when every bone in your body says zig.” (Kindle Locations 439-441)To validate Neumeier quotes copywriter Steve Bautista: “When people talk to themselves, it’s called insanity. When companies talk to themselves, it’s called marketing.” (Kindle Locations 680-681). Neumeier provides some handy tricks that help reveal the strength of a company’s brand.To cultivate is the act of orienting the brand to the truth; “Drama coach Stella Adler often told her students, “Don’t act. Behave.” Living brands are not a stylistic veneer but a pattern of behavior that grows out of character. When the external actions of a company align with its internal culture, the brand resonates with authenticity. If a brand looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and swims like a duck, then it must be a duck. If it swims like a dog, however, people start to wonder.” (Kindle Locations 770-773)And from Neumeier's helpful "Brand Glossary", an example; "frankenbrand - A poorly aligned brand, often resulting from a merger or acquisition; a dysfunctional brand" (Kindle Locations 1119-1120)Neumeier’s “The Brand Gap” is a wonderful perspective on brand. Neumeier is a guru, and his examples provide a long history of involvement. Some of the examples are dated, but the overall effect is of deep experience, rather than simply dated war storied of a branding veteran.

THE BRAND GAPEdith Buller-BreerAuthor Marty Neumeier paints a broad picture of what is involved in branding, including what works and does not work in marketing a product, whether that is an item or an idea. Neumeier’s thesis states, “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.” (Kindle 109). The customer’s viewpoint is the most important aspect of a brand’s success.Neumeier reduces the principles of branding to five disciplines: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate, and cultivate. Giving a brief overview, the author presents pictures and diagrams to help the reader understand.Each of the disciplines helps to bridge the gap between what Neumeier describes as logic and magic, represented by the left and right brain thinking. Connecting business strategy and design allows a relationship to develop, thus creating customer appeal for a product or services.By devoting a single chapter to each of the five disciplines, Neumeier marshals the data around the concepts by describing little and simple ways to do things, but in reality, the simplest things are often the most difficult to accomplish. Disciplines require diligence, learning, adjustments, and determination to acquire."The Brand Gap" helps the reader understand the importance of a brand and how things have changed from the past to the present. However, the idea of figuring out what a person’s reaction is to a product, service, or company seems to be much more complicated than what Neumeier presents.Neumeier believes that a person’s gut feeling is what causes them to choose one product over another. One item is chosen over another because the brand creates a feeling of connectedness or belonging, something bigger than the purchaser’s current reality. While I agree in part, if every item a person purchased created a feeling of belonging to a tribe, loneliness would have disappeared by now. Instead, many items are purchased because a product works or provides benefits.The idea of developing prototypes, like Hollywood does, seems to be a workable plan for companies that produce a product, but Neumeier fails to mention how a service organization would develop a prototype.Companies would do well to heed Neumeier’s advice that logos are a thing of the past. Innovations in branding have advanced to crazy new names, avatars, and earcons. Companies and service organizations would do well to include these in their brands.Neumeier talks about three different methods that produce brands: a one-stop shop, outsourcing, and in-house collaboration. I believe he is right on the mark when he lists the multiple advantages of in-house collaboration because it involves buy-in and ownership of the brand by employees.The author’s style is engaging and entertaining. Pictures and illustrations amplify the concepts. The book incorporates ample white space, making the content easy to assimilate. The Brand Glossary and Recommended Reading list suggest additional information to expand each of the concepts presented. While "The Brand Gap" includes clear information, hard work, collaboration, and discipline will be needed to develop a successful brand.================================DON”T USEIn each chapter, Neumeier keeps things simple by referencing one or two companies in a brief example to illustrate his point. Sometimes the examples explain a cause-and-effect relationship, i.e. the company did something that violated the basic concept and the effect was disastrous or the company followed the branding concept and success resulted.Neumeier also traces historical connections by citing how branding operated in the past. He contrasts the traditional way with the newer, innovative methods used today.I could understand the changes that have occurred in the marketplace because there is more competition and communication. Because the book was short and included a lot of graphics, I hoped that I could quickly understand branding.The idea of how people perceive a company or service organization is much harder to determine because it requires thinking of others instead of what I already know and am familiar with.

Must have for branding and also a great yearly reminder book.