I’ve long ago stopped paying much attention to people who throw around the word “branding” or keep harping on the meaning of “brand.” Because depending on where you work — an ad agency, a design firm, a digital marketing shop, etc. — branding and brand building means something different to you. Still, it’s illuminating to read a book like Idris Mootee’s 60 Minute Brand Strategist: The Essential Brand Book for Marketing Professionals.
Chock full of fun graphics, minimalist Helvetica type, and lots of quotes, Mootee takes an entertaining shot at systematically defining what a “brand” really is in 2013. There’s a lot of good information about assigning meaning, value and purpose to a brand, as well as the role of customers in reacting to, and sometimes helping to define, a brand’s ethos.
What makes this book a little troublesome is that most of the examples Mootee uses represent global, well-established brands: Starbucks, Virgin, Nike, Nestle, Prada, and many others. And let’s be honest, these brands have spent hundreds of millions of dollars establishing, developing and protecting their brands. So the question becomes, who really is the audience for this book? Anyone working on a startup or very small brand will feel very overwhelmed with the perspective presented, even though there’s valuable information here.
The title of the book comes from Mootee’s suggestion that the book’s breezy format could be read and finished on a “flight from New York to Chicago, or from London to Paris.” Perhaps, but chances are if you’re on one of those flights you don’t need this book. If you’re poolside at a Kansas City Hampton Inn while the kids take a swim, The 60 Minute Brand Strategist might help you, and your brand, even more.
Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me with a review copy.
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