Introduction and About the Authors
An introduction to the branding eGuides
from the project leader Jane Frost
Many people in many organisations increasingly talk of branding; making claims about the increasing importance of brands to their strategies and balance sheets but the number of real practitioners does not seem to grow. Indeed in bleaker moments I think that real brand practice declines in inverse proportion to how fashionable the term is.
We live in an early 21st century world of fragmenting markets and communication channels, increasing consumer sophistication and escalating costs. In this world it may seem self evident that focussed, creative and consistent brand management is the key to retained consumer value and cost containment yet brands very rarely sit at the centre of corporate strategy and operations. Companies are increasingly process focussed, looking for increased systems efficiency, and whilst this is understandable it is a trend that tends to displace understanding of consumer and stakeholder value.
Brands are the place where these values meet and connect and yet much marketing practice and many practitioners are relegated to ?end of the chain? specialities and opportunities for truly integrated brand management training are limited.
This canon of knowledge has brought together some of the worlds most senior and experienced branding practitioners and academics to provide insights, case studies and other learning material that they believe are critical to best practice in brands.
The site is a treasure trove of knowledge and experience and I am indebted to the time and conviction contributed by the editorial panel. It is intended to be an organic and interactive site so your input of case studies and experience will enrich the pool of knowledge for other site users; the editorial panel will welcome all contributions.
About the project group
Leading marketing practitioners, academics and consultants have been brought together to make up the Branding project group.
Participants include:
Jane Frost graduated in Medieval History from Cambridge University and joined Unilever as a graduate trainee, becoming the first female brand manager on Persil in 1982. Three years later, Jane joined Shell and spent time in the Middle East establishing a marketing strategy and communications department before becoming Lubricants Branding Co-ordinator and later Branding Co-ordinator for Shell as a whole. In 1994, Jane joined the BBC to establish and head the new Corporate and Brand Marketing Department. Jane was responsible for the BBC?s rebranding campaign, which included the Internationally acclaimed ?Perfect Day? advertisement ? the song later going on to raise £2.5m for Children in Need.
Jane?s marketing strategies for the BBC saw the corporation win dozens of advertising awards including Brand of the Year, Brand of the Millennium and Superbrand status. Since leaving the BBC, Jane has been acting as a marketing consultant to European public service broadcasters and to venture capitalists as a director of Greystones consultancy. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Royal Society of the Arts and one of Women in Advertising and Communications ?Women of achievement?. Jane is a Director of BBC Children in Need, a non-executive director of Wolters Kluwer NV and the Lowry Centre and a Council member of HTI - an Education and Business partnership.
Leslie de Chernatony; Professor of Brand Marketing and Director of the Centre for Research in Brand Marketing at The Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. Leslie held a Visiting Professorship at the Madrid Business School and is currently Visiting Professor at Thammasat University in Bangkok and the University of Lugano. He holds a doctorate in brand management, has written numerous articles on the subject and has had several books published, the most recent of which are Creating Powerful Brands (with co-author Malcolm McDonald) and From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation.
A frequent presenter at international conferences, Leslie is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Market Research Society. He acts as a brand consultant and runs acclaimed brand management workshops throughout the UK, Europe, America, Asia and the Far East. The web site for the Centre for Research in Brand Marketing can be found at http://crbm.bham.ac.uk
William Arruda has been working with some of the world's most valuable Brands for nearly 20 years, including KPMG, Lotus, IBM, and Primark Corporation. Combining his branding expertise with his passion for people, he founded Reach - www.reachcc.com - the world's first global consultancy to focus on the human side of branding.
A member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), William also holds a Master's Degree in Education, and has lent his expertise to audiences around the world. William has published numerous articles in publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the brandchannel.com web site and is the author of two books due for publication soon: Brand New You ? Three Steps to Successful Personal Branding; and Health Without the Health Club. William can be reached at williamarruda@reachcc.com.
Hugh Davidson graduated in Economics and Law at Cambridge University then qualified in the top 1% as a barrister before going on to become Marketing Manager at Procter & Gamble and McVities and President Europe at Playtex International. As a consultant, Hugh spent many years working in the USA before going on to found Oxford Corporate Consultants. He has advised a wealth of top companies including Mars, Unilever, PepsiCo, Heinz, Barclays and Tesco and has voluntary experience with prisons, churches and international charities including many years spent chairing the Trading Committee at Save the Children.
Hugh has written over 40 articles and a number of books, including Even More Offensive Marketing, the only marketing book finalist in the 1998 Global Business Book Awards; and The Committed Enterprise ? How to make vision and values work. He is Visiting Professor of Consumer Marketing at Cranfield University, a Fellow and Past Chairman of the Marketing Society and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Charlie Robertson has spent 25 years working as an internationally recognised account planner. He is the MD and founder of Red Spider Ltd, an agency offering advice on creative brand strategy, which has a client list including the BBC, Lego, Lucasfilm and Nike. Prior to setting up Red Spider, Charlie spent time as the planning director for the highly successful ad? agency Bartle, Bogle & Hegarty and set up a planning department for the Leith agency.
Charlie recently served as Executive-in-Residence for the advertising programme at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He has chaired the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and the Account Planning Group.
Judie Lannon graduated in Psychology from the University of Michigan before going on to become a qualitative researcher and marketing communications strategist. Judie began her career with Leo Burnett in Chicago and spent 20 years with J. Walter Thompson, London, becoming Research and Development Director for J. Walter Thompson Europe. She currently manages her own consultancy which specialises in developing local and international communication strategies for clients as well as running courses in research and marketing communications.
Judie has published many papers on research, branding and integrated communications and is a frequent speaker at international conferences and business schools. She is editor of the prestigious journal of the Marketing Society in Britain, Market Leader and Features Editor of the International Journal of Advertising.
John Noble began his marketing career with British Airways before moving into marketing consultancy with Marketing Solutions. He then became Head of Marketing for Hamptons estate agents and took a senior marketing role with Bristol & West International. A Chartered Marketer, John is now Director of the British Brands Group, a membership organisation which provides the collective voice for brand manufacturers in the UK. The Group was founded in 1994 to promote the values and benefits of brands to consumers, the economy, and society, as well as to represent brand manufacturers on policy issues.
Through its lectures, research studies, conferences, publications and briefings, the BBG deepens understanding amongst those who make and shape public policy of the contribution of brands to the quality of our everyday lives and the success of the economy. It is part of network of similar organisations across Europe and represents AIM, the European Brands Association, in the UK.
Stephen Gilbert is a graduate of the University of Surrey and the Broad School of Management at Michigan State University. Stephen has a wealth of experience in marketing including roles as Planning Director and New Business Director at The Creative Business and Marketing Director for Chanel UK. Stephen is now Brand Strategy Director for Brand Finance.
Founded by its CEO and former director of brand valuation at Interbrand David Haigh in 1996, Brand finance is an independent consultancy that aims to provide a professional approach to marketing accountability and brand valuation. The company works for a wide range of blue chip clients around the world providing services including brand valuation, portfolio review, budget allocation strategy and brand performance forecasting. Brand Finance employs a team of professional accountants, numerate marketers and academics to provide effective and transparent analysis and a better understanding of marketing finances. www.brandfinance.com
MT (Mary Teresa) Rainey is a founder and Co Chief Executive of Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe which has grown into the sixth largest advertising agency in the UK since its inception in 1993. The agency has attracted high profile clients including Land Rover, Virgin, Lloyds and Marks & Spencer and is a member of the WPP group.
A graduate of Glasgow University, MT is an honorary member of the Account Planning Group and a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow Business School. She is also a Trustee of the innovative charities Pilotlight and Timebank, a Trustee of the think tank Demos and a non-executive Director of WH Smith plc. MT is a regular speaker and publisher on communications and media industry issues both in the UK and around the world, a council member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain and a founding woman member of the 30 Club.
Julia Wolny graduated in Fashion Management from the London College of Fashion. Currently, she is completing her CIM co-sponsored PhD at the University of Salford, researching the applications of mass customisation in the clothing industry.
Julia has presented at numerous academic and business conferences in the
fields of e-marketing and fashion both in Europe and USA. She has also worked on consulting projects for IBM and Retail Planning Associates. You can contact her at JuliaWolny@aol.com.