Table of Contents

Please note that sub-section headings will be worked on. There follows a brief summary of the key message of each chapter.

Chapter 1: Introduction (± 30 pages)

An increasing number of studies show that strong brands are worth more than weak ones. Stock price returns on strong brands are higher and lower risk than stock price returns on weak brands. Given its financial impact, branding is ultimately a CEO issue. The problem is, however, that branding is often seen as a soft and difficult to grasp field, guided mainly by intuition, rules of thumb and creativity. Hence, allocating branding investments is often seen as a fuzzy and largely intuitive exercise – creating uncertainty, frustration and sometimes even fear.

Chapter 2: The chance of being chosen (± 25 pages)

Brands are networks of associations in people’s minds that influence their behavior. Therefore, a key to making more sensible branding investments lies in a better understanding of the brain. In the last 20 years scientists have made enormous advances in the study of our brain. In 2000, three neuroscientists – Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric Kandel – received the Nobel Prize for their research on the brain. Their work provides vital branding lessons for top executives and marketers that result in a new model of brand choice. Our brain selects brands much the way Google selects websites in response to a key word. The three branding laws highlighted by this book together constitute the brain’s ‘algorithm’ for choosing brands and can be used by branding professionals to maximise the chances of their brand being chosen by the customer.

Chapter 3: The law of relevance (± 25 pages)

Our brain remembers relevant things better and faster than irrelevant things. Brands that are more strongly associated with things that the customer’s brain finds of key importance at the time and place of choice are thus more likely to be chosen. Brands must obtain deep insight into the drivers of choice at the moments and places their customers decide, for example by using more ‘empathic’ types of research, and associate their brands to these drivers.

Chapter 4: The law of coherence (± 25 pages)

Our brain remembers specific things better than vague things. It remembers repeated things better than new things. Therefore, only brands that stick to a clear, articulate theme for years can fundamentally increase the likelihood of being chosen. As soon as the brand deviates from the thread, our brain becomes confused and the brand damages its own brand equity. The higher the coherence of branding efforts across time and space, the more likely the brand will be chosen. This means brands must create a long-term strategy that balances two trade-offs: specificity vs. broadness and repetition vs. surprise.

Chapter 5: The law of participation (± 25 pages)

Our brain remembers things with which we’ve had intense and elaborate interaction better than things that remain peripheral. Brands that can tempt us to try, play, practice, learn, exercises, interact, or socialize with them are the most likely to be chosen. Brands must seek to reach customers with richer media and more intriguing, engaging forms that create interaction, involvement and dialogue. The richer the branding environment that is created, the more likely the brand will be chosen. Brands must develop an interaction strategy that balances richness with reach.

Chapter 6: The process of creating powerful brands (± 25 pages)

This chapter brings the three laws and the tools and techniques previously discussed together. It outlines a process by which companies can implement the topics in this book in a systematic fashion. Thus, it shows h