The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid it (Hardcover)

Voted to the BusinessWeek bestseller list, December 2008!

Voted Best Business Book of 2008, Advertising/Marketing —800–CEO–READ

Voted #6 Book You Should Have Read in 2008 —AdAge

"If consumer and investor perceptions of brand value have indeed been diverging, a huge reassessment of the value of brand–owning companies may still lie ahead"—Financial Times, October 23, 2008

"A wake–up call for marketers that think more branding per se will save them."—Harvard Business Review, November 2008

These authors both hold senior positions at Young & Rubicam (Y&R), part of the largest ad agency holding company in the world, WPP Group. Their book sounds an alarm based on a gap in value between how consumers and investors perceive brands. The authors have a proprietary research tool that they use to measure value, and they′ve found that investors reward companies with greater brand awareness, even if consumers don′t see much utility. The book presents recommendations on how to close the gap between consumer and company perceptions. Many other books present theories about branding. Al and Laura Ries′s The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding offers a hands–on approach to branding, focusing on what works and not necessarily why, while Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart′s Branded Customer Service attacks the problem of branding from the view of the customer experience. David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler′s Brand Leadership′s more quantitative approach and academic perspective can be compared most closely to this new book. The Brand Bubble is appropriate for a business school or corporate library and will be useful to marketers as well as investors.
—Stephen E. Turner, Turner Devaughn Network, Abington, PA (Library Journal, September 15, 2008)

"The authors have access to one of the richest longitudinal marketing databases in the world...If consumer and investor perceptions of brand value have indeed been diverging, a huge reassessment of the value of brand–owning companies may still be ahead."—Alan Mitchell, Financial Times (October 23, 2008)

"Through extensive consumer research and analysis, the authors propose a startling fact: that despite rising valuations, consumers are falling out of love with many of the brands they buy. Use this book to learn how to safeguard one of your most cherished assets, your brand."—Ram Charan, co–author of The Game Changer, Execution, and Confronting Reality

"Essential reading for all concerned with the future of their brand." (LRP, April 2009)

Companies today face a dilemma in marketing. The tried–and–true formulas to create sales and market share behind brands are becoming irrelevant and losing traction with consumers. In this book, Gerzema and LeBar offer credible evidence––drawn from a detailed analysis of a decade′s worth of brand and financial data using Y&R′s Brand Asset Valuator (BAV), the largest database of brands in the world––that business is riding on yet another bubble that is ready to burst––a brand bubble. While most managers still see metrics like trust and awareness as the backbone of how brands are built, Gerzema asserts they′re dead wrong––these metrics do not add to increased asset value. In fact, by following them, they actually hasten the declining value of their brands.

Using a five–stage model, The Brand Bubble reveals how today′s successful brands––and tomorrow′s––have an insatiable appetite for creativity and change. These brands offer consumers a palpable sense of movement and direction thanks to a powerful "energized differentiation." Gerzema reveals how brands with energized differentiation achieve better financial performance than traditional brands have. Plus, Gerzema helps readers develop energized differentiation in their own brands, creating consumer–centric and sustainable organizations.