Think Two Products Ahead

Think Two Products Ahead

Think Two Products Ahead is a commonsense approach to marketing that empowers readers to define and develop their own brands with the same techniques and technologies as the big players - but without all the cost. Author Ben Mack, a long-time marketing and advertising insider, reveals the three-step branding plan that almost all the big advertisers employ, showing readers how they can do it themselves without all the cost. Mack also shows how the best and most effective branding happens when companies don't just plan ahead, but plan two products ahead, using branding to leverage past products and strengths.

More than just a book on branding, Think Two Products Ahead is about what it takes to innovate and succeed in competitive markets. By coupling branding efforts with product innovation, marketers and managers can get far more bang for their marketing buck. Mack shows readers how to do just that, giving them the power to brand products and companies using the same tools as the big boys. Plus, the book also includes insider information on what makes branding fail, the five basic marketing positions, framing a product properly, connecting with the consumer, and deciding which marketing ideas to act on.

For marketers, managers, entrepreneurs, and executives, Think Two Products Ahead is a valuable resource in the effort to connect products and brands with consumers - without hiring a high-priced ad agency.

Branding is something you probably only think of in terms of household names and huge conglomerates. But branding isn't just for the big boys; smart branding is smart business for almost any company, no matter its size. In Think Two Products Ahead, ad agency insider Ben Mack reveals all the branding secrets the pros keep to themselves so you can put branding to work in your business, large or small.First, Mack destroysthe myth that branding is your logo or your color palette. Then, he demonstrates how great branding works, so you won't waste your money on marketing that gets you nowhere. You'll learn a practical, commonsense approach to marketing that empowers you to develop your own brand with the same techniques and technologies the big players use-but without breaking the bank. In fact, the less you spend on marketing the more important these tools are to your success.You'll discover tools to give you a competitive advantage as you strengthen the relationship between your customer and your products or services. Every encounter with your customer will deepen this bond, leading to even greater future sales. Great branding isn't just about the product you're selling now, but about maintaining the sales momentum into the product you'll be selling tomorrow. Think Two Products Ahead shows you how to align your business plan with your marketing plan, so you can keep customers indefinitely.Using real examples from some of the most legendary (or disastrous) branding campaigns in history, Mack gives you an insider's perspective-and inside advice-on which tactics will float your brand and which will sink it. He sorts the bad advice from the good, letting you avoid those missteps that get good companies in bad trouble.Branding isn't magic. Not since Jay Levinson's original Guerrilla Marketing book has an insider really spilled the beans and taught you how to use the professional grade tools that are so simple they work automatically. Think Two Products Ahead reveals inside secrets that make branding work for marketing budgets of any size-so you can grow your business faster and stronger than you imagined. When it comes to your brand, this insider's guide proves that if you aren't thinking two products ahead, you're hardly thinking at all.

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Ben Mack is a sales and marketing expert and an award-winning ad-man who has worked on high-profile campaigns at several prominent agencies, including J. Walter Thompson, BBDO, WestWayne, T.G. Madison, WONGDOODY, and Deutsch. Visit www.ThinkTwoProductsAhead.com for more information.

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword (Mark Joyner).

Preface.

Introduction.

1. Pool Hall Wisdom

2. Brand Misinformation versus Back-End Thinking.

3. The Common Thread and Thinking Two Products Ahead.

4. Branding? Be Good to Your Gander.

5. Branding Processes Are Strikingly Similar.

6. What's a Brand Essence?

7. Legendary Branding.

8. Extracting a Brand Essence.

9. The Kama Sutra of Marketing: Five Basic Positions.

10. Framing to the Right Target Audience.

11. Structured Creativity: Framing Tools.

12. Creativity on Demand: Why Ad Agencies Can't Brainstorm.

13. Feed Their Passions.

14. Plan to Have Many Conversations.

15. Everything Communicates.

16. Storytelling: Letting the Genie Out of the Bottle.

17. Branding and Thinking Two Products Ahead.

Afterword: Myth, Magic, and Making Money the Old-Fashioned Way (Dave Lakhani).

Appendix A. AKS.

Appendix B. Jeff Lloyd's Secret to Commercial Residential real Estate Sales.

Appendix C. How to turn Every First Sale into a Residual Stream of Income: Direct Response Branding, FREE Seminar Details and Downloads.

$197 e-Book.

Acknowledgments.

Index.