The Indispensable Brand

According to market research conducted on more than 6,000 brands over a 10-year period, the proportion of people willing to endorse any brand as different from other brands is extremely low. Over the past two decades, a relentless focus on digital activation—without equal effort on establishing differentiated positioning—has made even once-great brands indistinguishable from the pack. The result: an environment that can only be described as brand monotony, which underwhelms and disappoints customers, and negatively impacts top- and bottom-line business performance. In The Indispensable Brand, Mitch Duckler draws on 25+ years of brand strategy experience to provide a wake-up call for any modern-day marketer or business leader—and a roadmap to more effective brand differentiation. Leveraging empirical market research and dozens of case studies, this book provides a 360-degree view on brand-building, focusing on strategy (e.g., positioning, architecture, and extendibility) as well as development (e.g., experience, story, and activation), and helping marketers transform their brands from indistinguishable to indispensable.