I can't take it anymore, I'm only on pg 73, this guy is driving me up the wall.

he keeps confusing product design (egg) and branding (chicken) as the samething and their not. what comes first, type of problem, the chicken or the egg.. (I can hear Adamson saying it the samething dummy)

This book, is his resume, he has to be looking for work

on pg 71 he makes a reference to VCR, u can't even buy one, much less use one....so why bring that up....i'm guessing, he pushed his old note.

if your still confused after reading the book, hire his agency so they can pick your pocket clean...brand-broke

the reason I didn't give it one star, u might think i'm some nut
I bet $20 he used his friends to pump the 4.5 rating

update:
finished the book and tossed it in the garbage can

I can't take it anymore, I'm only on pg 73, this guy is driving me up the wall. he keeps confusing product design (egg) and branding (chicken) as the samething and their not. what comes first, type of problem, the chicken or the egg.. (I can hear Adamson saying it the samething dummy)

This book, is his resume, he has to be looking for work

on pg 21 he makes a reference to VCR, u can't even buy one, much less use one....so why bring that up....i'm guessing he pushed his old note.

if your still confused after reading the book, hire his agency so they can pick your pocket clean...brand-broke

the reason I didn't give it one star, u might think i'm some nut
I bet $20 he used his friends to pump the 4.5 rating

BrandSimple is a refreshingly easy read that boils the essence of brands and branding down to, well, their simplest but most important basics. Anyone involved in business management of any kind should read this book.

Adamson reminds us throughout the book that a brand is a very different thing than branding and that marketers cannot be great at branding without first creating a great brand.

The best brands are different. They promise something different and unique and deliver on that promise every time. They also find a way to simplify their brand message so that just about everyone instantly "gets it" and that the "it" resonates and seems obvious after the fact. Getting to that simplicity can require a lot of hard work and thinking, but making it seem so simple, obvious and intuitive is the key.

As Managing Director of Landor Associates, Allen Adamson peppers the book with real-world examples from his work at Landor and from his previous positions. His case studies show how the best brands work tirelessly to emerge with a simple promise and a simple message that is easily communicated in just a few words.

The real examples are brief yet clearly show the challenges and ultimate solutions from brands like Compaq, Visa, Apple, Aquafina, Baby Einstein, BlackBerry, JetBlue, Timberland, Pixar and many more. He uses these brands to show that often a simple insight that makes your product different is the real power in building a great brand -- as long as that difference is important and relevant to your potential customers.

The book is written at an easy reading level so that any business manager will be able to readily breeze through it without tons of technical branding terminology and grasp the important concepts. This in turn will inspire them to reevaluate and transform their own brands. The book is straight-forward, simple and highly insightful and useful.


On my "Professional Marketer Investment Scale";
($-Poor investment, $$$$$-Great investment)

Rating: $$$$$

- If you're starting an ad agency, marketing business, or developing your own brand you NEED to read this. I know while reading personally, I had to stop and breathe every 2 pages and take notes because it was packed with so many thought provoking truths.

- Every page has something important or special. Usually books like these are written with a lot of Filler in between chapters just to make the book longer. However BrandSimple avoids this, and stays clear, simple, and informative throughout the end.

- I'm keeping this one, If I ever hire employees for my Ad Agency this book will be a mandatory read.

- Also, Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples is a Must read as well.

This book provides insight about how to make your brand stick. With all the marketing noise that we as business people have to penetrate through, it is necessary to differentiate your product. This book details the process of creating a relevant brand in our global market. I recommend this book to anyone who has a business at any level from a home based business to a start up. It is written in a simple style and is highly informative with stories and interviews to highlight the key points. Learn how to establish your brand idea and align your signals for a profitable return.

I've just finished reading BrandSimple and wanted to thank Allen for writing this book.

We are at a stage in the life of our company in which we are using branding & positioning to go head-to-head with companies that are much bigger than us and BrandSimple has saved us from making many mistakes that would have cost us dearly in both the short & long term.

Beware though, that this book has been written in a compelling manner which is true to its mantra (i.e. keeping things simple) and will make the reading of other most other marketing books much more difficult.

I re-read "BrandSimple" while navigating through airports over the weekend. Remarkably, it was even stronger the 2nd time around, and 1+ years after my initial read. Few books of any genre can make that claim. I was reminded of just how much great, immediately actionable knowledge Adamson has captured in this book. I've worked in branding and marketing for 17 years and feel strongly that BrandSimple should be compulsory reading both for the branding veteran as well as the relative novice. Kudos to Mr. Adamson...

Michael Draznin

This was an entertaining read, especially the depth of case studies. Allen used the term "branding signals" several times in this book, which I found to be nice illustration on how to articulate brand equity. As a former brand consultant and now client, I recommend it as a value-added thought piece.

This book is as branded. Allen P. Adamson quietly takes you step-by-step through establing a brand idea to refining it to the purest form -- a power brand driver known as the brand name. He demystifies the process without overloading readers with details or resorting to gimmicks. The writing is solid, the organization logical. Key takeaway: Be in your customers' mental "save as" folders in a positive way -- and work to stay there.

I thought it was a fairly valuable read. The thesis is really simple. To create a strong brand you must find a simple idea that is differentiated and relevant. You then build the brand by focusing on specific points in the customer journey, and craft the brand interactions to send signals that will shape the perceptions of the consumer.

The weak parts of the book were that some of the ideas seemed too simple or obvious, and it was repetitive at times. I loved the analogy which compared the mind to a computer desktop and brands to computer files. The more associations and images you have of the brand, the larger the file appears when you click on it. The brand must say something relevant and meaningful to get you to save as.

The coolest thing I learned was that all the pencils at BP are made out of recycled plastic coffe cups, which I didn't know was possible. Overall it is a good book to read if you are interested in the fundamentals of building a brand.

This book focuses on one concept: brand stickiness. And like most things, though what you are doing might be rocket science, to get the brand to stick you need to be able to explain it clearly in a few memorable words. Brand Simple is about reducing what you are doing to it's essence. If you can't do that then according to the author you are not sufficiently focused as a brand and you won't be able to get the stickiness you want. The author uses many examples of well known brand names to get his point across. I'm no marketer but this book struck a chord with me nonetheless as I tend to think that, as with many things in life, "Less is More".

In BrandSimple, Allen Adamson, managing director of world-class brand consultancy Landor and Associates, distills his insights of 25 years of experience working with the world's top brands in one simple phrase: the most successful brands are those that have found a unique and relevant way to differentiate themselves, that is at the same time simple to understand and communicate. Getting to that simple idea, though, is not that simple.

Contrary to other books about branding, usually heavy on jargon and muddy theory, Adamson writes in plain English and provides plenty of real life examples that show how everyday brands have tackled the task of coming up with their very own simple brand idea, and why some have succeded where others failed. This wide array of case studies makes the book a fascinating and engaging read.

BrandSimple doesn't stop with the examples, though, and also shows us, step by step, how companies of any size can uncover their simple brand idea and design the most powerful branding signals to communicate that idea to their target customers.

While the author's experience has been forged with large corporations, the concepts he talks about are relevant and applicable to either the Fortune 500 company with money to spend on Superbowl ads, or the home-based business that must rely on blogging and low cost social media to build its brand.

Like if it wanted to reinforce the book's central message, BrandSimple's cover is in itself an exercise on simplicity: there are none of the distracting graphics, background textures or call-out blurbs common in today's business books. The typesetting is also clear and understated, in a color that provides subtle contrast with the background.

Adamson also makes things simple when he offers a list of his top 10 takeaways at the end of the book. This list is a comprehensive summary of the most important topics covered in the previous 220 pages, and something that readers will want to keep handy and refer to often.

I am greatly impressed by this book and wouldn't hesitate in calling it the best book on branding I have ever read. I would strongly recommend it to all marketing professionals and especially to small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to stay relevant and competitive.

Adamson writes in a down to earth fashion about branding. I loved the examples that were given. This is a must read for the marketing strategist. This should be used in the classroom at B-schools around the country.

I sincerely expected more about this book since it provides perspective of the agency to client's work. Is informative but not very inspiring.

I sincerely expected more about this book since it provides perspective of the agency to client's work. Is informative but not very inspiring.

Having spun my storytelling skills from broadcasting and print to the corporate world, I often questioned whether I was looking at things through the same lens as those that had spent their entire careers in marketing. I'd seen the 300 page briefs on my client's desks and wondered whether there was something they knew that I didn't - why it all appeared to be so complicated.

I picked up BrandSimple questioning whether I was on the right track and put it down, with complete confidence that "Simple" is better. Allen Adamson lifts the curtain and reveals the wizardry behind some of the world's best branding campaigns and proves that what we do isn't magic, it's simply a matter of listening to our client's stories - finding the right words to tell them - and then making sure the client makes good on their promise.

I plan on giving Allen's book to every client that wonders why I ask so many questions before developing a creative campaign, so they'll understand that those 6 words that make up a tagline are more than just a phrase........but their story.

BrandSimple should be required reading for anyone that's interested in a career in branding. At the very least, universities should consider attaching it to every diploma they hand out to advertising and marketing graduates. It's a gift that will absolutely launch their students in the right direction.

Lori Weiss
Creative Strategist / Corporate Storyteller

Allen's message and supporting stories are dead-on right, keep it simple stupid. Too many brand owners, brand managers and business managers seem to believe that branding is a complicated. This could not be farther from the truth and this book makes the case that focus and sticking to the basics will win every time. BrandSimple is one of those books which anyone who has any brand interaction should read every year as a reminder that the basics win.

I've just finished reading BrandSimple and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is engaging, well structured, devoid of hyperbole and one can't argue with the Allen Adamson's reasoning. If you have to choose one book on brand this is the best one I've read.

BrandSimple is a refreshingly direct book that provides practical advice on brand strategy. I found this book highly engaging. Adamson details concise, relevant principles of brand building, often through credible anecdotes and cases. This book offers insight and perspective that will help enlighten marketers in their efforts to establish and nurture meaningful and powerful brands.
D.L. Blumenstein
EVP, Young & Rubicam