BRAND is a four letter word: Positioning and The Real Art of Marketing Hardcover – April 15, 2012

good read

I have read 3 other brand positioning books and this book for me is BY FAR the most insightful and actionable book I've read. Brand Against the Machine is a great book but left me feeling like it was written by a great practitioner that hasn't yet been able to generalise his marketing thoughts. The 22 Immutable Laws left me feeling like "Immutable" was a bit of a stretch and 22 was picked as a nice sounding round number. Brand is a four letter word provides a very clear and concise explanation of how to EARN your brand with your audience, and backs up the explanation with solid reason, experience and what feels like the author's complete honesty about the challenges you are likely to encounter when executing a great brand positioning strategy.More specifically, this book generated for me the greatest amount of high quality action items on my to do list with a clear sense of not only how I was going to get them done but also WHY it is so important to nail them.The only thing I was left wondering at the end of the book is whether I was the only one scratching my head as to how a Brand is a 4 letter word, not a 5 letter word!

Great book. A mix of often forgotten common sense and iconoclasm. Even some of us very experienced marketers get in a muddle about what is brand strategy, what is brand vision and what is positioning, but McGhie provides some plainspeak and irrefutable definitions and shows how they connect to each other. But what sets this book apart is the voice with which McGhie writes. He seems personally affronted by lazy marketers who espouse "branding" as a business strategy. He makes all of his points through examples -- he praises some brands but is critical of many as well. He's also refreshingly honest about the mistakes he has made. All in all, it is a provocative, useful, timely and honest book.

I did not expect this book to be a great one as the title threw me off a little , but then I got hooked on the information and the ease of flow of ideas . Very useful book . I feel bad that it is cheap to buy . I wish the author will write more books with the same style as I could not find other books written by him . I recommend it highly to any one who wants to build success and great future .

I usually read brand books because I think I should, not always because I want to. I'm always thinking, "Hmmm, do I agree with this author? Is that a new idea? Are they smarter than me?" Well Austin McGhee's book is good enough to make me think, "Dammit, I wish I had said that." In fact, I've already started quoting him to colleagues. He's not only smart, but witty and even down-to-earth with his advice. Which makes reading this book fun. And for another book on brand, that alone is worth 5 stars.

I have known Austin for quite awhile. Austin can be a little obsessive- compulsive when it comes to soccer, bicycling, and wine.He is also a very bright guy with a lot of common sense.This book delivers. Austin's intelligence and common sense are there for eveyone to see. Leaders of Multi-billion dollar corporations listen to him...as they should.If you are interested in branding, this is a great book, written by one of the leaders in the field.Buy it.

There are no words to describe how superb this book is. I've read it three times and I still can't get enough of it. He writes like the thinks and I like it because I can relate. If you're having second thoughts about getting it, then put your mind to rest. This book will definitely motivate you to get your cogs working. It doesn't matter in what field you are, this book will get you inspired. Buy! Buy now!

Bought this for my wife and she says it's the best book on the subject that she has read.

I was looking for a book that could help put forward the structure for arriving at the positioning for a brand. This book disappointed me, no substance at all, just full of examples without any support. Having read books like how brands grow has made me think twice about the importance of positioning and such book reinforces the thought that maybe positioning is just some mumbo jumbo that we marketers have created.

It seems like a book that repeats known concepts in marketing and self-actualization, more a manifesto for working with brands than a useful book with new concepts

Any brand developer must read.