Co-creating Brands: Brand Management from A Co-creative Perspective

About the Book

An essential guide to contemporary marketing that demonstrates, via case studies, the move towards marketing techniques that better reflect consumer needs.

Brand management and development has traditionally been regarded as the responsibility of the organization – they design, produce and sell the brand, before delivering it to customers. Yet this approach can be needlessly restrictive, as the connective power of the internet and the desire of consumers to focus on experiences has reshaped branding. In this digital age, development occurs beyond the limits of the organization so that, in many ways, brands are effectively co-created by consumers.

Rather than lead, manage and control, contemporary managers have taken on the new tasks of listening, connecting and participating in brand development. The focus of this process has shifted to the intersection between the organization and its stakeholders, leading to a new paradigm of brand management: the ‘co-creation perspective’.

Co-Creating Brands is an accessible exploration of how co-created brands produce value and how the success of this approach can be measured and assured. The authors draw upon a wide array of international case studies and strategic models, which clearly demonstrate how to both effectively deliver this method and how to deal with the situational challenges and obstacles that can occur. If organizational leaders are willing to relinquish complete control of their brand and recognize the supportive culture of employees, customers and stake-holders, their brand can become an unstoppable marketing force.

About the Author :

Prof. Dr. Holger J. Schmidt is a Full Professor of General Management and Marketing at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Before his academic career, he worked for consultants, advertising agencies and a global service provider. Holger is the author of numerous books and academic publications and a respected member of the international brand management community. He was Visiting Professor at CPUT in Cape Town and guest lecturer at several other institutions.

Nicholas Ind is Associate Professor at Kristiania University College, Oslo and a partner in Equilibrium Consulting. Previously he ran Icon Medialab’s brand consultancy arm in Sweden. Before he joined Icon, Nicholas had his own branding consultancy in the UK, was a Director of a design group and was an Account Director in an advertising agency. He has published articles in Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Brand Management and California Management Review. He is a Visiting Professor at ESADE, Barcelona and Edinburgh Napier University.

Review :
Ind and Schmidt pull together cutting-edge thoughts on how brands may come to be created through a co-created process in which varying constituents all play a part in the brand’s construction and maintenance. The book contains contributions from an impressive group of prestigious figures, as it takes theory and shows how it can be turned into practice. Everyone with an interest in modern brand management will benefit from Co-Creating Brands Co-creation has become the only way to think about brands. In Co-creating Brands, Ind and Schmidt bring this reality to life by showing how the power of consumers to influence brands provides tremendous opportunities for those organizations that adopt an open attitude and are willing to learn from others Ind and Schmidt and their co-creators offer the brand management student a contemporary way of thinking. They teach how to build brands in networks in which a variety of different interest groups interact with each other and with the company. Their examples from all over the world show that brand co-creation is not only theoretically convincing, but also clearly helps brands to succeed in the marketplace. Brands are a lighthouse in an ineluctably changing world. But many consumers want to be more than shoppers, they want a sense of partnership. That’s where wise managers can leverage this clear-cut and thorough book which encourages you to explore collaborative creativity and brand management further. Professors Ind and Schmidt provide you a step-by-step guide to setting up and managing a co-creative brand management system, that will sustain your brand in this era of upheaval and transformation. Co-Creating Brands provides the next generation of managers with the necessary knowledge and skills to work with the complex subject of branding in a fast changing and networked world.