The Brand Gap - Marty Neumeier

[Endo]

The Brand Gap – How to bridge the distance between Business strategy and design
Author: Marty Neumeier
Reviewer: Shane

The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier is a captivating book for any business/company looking to fill in their “gap”. For only a 194 page book, Marty sets out to present the least amount of information needed, bringing the big ideas of branding into focus for the reader. The Brand Gap is formatted in a insightful manner to capture the readers attention. Written in short hand and assisted by diagrams and illustrations, The Brand Gap is set to keep the reader interested in the topic.

The first chapter covers What A Brand Isn’t to Introducing The Charismatic Brand.
[quote name=\'What A Brand Isn’t\' date=\' The Brand Gap – Marty Neumeier\']First of all, a brand is not a logo. The term LOGO is short for LOGOTYPE, design-speak for a trademark made from a custom-lettered word (LOGOS is Greek for WORD). The term logo caught on with people because it sounds cool, but what people really mean is a trademark, whether the trademark is a logo, symbol, monogram, emblem, or other graphic device. IBM uses a monogram, for example, while Nike uses a symbol. Both are trademarks, but neither are logos. Clear? What really matters here is that a logo, or any other kind of trademark, is not the brand itself. [b]It’s merely a symbol for it.[/b][/quote]
For me this chapter started with a boom, it cleared up all the misconceptions about logo’s and a brand. The key factor, that I have learnt for a brand is: communicating the qualities that make this product different than another product. The book continues to inform the reader off many other misconceptions that companies face when it comes to brands, aswell as helpful hints to ensure that the right choice is made. Marty uses examples that readers will know, such as showing a screenshot of two websites, asking “Which is easier to navigate?” (My Xcite vs. Google), giving the reader interaction in deciding the answer, which is clearly the less-cluttered Google home page. Filled with many other good examples and hints, I will quote Marty Neumeier’s 7 criteria for a good name.

[quote name=\'The 7 Criteria for a Good Name\' date=\' The Brand Gap – Marty Neumeier\']1. [i]DISTINCTIVENESS.[/i] Does it stand out from the crowd, especially from other names in its class? Does it separate well from ordinary text and speech? The best brand names have the “presence” of a proper noun.

2. [i]BREVITY.[/i] Is it short enough to be easily recalled and used? Will it resist being reduced to a nickname? Long multi-word names will be quickly shortened to non-communicating initials.

3. [i]APPROPRIATENESS.[/i] Is there a reasonable fit with the business purpose of the entity? If it would work just as well-or better- for another entity, keep looking.

4. [i]EASY SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION.[/i] Will most people be able to spell the name after hearing it spoken? Will they be able to pronounce it after seeing it written? A name shouldn’t turn into a spelling test or make people feel ignorant.

5. [i]LIKEABILITY.[/i] Will people enjoy using it? Names that are intellectually stimulating, or provide a good “mouth feel”, have a headstart over those that don’t.

6. [i]EXTENDIBILITY[/i] Does it have “legs”? Does it suggest a visual interpretation or lend itself to a number of creative executions? Great names provide endless opportunities for brandplay.

7. [i]PROTECTABILITY.[/i] Can it be trademarked? Is it available for web use? While many names can be trademarked, some names are more defensible than others, making them safrter and more valuable in the long run.[/quote]
I feel these seven criteria would be useful to anyone facing the decision of branding their product. There were many other things that also captured my focus in the book, with small-witty quotes, such as “[i]If people can change their clothes to suit the occasion, why can’t Brands?[/i] and “[i]Our brains are hardwired to notice whats different.[/i]”.

The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier is unquestionably a resource book every major company, or any starting company should have to guarantee success to constructing their brand which inturn could decide the success of the company.

[Tami]

Thanks Shane, I\'ll move this to reviews in a bit