Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. In Chapter 1, What Is Branding Really About? (15 pages), the author explores the concept of branding, its role in marketing, and branding mistakes that business managers often make. He explains how a successful brand creates a connection with the customer and the importance of strategic product positioning. He outlines shared characteristics of successful brands and explains how compelling brand messages cut through modern communication "clutter." He also presents a framework for strong brand development, which includes articulating elements such as value proposition, competitive advantage, and business potential.

Briefly describes content of case. Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. In Chapter 2, The Positioning Statement, Emotions, and Brand Equity (53 pages), the author examines at length the critical components of brand building. The first is the positioning statement, which brings together information about customer needs, competition, and consumer benefits in a "blueprint" that guides all marketing efforts. Using well-known brand examples, the author explains each aspect of a strong positioning statement and provides practical guidance for developing a statement. Second, the author explains the importance of understanding the customer's perspective to create an emotional relationship between brand and customer; he also outlines a process for gaining consumer insight, summarizing research on emotions and behavior. Third, the author explains brand equity, how to build it, and its benefits. He looks at how to measure equity, summarizes several basic methodologies, and reviews high-value brands in the real world.

Briefly describes content of case. Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. In Chapter 3, Branding Applications (32 pages), the author explores five different areas for branding outside of product marketing, providing background and practical insight on developing brands for corporations, employers, individuals, global markets, and countries. First, drawing on the example of General Electric, he highlights the importance of corporate values, vision, and mission. Second, he explains the importance of a strong internal or employer brand, aimed at creating a robust and positive culture for employees. Third, he discusses the emerging concept of a personal brand for networking and job search purposes. Fourth, he explains the development of the transnational and global brands. Finally, he presents a model for building a country's brand in the global economy.

Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. Chapter 4, Building Strong Brands (51 pages) introduces a five-stage model of brand development: market analysis, strategy development, positioning, brand development, and brand marketing. The author examines the market analysis stage in-depth, including different research methods, challenges, and outcomes. He considers the importance of innovation in branding and presents a three-phase innovation model of preparation, ideation, and follow-up. He provides detailed, practical guidance for a successful ideation process in five steps: situation analysis, planning, team selection, the meeting itself, and implementation. He also explores other brand elements, such as the name, visual representation, and taglines with analysis of the psychology behind each and a review of real world examples. Finally, he explains brand architecture and related initiatives.

Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. In Chapter 5, Branding in the B2B World-New Opportunities (18 pages), the author explains how business-to-business marketers can develop strong brands and increase marketing efficiency by following the branding practices of consumer marketers. He outlines five ways for managers to adopt these practices: First, gain an in-depth understanding of customers. Second, maximize the value proposition. Third, communicate consumer value prevent buyers from demanding lower prices. Fourth, align marketing and sales operations to avoid the more costly and less efficient "silo" mentality. Finally, deepen the consumer relationship to build brand trust and generate loyalty. The author explains key aspects of each best practice and includes practical guidance for application in business marketing.

Basics of Branding: A Practical Guide for Managers is a 6-chapter book published in 2013 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jay Gronlund, president and founder of The Pathfinder Group and instructor at New York University. Gronlund provides an in-depth analysis of branding and the requirements of successful brand development. He explores critical concepts including market positioning, brand equity, and content marketing as well as the implications of continuing changes in the market environment due to technology. Using illustrative examples from well-known brands and summarizing important research, he provides practical guidance and insight for both managers and students. In Chapter 6, Marketing Today: Branding for Digital Marketing and Social Media (11 pages), the author considers how technological advances in the past decade have impacted branding. He explains how mass marketing has evolved into more targeted micro-marketing and how the internet has impacted purchasing behaviors. He looks at the rise of content marketing and how it applies to six types of marketing. He says that increasing market segmentation challenges managers to deliver more tailored messages to more individualized customer groups, and presents five critical concepts to help managers engage customers as well as outlines important implications for branding. He also provides five issues to consider when contemplating branding in social media. He concludes with a list of 20 principles to guide the development of strong brands.

This article explores how firms can benefit from opening up the new product development process by integrating the principles of open innovation with the Stage-Gate process. It examines the potential opportunities of employing the principles of both inbound and outbound open innovation within new product development at a firm in the upstream oil & gas industry. A practitioner-oriented work model, named the open Stage-Gate model, can exploit the advantages of "openness." This model allows explicit consideration of import and export of know-how and technology through gate evaluations and also enables firms to continuously assess their core capabilities and business model. The application of this model can assist firms in capturing value from both internal and external technology exploitation in increasingly open innovation processes.