"The Brand Bubble" Reviewed

Title: The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid It

Authors: John Gerzema and Ed Lebar
Pages: 252
Price: $27.95
Type: Marketing/Self-help
Theme: Your brand is only valuable if it's moving forward.
Who should read: Brand strategists, marketers, CEOs. Big Think Breakdown: This book puts branding in its vastly overvalued place. It uses the 15-year Young & Rubicam BrandAsset Valuator study to puncture the idea that brands always increase in value. It should give companies a way to effectively assess what their brand is actually worth â€" and, for the vast majority of companies that have bankrupt brands, ideas on how to boost them.
Checks: The book has some great cut-downs of pompous corporate behavior that will make readers chuckle. Its first chapter is a classic dissection of conventional brand wisdom and worth the price of the book by itself. The various case studies of effective and ineffective brand management offer a number of good insights. There are also some fascinating observations about post-modernism and consumers.

Peeves: It's never good when social scientists get physics envy. Thus the "Five Laws of Energy" that form the backbone of the book's solution for brand problems are forced and irritating. There are also moments when the book feels like a thinly veiled marketing pitch for the BrandAssetValuator.

Quote: "While Wall Street has been bidding brand values ever higher, consumer perceptions toward brands are substantially eroding."