Brand Mechanics by Michael Llewellyn-Williams - Book review

Brand Mechanics

The Art and Science of Building Brands

By: Michael Llewellyn-Williams, Ph.D.

Published: January 31, 2013
Format: Paperback, 208 pages
ISBN-10: 0615747329
ISBN-13: 978-0615747323
Publisher: Chromium Books













"Brands are so important to the world economy today and get talked about every day, so it still amazes me that so many people - especially those who work with brands professionally - are unable to correctly define what a brand is", writes brand strategist, and Principal and founder of BrandMechanics®, Michael Llewellyn-Williams, Ph.D., in his very hands on and results oriented book Brand Mechanics: The Art and Science of Building Brands. The author describes a practical and repeatable process for discovering and pinpointing what he refers to as an inspiring, memorable desired essence of any brand.

Michael Llewellyn-Williams recognizes the real challenges faced by CEOs, marketers, and brand managers in identifying the key essence of their brands. The author points out that much of the confusion about branding results from not having a clear definition and understanding of the nature of a brand. The sheer number of brand experts, representing the various segmented aspects of branding, adds to this lack of a holistic view of the brand. To counter this lack of a cohesive brand essence, Michael Llewellyn-Williams offers his comprehensive guide and process to getting to the very heart of the brand itself.

Michael Llewellyn-Williams, Ph.D. (photo left) understands the complexity of not only getting to the core of the brand itself, but of creating and implementing an effective brand strategy as well. For many company owners, there is a lack of vision of what the brand stands for now, and what the leader wants the brand to stand for in the future. For many brand owners, even the most basic brand focus is lost in a haze of confusions about what a brand really means to the company and its customers.

Michael Llewellyn-Williams offers a complete guide to getting to the core of a brand and extracting its true essence. The author covers all of the aspects of a brand from understanding the basic premise of the brand DNA, through the entire process, and measuring the results. The book covers the following areas of the brand journey:

* What is a brand,branding, and messaging
* The FBE™ methodology: Logistics
* The FBE™ methodology: Tasks and overview
* Mission statement
* Deep human needs
* Provable superiority
* Character and personality
* Source of trust and authority
* The future
* Future brand essence
* Brand vision
* Now what
* Future brand essence alignment
* Brand reinforcement and tracking

For me, the power of the book is how Michael Llewellyn-Williams presents a complete and readily applicable process for establishing both the deepest meaning of the brand, developing a brand strategy and positioning, and for implementing that system for any brand. Along with the process itself, the author also includes a comprehensive approach to measuring the brand's impact and understanding by all stakeholders. The book is designed as a work book that involves all stakeholders in the overall process to achieve the optimum understanding of the complete brand essence.

Michael Llewellyn-Williams goes far beyond the scope of most books on brands and brand strategy by taking a holistic approach to the topic. The author guides brand owners through the entire lifespan of the brand, whereas most books focus on only a single area of brands, brand strategy, or brand positioning. The author also provides a complete measuring process to ensure that the brand and strategy are working as planned in the overall brand vision. The addition of several appendixes ensure that the process is both readily understood by all participants, and is an enjoyable experience as well.

I highly recommend the brand clarity building book Brand Mechanics: The Art and Science of Building Brands by Michael Llewellyn-Williams, Ph.D., to any brand owners, company leaders, brand marketers and managers, brand strategists and brand positioning specialists, who are seeking a clear and concise guise to uncovering a deeper and richer understanding of the essence of their brand to ensure the most appropriate brand strategy and positioning is put into action. This book offers a comprehensive overview, as well as an intensive investigation, into every aspect of the brand and its future.