1st Edition
Brand Positioning Connecting Marketing Strategy and Communications
Brand Positioning is an English translation of an exceptionally well-renowned Dutch textbook, which provides a practical approach to analysing, defining and developing a brand’s positioning strategy.
Divided into three key parts, the book works step-by-step through the creation of an effective marketing strategy, combining an academic approach with the strategic and operational guidelines, tools and techniques required. Unlike other textbooks, it has a unique focus on the relationship between branding, marketing and communications, exploring brand values, brand identity and brand image, and analysing how these can be transformed into a successful positioning strategy, using international case studies, examples and practical exercises.
This textbook will be core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of marketing strategy, branding, marketing communications and consumer behaviour. It will also be of great value to marketing and communications professionals looking to develop and maintain their company’s brand.
Part I: Foundations 1. Relevance of Brand Positioning 2. Essentials of Brand Postioning Part II: The Creation of the Brand Positioning Strategy 3. Customer Needs and Customer Values 4. Brand Image and Brand Values 5. Brand Identity 6. Brand Positioning: Mindshare and Heartshare Part III: The Implementation of the Brand Positioning Strategy 7. Brand Positioning and Communication 8. Brand Positioning and Brand Architecture 9. Brand Positioning, Brand Names, and Visual Design 10. Brand Positioning and Employees
Biography
Erik Kostelijk is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Amsterdam School of International Business of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. He has teaching, research and professional experience in China, USA, Lithuania, France, Spain and Italy. He is the designer and author of the Value Compass, a method to assess the influence of values on branding.
Karel Jan Alsem is Professor in Marketing at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands, and is Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He is also a brand consultant. He has published in several academic journals and has written multiple marketing books, including Applied Strategic Marketing (Routledge, 2019).
"Karel Jan Alsem and Erik Kostelijk make an admirable attempt to clarify the subject of brand positioning. They have succeeded, without falling into the currently loved usage of simplistic language.… A must for every marketer who wants to delve deeply into the topic of brand positioning." — Max Kohnstamm, jury member of ‘The Best Dutch Marketing Book of the Year’
"A helpful book for students in higher education. Brand Positioning combines many practical guidelines with a selection of state-of-the-art theory about branding and positioning. Combined with the many cases it contributes, this book helps students to understand and evaluate branding and positioning in an approachable way." — Bernice Spijker, Marketing Lecturer at Hanzehogeschool (University of Applied Sciences), Netherlands
