Ffirs.indd iv 11/18/10 7:11:10 PM “W hat always amazes me about Dave Aaker is his uncanny ability to see through the fog and mist and discern a new and fundamental truth that in retrospect seems so perfectly obvious as to seem simplistic. It is just that no one else sees what Dave does. That is exactly the case with Brand Relevance. Aaker perceives that it is no longer brand pref- erence that is pivotal but rather brand relevance has now become key. Brand relevance that yields sustainable differentiation resulting in new categories or subcategories of products or services where competitors are less or even non-relevant. Forget your line extensions and white space analyses, get on the brand relevance bandwagon.” —Peter Sealey, former chief marketing offi cer, Coca-Cola and Columbia Pictures and author, Simplicity Marketing “A aker offers a fresh approach to brand strategy by observing that most marketers spend their time trying to build or maintain brand preference when they should focus on building brand relevance wins through inventing new categories and sub- categories to meet consumers’ changing needs.” —Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Northwestern University and management guru “D ave has done it again! Students of brand management from the classroom to the boardroom will appreciate the insights, challenges, and practical perspectives of Brand Relevance. Like many of Dave’s works, this will have a prominent place on my shelf of well-read, frequently-referenced business books.” —Denice Torres, president, North America CNS Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc “ Dave Aaker has become the foremost authority on branding because of his knack for providing insightful, practical advice to marketers. Brand Relevance is Aaker at his best: Tackling a challenging problem with fresh ideas and compelling examples. He convincingly shows how brands can mean the most to consumers.” —Kevin Lane Keller, E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and author, Strategic Brand Management “A aker’s concept of brand relevance provides an innovation-based path to win in the face of market dynamics.” —David Stachon, chief marketing offi cer, ERGO Insurance Group Ffirs.indd i 11/18/10 7:11:09 PM “ Dave Aaker has taught me a lot over the years. Here he goes again. Always redefi n- ing. Clarity jumps off the fi rst pages—it’s less about the brand-preference battle than the brand-relevance war. We work hard at business schools to build students’ capac- ity for clear problem statements. By bringing clarity to the real problem, he delivers great opportunity. I especially appreciate his focus on establishing relevance through disciplined process. I also appreciate his links to innovation and how to make it pay.” —Richard K. Lyons, dean, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley “A aker has hit the nail on the head with Brand Relevance, perhaps the biggest chal- lenge 21st century brands face is to risk innovating and—even more terrifying— transforming oneself. You’ve gotta take the leap or risk getting left behind.” —Ann Lewnes, chief marketing offi cer, Adobe “D avid Aaker’s Brand Relevance brings branded insight to the process of innovation. Loaded with powerful examples, his defi nition of ‘sub-categories’ provides a contex- tual sweet spot between close-in product improvements and highly elusive “trans- formational” innovations. David’s strategic model brings a potent and practical question for business leaders to ask: ‘Does this innovation create a new sub-category to which competitors are no longer relevant?’ The numerous examples really help bring it to life” —Ian R. Friendly, executive vice president, General Mills “D avid Aaker’s latest book is a downright challenge to marketers and strategists—stay the course with familiar approaches to building brand preference and risk the likeli- hood of being made irrelevant by those who jump right on Aaker’s lessons. Despite the challenges involved with brand relevance, it’s clearly a path to potential substan- tial growth.” —Meredith Callanan, vice president corporate marketing and communication, T. Rowe Price “F or an established brand like Allianz, Aaker’s insights are a “wake up call” because a market leader like us can lose our position if new brands leverage innovation and tech- nology to redefi ne insurance. We have a lot to lose if we lose the relevance game.” —Joseph K. Gross, executive vice president, Allianz SE Ffirs.indd i 11/18/10 7:11:09 PM Brand Relevance Ffirs.indd i 11/18/10 7:11:09 PM Ffirs.indd iv 11/18/10 7:11:10 PM Brand Relevance Making Competitors Irrelevant David A. Aaker Ffirs.indd v 11/18/10 7:11:10 PM Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748- 6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. 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HD69.B7A21535 2011 658.8'27—dc22 2010036007 Printed in the United States of America first edition HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Ffirs.indd vi 11/18/10 7:11:10 PM The Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series Ffirs.indd vi 11/18/10 7:11:10 PM Ffirs.indd vi 11/18/10 7:11:11 PM