Brand Meaning » (1st Edition)

How a company 'positions' a brand is not necessarily how the consumer perceives that brand. Brands allow marketers to add meaning to products and services, but it is consumers who ultimately determine what a brand means. The sources of brand meaning are many and varied, as are the ways in which meanings become attached to brands.

Brand Meaning takes a comprehensive and holistic look at how consumers find and create meaning in brands. It explores the fundamental conscious and unconscious elements that connect people with products and brands. Traditional marketing concepts are questioned, and a new brand meaning framework is put forward. The book lays out new and fertile territory for the understanding of how brands can both assimilate and provide meaning. It will leave readers with a better appreciation of what brand means and what brands mean.

Primarily intended as a supplemental reader for undergraduate, graduate and MBA courses, the book's scope should also make it rewarding and valuable reading for practitioners in the fields of marketing and advertising.

Author     ix
Preface     xi
Introduction     xiii
About Brands     1
Human Motivation: How and Why We Seek Meaning     11
Perception     49
The Meaning of Things     77
Brand Meaning: Definitions and Directions     111
Brand Meaning and Brand Strategy     159
The Evolution of Brand Meaning     189
Brand Communication     207
References     225
Appendix     233
Credits     237
Author Index     241
Subject Index     245