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Why Johnny Can't Brand: Rediscovering the lost art of the Big Idea
“There’s a Big Idea waiting inside your brand that can make you #1. Find it and shape it yourself—or competitors and customers will do it for you. And we promise, you won’t like the tagline.”
A few years back, a shocking best seller called Why Johnny Can’t Read woke up the education establishment and revived the lost art of phonics. Now, Why Johnny Can’t Brand blows the lid off the marketing establishment by reviving the lost art of the Big Idea.
According to Bill Schley and Carl Nichols, Jr., modern branding is a daily choice between real, muscle-building ideas and an immense smorgasbord of empty-caloried junk. The stakes are huge, especially in a world with 155 kinds of shampoo. So why do so many good companies choose wrong? In fact, why do most fail to differentiate at all—handing what some call an “unfair” advantage to the few who do? The surprising answers, and the exclusive, eight-week prescription to fix it, are here in Why Johnny Can’t Brand.
Schley and Nichols—who have more than twenty-five years of experience working with global giants as well as small, spunky, start-ups—present an in-your-face, no-nonsense guide to what real branding and communicating is all about.
The secret is uncovering and focusing on the Dominant Selling Idea—the one unifying idea at the center of every brand—before you charge ahead with advertising or anything else. The Dominant Selling Idea (DSI) is “the thing you do that’s superlative, important and believable, made memorable and tangible—the difference that makes people want to buy you.” It automatically puts you in a category of one.
In the often funny, page-turning style of two award-winning, former Madison Avenue communicators, Schley and Nichols
1.Why real branding is the opposite of what you think
2. How positioning turns your brand asset from fool’s gold to real gold
3. Why Harvard and Stanford MBAs are the last to get it (but fear not—they can learn this too)
4. How to find your Big Idea in about eight weeks—then keep it...
and so much more.
Why Johnny Can’t Brand clears away the morass we thought was branding, just when we need it most. In a world with 300 million messages whizzing by every second, it gives us the ultimate ad- vantage—an inspiring, power-packed return to the secret of the idea centered brand.
—From the cover of the first edition
A few years back, a shocking best seller called Why Johnny Can’t Read woke up the education establishment and revived the lost art of phonics. Now, Why Johnny Can’t Brand blows the lid off the marketing establishment by reviving the lost art of the Big Idea.
According to Bill Schley and Carl Nichols, Jr., modern branding is a daily choice between real, muscle-building ideas and an immense smorgasbord of empty-caloried junk. The stakes are huge, especially in a world with 155 kinds of shampoo. So why do so many good companies choose wrong? In fact, why do most fail to differentiate at all—handing what some call an “unfair” advantage to the few who do? The surprising answers, and the exclusive, eight-week prescription to fix it, are here in Why Johnny Can’t Brand.
Schley and Nichols—who have more than twenty-five years of experience working with global giants as well as small, spunky, start-ups—present an in-your-face, no-nonsense guide to what real branding and communicating is all about.
The secret is uncovering and focusing on the Dominant Selling Idea—the one unifying idea at the center of every brand—before you charge ahead with advertising or anything else. The Dominant Selling Idea (DSI) is “the thing you do that’s superlative, important and believable, made memorable and tangible—the difference that makes people want to buy you.” It automatically puts you in a category of one.
In the often funny, page-turning style of two award-winning, former Madison Avenue communicators, Schley and Nichols
1.Why real branding is the opposite of what you think
2. How positioning turns your brand asset from fool’s gold to real gold
3. Why Harvard and Stanford MBAs are the last to get it (but fear not—they can learn this too)
4. How to find your Big Idea in about eight weeks—then keep it...
and so much more.
Why Johnny Can’t Brand clears away the morass we thought was branding, just when we need it most. In a world with 300 million messages whizzing by every second, it gives us the ultimate ad- vantage—an inspiring, power-packed return to the secret of the idea centered brand.
—From the cover of the first edition
- GenresBusiness
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 17, 2005
22 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 2, 2015
I picked this volume up at a dollar store because I couldn't help wondering what kind of marketing advice it contained, given the circumstances.
On the whole, the information itself seems solid, although the authors commit a critical error in panning Aflac's advertising strategy.
Scheley and Nichols, writing in 2005, suggest the duck mascot Aflac introduced during the Super Bowl in 2000 was unhelpful because it didn't directly reinforce the sales message. But according to Aflac, the company's name recognition "soared from 11 percent to 94 percent where it remains today" due to the campaign. And Aflac is now the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States.
Of course, Aflac could be "the exception that proves the rule."
Still, anyone wishing to survey the fundamentals of branding will get that here. The authors define branding as "finding a specific IDEA that you stand for, finding a way to own that idea in a credible way, and ultimately building total trust that you will always deliver."
Owning an idea means being #1 in some area of specialty, which the authors say is fundamental to our culture and critical to the success of a brand. The paths to reaching first place are infinite; a company just has to be patient, creative and confident enough to blaze the trail. Everyone can discover a #1 specialty that is "superlative, important, believable, memorable and tangible."
The chief problem with the book is its confusing organization. There are chapters, sections, parts, "Granite Pages," steps, ways and points to keep track of, and it's easy to get lost. There's also a running joke throughout the book, with each chapter beginning with a quote by fictional "Guru." The device is unnecessary, and worse, not funny. Real quotes by actual marketing experts would have been much more valuable.
On the whole, the information itself seems solid, although the authors commit a critical error in panning Aflac's advertising strategy.
Scheley and Nichols, writing in 2005, suggest the duck mascot Aflac introduced during the Super Bowl in 2000 was unhelpful because it didn't directly reinforce the sales message. But according to Aflac, the company's name recognition "soared from 11 percent to 94 percent where it remains today" due to the campaign. And Aflac is now the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States.
Of course, Aflac could be "the exception that proves the rule."
Still, anyone wishing to survey the fundamentals of branding will get that here. The authors define branding as "finding a specific IDEA that you stand for, finding a way to own that idea in a credible way, and ultimately building total trust that you will always deliver."
Owning an idea means being #1 in some area of specialty, which the authors say is fundamental to our culture and critical to the success of a brand. The paths to reaching first place are infinite; a company just has to be patient, creative and confident enough to blaze the trail. Everyone can discover a #1 specialty that is "superlative, important, believable, memorable and tangible."
The chief problem with the book is its confusing organization. There are chapters, sections, parts, "Granite Pages," steps, ways and points to keep track of, and it's easy to get lost. There's also a running joke throughout the book, with each chapter beginning with a quote by fictional "Guru." The device is unnecessary, and worse, not funny. Real quotes by actual marketing experts would have been much more valuable.
April 12, 2021
Schmaltzy writing. Great message.
Entertaining is not branding. The book systematically helps you develop the Dominant Selling Idea - the big idea inside the message of brand. It was not what I expected from a book on branding because it spent the first half helping me narrow the focus of the entire business to identify the niche in which you are the dominant player. Then it spent the second half turning that position into a Dominant Selling Idea and a brand,
No hard data behind anything in the book, but the message and method feels right in your gut.
Entertaining is not branding. The book systematically helps you develop the Dominant Selling Idea - the big idea inside the message of brand. It was not what I expected from a book on branding because it spent the first half helping me narrow the focus of the entire business to identify the niche in which you are the dominant player. Then it spent the second half turning that position into a Dominant Selling Idea and a brand,
No hard data behind anything in the book, but the message and method feels right in your gut.
February 20, 2015
What a GREAT book on branding!! I'd love to have this on my bookshelf for future reference. It read really smoothly. Great examples. Gave me some steps to take, and really looking forward to getting my Big Idea ideally branded!!
Side note, as a child I was involved in the branding of cattle. It was my job to make sure the fire/coals were hot enough on the branding iron to burn the cattle's leathery side. It's now time for me to follow my grandpa's order, "Keep that iron hot!" It's time to stoke up the fire and get branding!! :)
Side note, as a child I was involved in the branding of cattle. It was my job to make sure the fire/coals were hot enough on the branding iron to burn the cattle's leathery side. It's now time for me to follow my grandpa's order, "Keep that iron hot!" It's time to stoke up the fire and get branding!! :)
June 10, 2013
If someone asked me for three books on branding for anything (business, public presence, product, organization, etc.), I would hand them this, Brains on Fire, and Designing Brand Identity, 4ed (Alina Wheeler). This book is clearly and enjoyably written, filled with useful info (instead of fluff), and sets obtainable goals within any organization's reach. If you're in business or a non-profit or you want to be someday, you should get it.
April 10, 2007
The true title is indeed the subtitle: Rediscovering the Lost Art of the Big Idea.
True to its mission of being a branding book, the title tells a story that is easy to remember: Why Johnny Can't brand.
Go get it, and DO!
True to its mission of being a branding book, the title tells a story that is easy to remember: Why Johnny Can't brand.
Go get it, and DO!
July 19, 2016
The book is basic in many ways, lays out the process and ideas behind branding in a simple manner, and find it inspiring thoughts about products I work with as well as products my colleagues that affect/touch my life.
March 20, 2012
The book has become a bible of sorts for me in crafting brand strategies. It's very action-oriented, but built on top of the golden principles of branding.
March 30, 2013
A should-read book on branding for the knowledge worker, manager, executive, or entrepreneur.
February 17, 2016
Bill get's it. The Big Idea is more relevant today than ever!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews