'Thom Braun's mission, in
this eclectic and readable book, is to get us thinking and, whether he's relating Plato to
Persil or Descartes to Diet Coke, that's just what he does. No marketer will think about
their job in the same way after reading this. Enjoyable and thought-provoking'
James Thompson, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Diageo, North America
'Thom Braun, The Thinking
Man's Brand Manager, has created a whole new sizzling discourse on branding which provides
a terrific antidote to the anodyne filler of standard business texts. Armed with brains
and a little Braun, brand managers can become brand leaders.'
Paul Walton, Chairman, The Value Engineers
'An original and witty
reminder that the most successful brands are driven by talented thinkers.'
Simon Clift, President, Marketing, Unilever Home & Personal Care
'At last, a brand book with
a big idea. Braun's entertaining distillation of some of the greatest thinkers of the last
3,000 years offers provocative yet practical conclusions on how we should rethink managing
our own brand. A wonderfully fresh and stimulating read.'
Adam Morgan, author of Eating the Big Fish
'A thoroughly stimulating
and enjoyable read. By looking at brands and branding through the lens of Western
philosophy, Braun helps us review afresh some of the fundamentals of marketing.'
Jim Carroll, Deputy Chairman, BBH London
In this original and
imaginative slant on contemporary brand management, Thom Braun takes us into the minds of
the worlds greatest Western thinkers...
- Heraclitus
- Socrates
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Descartes
- Spinoza
- Leibniz
- Locke
- Hurne
- Rousseau
- Kant
- Hegel
- Nietzsche
- Wittgenstein
- Popper
...to reveal what they might
say about branding if they were alive today.
Filled with contemporary
examples, pragmatic insights and summaries of each philosopher's "top tips" ,
this elegant and witty book will resonate with all marketing and branding professionals
who want their intellectual and professional faculties stimulated by some new thinking.
Table of Contents
By way of introduction
Part I All Greek to me
1 Heraclitus - and the place from where we start
2 Socrates - and the art of questioning
3 Plato - and seeing below the surface
4 Aristotle - and the importance of structure
Part II I think, therefore I
brand
5 Descartes - and the application of Reason
6 Spinoza and Leibniz - and a systematic approach
7 Locke - and the empirical tradition
8 Hume - and the limits of Reason
Part III Into the deep
9 Rousseau - and the importance of feeling
10 Kant - and a balanced approach
11 Hegel - and the primacy of process
12 Nietzsche - and the creation of values
Part IV Searching for
certainty
13 Wittgenstein - and the brand as tool
14 Existentialism - and the brand as individual
15 Popper - and the quest for a better model
16 The future - and the real role of philosophy in branding
Summary of top tips
190 pages