Building Billion Dollar Brands

Book excerpt: Better Branding, Better Benefits Marketing techniques, retailers, and distribution channels have changed dramatically since authors RICK CESARI and BARB WESTFIELD started in the business of brand building and direct response advertising twenty-five-plus years ago, and they will continue to change, but over their combined years of experience, Rick and Barb have found that five key strategies have remained constant: 1 Utilizing your "unique selling proposition," or USP; 2 Creating a name and market position for your product or business; 3 Under-promising and over-delivering; 4 Listening to your customers to develop world-class customer service and powerful testimonials that will sell for you 24/7, and 5 Direct branding selling--the best way to brand for most small businesses and startups. In this book, Rick and Barb will expand on these simple brand-building keys and show you how they built brands like GoPro, the George Foreman Grill, Sonicare, and others using these keys, and how you, too, can put them to use immediately in your business or new product launch.