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This view is in stark contrast to

that espoused by Naomi Klein inthe flawed but brilliant No Logo;1

whereas Upshaw and Taylor advo-

cate a more central role for brand-

ing within companies, Klein asserts

that this has already happened and

that the separation of branding and

production has led to the shame-

ful phenomenon of developing-world

sweatshops slavishly producing branded

products for developed-world markets.

This has echoes of the perennial debate

over the power of advertising, theparadox being that outside observers

tend to overstate the sinister power of

the advertising process while those

working within the industry fret cease-

lessly about whether they are having

any impact at all.

In oxymoronically titled chapter

one, Built to Change, Upshaw and

Taylor offer a definition of a mas-

terbrand:

Leaders with foresight are now reshaping

their entire organizations around company-

wide brands that are jointly owned by

their people and their surrounding brand

communities. We refer to these types of

companies and their selling structures as

masterbrands. Masterbrands are a company-

wide brand force, composed of a central set

of associated meanings and benefits, whose

scope stretches from the companys strategic

Back cover gushing endorsements

should always be taken with a pinch ofsalt, especially with business books

where those gushing the most

profusely often turn out to be

colleagues or business partners of the

books authors. In the case of The

Masterbrand Mandate, however, the

glowing quotes elicited from such

luminaries as David Aaker, Kevin Lane

Keller and Charles Bryner (group chief

executive, Interbrand Corporation)

turn out to be fully justified.

Companies the authors have workedwith include Bayer Corporation, Visa

International, Walt Disney, Bell Atlan-

tic, 3Com Corporation, Bank America

and so on. From this wealth of

experience Upshaw and Taylor have

developed the concept of the mas-

terbrand. The centrality of branding is

well stated in the books foreword:

One of the most enduring myths in global

business today is that brands are solely a

marketing tool. In the right hands, they are

much more: a model for organizing, a struc-

ture for selling and profit generation, a focus

for achieving, and a template of performance

metrics. The very fact that the word brand

rarely appears in most management texts is

a good indication of the latest wave of

marketing myopia that has led brands to be

compartmentalized as specialized weapons of

the marketing department.

74 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 9, NO. 1, 7177 SEPTEMBER 2001

The masterbrand mandate: Themanagement strategy that unifies

companies and multiplies valueby Lynn B. Upshaw and Earl L. Taylor

(John Wiley & Sons, New York; 2000; ISBN 0 471 35659 X; 323pp; hardback;

$29.95)

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competitive entry which market

latecomers have great difficulty

overcoming public masterbrand companies often

enjoy more positive reviews from

Wall Street

masterbrands tend to achieve

greater leverage in the marketplace

and to build upon that leverage

by incorporating innovation and

change.

Each of these claims is backed up with

convincing examples, paving the wayfor a discussion of how to grow the

masterbrand community and how to

interactivate the brand.comm.

The nature of the brand community

is a major theme of this book, and

many useful and interesting observa-

tions are made on the relevance of such

communities to the health of the

masterbrand. Brand communities are

defined as strategically interdependent

relationship clusters that form the

spokes and wheel that surround andsupport a masterbrand. A brand

community is peopled with the

employees, customers, shareholders,

suppliers and strategic partners, and

other stakeholders, all of whom are

sustained by a shared commitment to a

pervasive masterbrand value proposi-

tion. In a global and Net-driven

context, masterbrands can deliver a

focused and enduring meaning across

cyperspace and time, along with aresilient and evolving relevance to

global, regional, and local brand

communities. Each chapter of the

book includes a closing section of two

or three pages entitled Managing your

mandate, in which practical steps are

outlined for successful implementation

of the issues in question.

With the exception of one hideous

core, throughout its people and partners,

enveloping its customers, and beyond to its

outer perimeter of influence. Masterbrandsenact the continuously evolving positioning

of a company among its competitors and the

character that makes that company uniquely

attractive to its constituencies. The mas-

terbrand incorporates the company mission,

vision, and values, but translates them into

more concrete, leverageable forms.

Having defined what a masterbrand is,

the authors go on to stress the impor-

tance of keeping the masterbrand fresh

through regular reinvention, but with-out throwing the baby out with the

bath water:

In todays net-driven economy, built to last

means built to change. The challenge is to

continuously reinvent your company while

maintaining its focus and identity. The man-

date is to manage your company as a

masterbrand, sustaining and sustained by its

unique brand community.

The benefits to be reaped by theexercise of such a masterbrand mandate

are illustrated through success stories of

the likes of IBM, Ikea and Wal-Mart.

Six main benefits are identified:

customer relationship management

comes more naturally to mas-

terbrand organisations

it is simpler and easier for

employees to experience and rally

around a masterbrand than it is forthem to grapple with less concrete

visions and values

masterbrand companies forge

s tr on ge r e mp lo ye e -c u st o me r

relationships that provide sustainable

momentum, which may very well

grow exponentially

masterbrand companies usually

create sturdier barriers against

HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 9, NO. 1, 7177 SEPTEMBER 2001 75

BOOK REVIEWS

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customer perceptions especially in-

ferences about our brand attitudes

that drive customer loyalty and buildbrand communities.

Keith Dinnie

Book Review Editor

Reference

(1) Klein, N. (2001) No Logo, Flamingo,

London.

consumer and workplace trends, she

predicts the eight formulae that will

bring business success. Each is the

subject of its own chapter, richly

illustrated with business and other

anecdotes. The driver behind the eight

commandments is the increasing power

of women as consumers. Women buy

or influence 80 per cent of all

consumer purchases, 80 per cent ofall vehicle purchases and 51 per

cent of all consumer electronic pur-

chases. Female-owned and female-run

businesses generated US$3,6tn annually

and employ 27.5 million people

more than all the Fortune 500 com-

panies in the USA, and as increasing

numbers of women desert corporate

life (women are leaving corporate

neologism interglocalize the mas-

terbrand the authors write clearly

and fluently, using branding jargon toilluminate rather than to mystify. Up-

shaw and Taylor conclude their excel-

lent book with the following brand

mantra: We fail to measure (and thus

implicitly denigrate) allegedly softer,

qualitative aspects of our performance.

We do so at our peril, however, be-

cause it is precisely these subjective

76 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 9, NO. 1, 7177 SEPTEMBER 2001

Eve-olution: The eight truths ofmarketing to women

by Faith Popcorn and Lys Marigold

(Harper Collins Business, London; 2001; ISBN 0 00710715 3; 272pp; paperback;8.99)

A classic marketing text, written al-

most 50 years ago, describes the func-

tion of marketing as that of seeing the

whole business . . . from the customers

point of view.1 A study of segmenta-

tion variables is often recommended as

a way into the customers mind, and a

way of identifying subgroups which

respond in a similar fashion to the

marketing mix. Despite this, the ques-tion of whether womens point of

view differs systematically from that of

men has been overlooked by market-

ing texts. This book attempts to fill the

gap.

Faith Popcorn, the Nostradamus

of marketing according to Fortune

magazine, provides a whirlwind tour of

her consulting experience. Drawing on

BOOK REVIEWS

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womans peripheral vision looks at

times remarkably like merchandising

coupled with strategic alliances. Thatsaid, there are some important mes-

sages. Women like to have some say in

the way products evolve (Popcorn

calls this co-parenting), like products

from companies whose policies ap-

peal to them, and like products that

take account of their multiple lives

and preferences. The reviewers own

qualitative research2 continues to show

sharp discrepancies between the visual

preferences of men and women, and abook such as this even if it has some

rough edges is to be welcomed.

George Davies was recently hired by

Marks and Spencer to design a range

of clothes for 2535-year-old-women,

and has been quoted as saying that

I have studied the whole psychol-

ogy of women.3 Popcorn extends the

debate as to what women actually

want. Marketers and managers from

other disciplines can be expected to

derive benefit from this book. It hassome rich anecdotes, and may inspire

more than a few ideas.

References

(1) Drucker, P. F. (1954) The Practice of

Marketing, Harper and Row.

(2) Moss, G. (1999) Gender and consumer

behaviour: Further explorations, Journal of

Brand Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.

88100.

(3) Voyle, S. (2001) Nexts founder to fashion

Marks and Spencer look, Financial Times,

3rd February, p. 1.

Gloria Moss

Head of Research, Product

Psychology

Associate Lecturer

Open University Business School

America at twice the rate of men) the

number of female-run businesses is set

to increase. Womens collective buyingpower is now more than the economy

of Japan, and Popcorn predicts that by

2005 40 per cent of all firms will be

owned by women. All this adds up, in

Popcorns vision, to women being the

pioneers of consumerism. As such,

she considers that women will set

the trend for the way products are

fashioned and marketed. The direction

that women consumers take is the way

all consumers are headed.So in what direction are the signs

pointing? According to Popcorn, what

women do not want is just as

important as what they do want. They

shun control, avoid inconvenience and

value different things from men. The

example of womens growing use of

alternative healthcare (65 per cent of

the market in herbal medicines are

female) is explained in terms of a

female tendency to avoid control

and seek involvement (being in-volved in basic decisions makes a

woman stay involved). Differences

between women and men are fre-

quently referred to. Women do not like

to be marketed to in an aggressive way

and are wary of impulsive responses.

They are not impressed by expensive

advertising, pick up subtleties in-

visible to men, and dislike lack of

transparency.

Popcorn is short on evidence halfa page is taken up with biological sex

differences and some of the mes-

sages cry out for more than anecdote.

Some of the messages appear to

be conventional wisdom repackaged.

For example, her marketing to a

HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 9, NO. 1, 7177 SEPTEMBER 2001 77

BOOK REVIEWS