David Taylor 
Brand Vision [PDF ebook] 
How to Energize Your Team to Drive Business Growth

Warning: don’t read this book xi
Tools xi
brandgym network xi
brandgym.com xii
wheresthesausage.com xii
The Oscar Acceptance Speech xiii
Introduction: be a brand CEO, not a strategy tourist 1
We’re busy. Do we really need a vision? 1
Why so much strategy sucks 6
The strategy tourism guidebook 10
The T-Mobile story 15
Fits all sizes and shapes 26
Over to you 29
Checklist: Introduction 31
I. Search for True Insight 33
1. Create an insight springboard 37
Research-itis 37
Competition: what market are we really in? 38
Consumer: opening the door to your brand 42
Brand: look back, look forward 52
Company: where should we fish for growth? 56
Checklist 1: Create an insight springboard 58
II. The Visioning Journey 61
2. What are you going to fight for? 65
Bland not brand 66
The brand manifesto 67
Writing the story of your brand 69
Checklist 2: What are you going to fight for? 72
3. Where’s the sausage? 77
Brandicide 79
Back to why brands were born 84
The power of the product 85
Searching for truth 89
Sharpening the vision 95
Checklist 3: Where’s the sausage? 96
4. Sizzle that sells 101
Leave the ladder in the garage 101
Pasta sauce or Prada? 103
Selling your product story 106
The Geek Squad 109
Brand personality devices 113
Bringing your personality to life 115
Put some pizzaz in your personality 117
Checklist 4: Sizzle that sells 118
Handover 119
5. Big brand ideas beat brand essence 123
What’s the big idea? 123
Your brand story takes shape 127
Eureka moments 129
Checklist 5: Big brand ideas 129
III. Bring the Vision to Life 131
6. Test drive the vision 135
Consumers are not marketing directors 135
Think less, do more 135
Exploration has its limits 137
Bring your vision to life 141
Getting the most out of research 144
Time to sign up 147
Make it real 151
Checklist 6: Test drive the vision 153
IV. Brand-led Business 155
7. Beyond brandwashing to true engagement 159
Brandwashing 159
Focus on fundamentals 163
Step 1: Hire the right people and treat them right 164
Step 2: Make it easier to do the right thing 168
Step 3: Lead by example 171
Step 4: Sell the cake not the recipe 171
The 5-month itch 175
Checklist 7: Beyond brandwashing to true engagement 176
8. Create hero products 179
Kill the dwarves 179
Start close to home 181
i Pod: the hero of a new vision 187
Virtual venture capital 189
Elastic brands 190
Family ties 196
Checklist 8: Create hero products 199
9. Communicating without ego tripping 203
Brand ego tripping: the movie 203
Getting a killer mix 206
Design: The face of your new vision 211
Communication with cut-through 213
When you hit gold . . . 221
The Tyskie turnaround 224
Checklist 9: Communicating without ego tripping 230
Brand Vision to Action Toolkit 231
brandgym network 251
References 253
Index 255

David Taylor is Founder and Managing Partner of
thebrandgym, a network of brand coaches that helps teams
develop an inspiring vision and the action plans to turn it
into growth.
David was recently named by the CIM as one of the world’s 50
top marketing thinkers. He has worked with many acclaimed companies
including T-Mobile, Unilever, Kraft, the BBC and SAB Miller to help
them boost performance. He began in brand management with P&G
before completing an MBA at INSEAD, France. He then started and
successfully grew the Paris office of Added Value, Europe’s
leading marketing consultancy (now part of WPP).
David is the author of two previous books. His first,
thebrandgym, quickly became Amazon.co.uk’s
best-selling branding title; his sequel, brandstretch, was
the world’s first and only focused examination of brand
extension. He is a regular speaker at conferences and in the media,
having written for publications including The Guardian,
Marketing, Market Leader, Brand Strategy and Marketing
Business.