10 Must Read Branding Books in 2019
Top 15 Branding Books You Should Read
Unlike all the major professions out there, the study of branding is ever-evolving and irrespective of how much time you put into studying it, its never enough. Rather, you keep on getting better and better.
Moreover, in addition to being a wide field, it’s not that trivial as well. Being quite complex and tricky, you really have to grasp some material, like branding books, to help you get going.
If you surf the internet to see some books on branding, you’ll come across thousands of them. But, not every book is the same, and some might guide your way better than others minimizing the time you spent on them. So, here we have compiled a list of our top 15 picks on branding books you’re guaranteed to get a head-start from.
- Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design
Author: Marty Neumeier
If you’re someone from a business background, you are probably aware of the fact that in business matters, time is of the essence. You’re always eager to get your time spent well and wouldn’t ever wanna waste on something that can be done in significantly lesser time.
The same is the case with the said book. It’s more of a to-the-point tutorial rather than a book. Being relatively brief, it supplies you with all the major segments of knowledge related to business collected and filtered out by Neumeier in ages.
Moreover, it can be used as a business dictionary as well and covers all the major terminologies that can be used interchangeably.
- Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands
Author: Marty Neumeier
Another masterpiece by Marty in the branding books world, Zag. This book is another masterpiece in his series and comes second to Brand Gap, which was mentioned previously.
The book is basically a sequel to his whiteboard overviews series and contains the art of Zag, guiding you all the way through it so you can have all the knowledge about it.
In case you’re not already aware, Zag is the way of standing out from your competitors from a business point of view. The book covers the minor details, from listing your company-specific Zag to implementing it. Be sure to give it a read if you’re interested in making your business stand out.
- Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team
Author: Alina Wheeler
So our Marty Neumeier loop has finally come to an end. Here we have another one in a million branding book by Alina wheeler, which is specifically targeted for the people who are at the initial stages of their business.
The book exquisitely covers all the sides of how to design and implement your business and covers every aspect of it comprehensively. From designing a visual identity to reaching the end of the road of success, it has everything you need to know.
Not only this, but it offers a bunch of practical tips from renowned experts as well as letting you learn from all their experiences.
- Brand Interactions: Creating the Digital Experience
Author: Marco Spies
This brand book, written by Marco for the new era, contains everything one needs to know to design a brand on a digital scale. However, the digital aspect is not the only thing it covers, but it’s safe to say that it’s pretty much the exclusive feature this book boasts.
The books are scripted in a way that it approaches the problems in a step-by-step manner, breaking down each section to a bunch of tasks and tackling each separately, from discovering the demographic to distributing final-copy to the marketplace, it covers everything. There are also illustrations available in the book at many steps so you can see for yourself how everything works.
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Author: AI Ries & Jack Trout
This book is pretty much the oldest book we have here in our list. However, the irony is that even while being old, its still pretty much relevant to the date and offers much content that we need in this era as well.
The book is quite easy to understand and perceive as the English used is pretty plain and doesn’t include any fancy vocabulary that might give the reader a hard time.
The book comprehensively covers aspects like successfully positioning yourself in the public’s mind and devise your strategies while keeping in mind the strengths & weaknesses of your company as well as the competitor’s.
- Purple Cow
Author: Seth Godin
Being from a business background, Seth Godin is one of the biggest figures in the fields with his write-ups and marketing skills always being top-notch.
The concept delivered by him in this book pretty much focuses on the fact that its the quality of the goods that affect its marketing, both being directly proportional to each other to some extent.
Hence, this book is one of the best when it comes to producing the best products, followed by effectively marketing them in a unique manner.
- Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Author: Tony Hsieh
The book has quite a different approach to looking at business and how it flourished. It focuses on the fact that it’s not just the products or the customers, which results in your business going uphill. Rather, it’s highly dependent upon you as well, how you act, cultivate and deal with people in your surroundings that let your business grow.
This perspective is not widely seen and is supported by Tony by justifying his actions and behaviour throughout his life. So, if you’re also looking for leadership qualities or wisdom to act upon, this book can be pretty much all you need.
- Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
Author: A.G Lafley & Roger L. Martin
Written directly by the successful CEO Lafley and his strategic adviser L. Martin, this book covers a whole lot of advises and pros about business branding and planning. Following these exact same tips, this pair achieved a lot of fame through their business planning and tactics like increasing the market value of the company by $100 billion and quadrupling the profits.
So, if you’re also having a hard time in running your business or want to boost the sales, this book surely deserved a read as it has each and every tip from known business giants that are guaranteed to give your business a boost.
- Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Author: Ed Catmull
Written by one of the greatest minds of this era, Ed Catmull, the co-founder of the Pixar Animation Studios, this branding book is based on fascinating and creative content that lets you have an entirely different perspective to look at your business and its development.
The concepts included in the book are totally inspired by the personal life experience faced by Ed throughout his life and his experiences while interacting with a business. Be sure to take a look to get creative and tips for managing and polishing your business world.
- Branding: In Five and a Half Steps
Author: Michael Johnson
The author, Michael, is one of the world’s leading graphic designers and brand consultants. His consultancies and tips have resulted in redefining many brands, lifting them back up from their troughs.
The book contains some of the world’s biggest brands totally broken down to five in half steps. This essentially lets the reader observe the steps company’s different approaches directly affect us.
Furthermore, the author has explained all the basic parts involved that get you a successful brand.