Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands | 
| Author: David Vinjamuri
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 24938
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0470165065
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.827
EAN: 9780470165065
ASIN: 0470165065
Publication Date: March 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
Praise for Accidental Branding
"I've fallen in love with Accidental Branding. It is my favorite business book for 2008!"
--Diane K. Danielson, TopShelf Reading Picks Blogger, Entrepreneur.com CEO, Downtown Women's Club and coauthor of The Savvy Gal's Guide to Online Networking (or What Would Jane Austen Do?)
"The central idea of this book is nothing short of brilliant. Not that you can start a business like Burt's Bees in your basement, but that even experts can learn a lesson from the accidental marketers. Great stuff."
--Seth Godin, author of Meatball Sundae
"Accidental Branding is a gift from a master storyteller. Vinjamuri has an extensive knowledge of brands and a keen nose for great stories."
--Scott WilliamsChief Marketing Officer, Morgans Hotel Group
"Accidental Branding is a wake-up call for budding entrepreneurs who think a great brand is only about market research."
--Eve TahminciogluMSNBC.com's YourBiz blogger, author of From the Sandbox to the Corner Office
"Vinjamuri tells stories to get us to think differently about familiar brands.A great read!"
--Dawn KiernanDirector of Marketing, American Express
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Tips to becoming extraordinary June 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Accidental Branding, David profiles the leaders of several companies whose brands took off seemingly out of nowhere and succeeded in different, but amazing ways. The people he profiles include Gary Erickson of Clif Bar, Julie Clark of Baby Einstein, Roxanne Quimby of Burt's Bees, John Peterman who created the J. Peterman brand and Craig Newmark who founded Craigslist. David qualifies an Accidental Brand as one that passes three tests:
1. An individual who is not trained in marketing must create the brand.
2. This individual must experience the problem that the brand solves.
3. The individual must control the brand for at least 10 years.
The great news for all of us is we can create a great brand regardless of whether we came from a wealthy family or attended an Ivy League university. Some of the people profiled did not even go to college.
To take an idea and make something great requires determination and focused intention. The people profiled in Accidental Branding offer great examples of how anyone can, by following sound principles, create something great. I highly recommend you add Accidental Branding to your reading list.
'Accidental Branding' is no accident June 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Vinjamuri has created an informative and entertaining collection of real life success stories. His in-depth research and easy writing style makes for a good read. I learned that developing brand loyalty does not require MBA credentials. Hard work, good instincts, attention to detail and several other characteristics are identified as common denominators of these successful entrepreneurs. I'm incorporating these pearls into my business and I heartily recommend this book to anyone who has a product to take to the marketplace.
Inspiring for Marketers and Entrepreneurs May 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Once, I was reading Accidental Branding on the subway and two twenty-ish European women sitting by me paused to check out the book. "It's an interesting title," said the brunette.
The next day I was at UPS and a 30-something mother entered with her three-year-old. She asked to see the book, as it turned out she had Thanksgiving dinner with the author.
Later, I went to The Art of Shaving. This wasn't so accidental, as the company is prominently featured in the book as one of seven "accidental brands," which means it fits three criteria, according to author David Vinjamuri:
1. It was created by someone not trained in marketing.
2. The creator must experience the problem the brand solved (eg the co-founder of Art of Shaving experienced nasty razor burn).
3. The individual must control the brand for at least 10 years.
I was so captivated by the story of Shaving founders Myriam Zaoui and Eric Malka and so troubled over my own inability to get a decent shave that, as I was finishing the book, I took the subway to the nearest Art of Shaving store on East 62nd Street, the original store they opened. As the book hadn't been released yet, the store manager Angelo wasn't aware of it, but he was excited to glance at the chapter featuring his store. Fifteen minutes later, I learned enough from Angelo to attempt to try a new way of shaving at home, spending more than I ever have in my life on skin care products in the process.
Now, that has much more to do with the brand than the book, but it also gets to what makes the book so compelling. Vinjamuri tells seven stories of accidental brands: J. Peterman, craigslist, Clif Bar, The Art of Shaving, Columbia Sportswear, Baby Einstein, and Burt's Bees. Perhaps more than any individual brand's story, I'll remember the storytelling. Each story's told with affection, and the tone shifts ever so slightly for each one, from the wilderness of Peterman to the trailblazing Clif Bar to the high class shaving to the bucolic Burt's Bees.
And then again, I'm just falling for a trap. The brand's founders are the stars of nearly every page of the book, and their personalities, as captured by Vinjamuri, shoot of this magnetism.
This is not a how-to book. Yes, there is some advice up front to tie it all together, six characteristics of accidental brands and their creators. While that's necessary in a business book and the book would feel lacking without it, one can understand why he puts it up front and keeps the afterward brief. You get your formal education out of the way, and then you get to really learn from experience - the experience of the accidental branders.
Entrepreneurs will find the most inspiration here, as will most in the marketing field. The storytelling merits an even wider audience.
You won't need this to complete your MBA or successfully run a marketing department, but you may well find some added inspiration to keep doing what you're doing, or perhaps pursue a passion of yours with more zeal than you've had before.
 Fun, smart, a great read! May 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just a great, great read that any marketer or student of branding will enjoy. Vinjamuri talks to some of the most successful brand builders out there, and their insights are invaluable. Coupled with his readable style and you've got a book that's as enjoyable as it is educational.
Every brand has a story May 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm hesitant to call this book business journalism (though it is, and a first-rate example of the genre at that),for fear that this designation may turn off potential readers looking for analysis by a branding expert, or a how-to guide to building brands from the ground up.
Read the book, however, and you will find that it covers all three bases in brilliant style. Vinjamuri writes like a pro, and his individual chapters on start-from-scratch brand pioneers read like New Yorker profiles. At base, he's a storyteller, but in the tales he tells there are profound lessons about the importance of listening to customers, of getting the relationship right, and of creating resonant brands that thrive at the heart of committed and loyal communities.
Don't expect dry and reasoned dissections of the brands Vinjamuri covers. That's not what this book is about. But you will learn by example, because the not-so-ordinary people he profiles are true experts, and because they have learned by trial-and-error and come through as winners.
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