Rebuilding Brand America

Tilting at windmills -- The queen of branding -- Charlotte in wonderland -- The prince of pollsters -- Measuring distance in kilograms -- Why do they hate us? -- The pictures in their heads -- The business of America -- The power of brands -- Brand America -- CEOs in handcuffs -- Plague or paranoia -- In search of anti-anti-Americans -- The path to happy -- Sink roots, don't just spread branches -- Go glocal -- Share your customers' cares -- Stiff-necked, tree-hugging critics -- Share your customers' dreams -- Myth America -- A lever to move the world -- Waging peace.

In the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson was on the verge of bankruptcy. In the general public's opinion, quality was substandard—of both motorcycles and riders. Harleys leaked oil and were often broken down. Riders were roughnecks, out to raise hell. The Harley-Davidson brand was tarnished. What s more, the charges were true. By the mid-1980s, Harley couldn't produce enough bikes to keep the public happy. Dealers were selling bikes off the showroom floor, struggling to assuage customers frustration. And today, Harley-Davidson is a model brand. Harley-Davidson isn't just a motorcycle company anymore. It is a community, a look, a source of self-expression, an all-American appeal for freedom—all expressed in one little logo. So, what happened? How did Harley manage to pull itself from the fire, brush itself off, and ride off into the sunset? The secret: branding. Histories will tell you how Harley-Davidson closed the quality gap between Hogs and the cheaper, faster, sleeker Japanese bikes; how Harley used Japanese manufacturing methods to increase its cash flow; how Harley clawed its way back from the brink of bankruptcy. All these aspects were important to Harley s rise from the ashes, no doubt, and as such are discussed in this book. But the true power of the big, beautiful, orange and black machine that is Harley-Davidson lies in its image, the Bar and Shield, the brand. Rebuilding the Brand: How Harley-Davidson Became King of the Road is the story of how a core group led a team of not only marketing folks but also employees, management, dealers, and vendors to rebuild the Harley-Davidson image. Told through the perspective of Clyde Fessler—who held several positions within Harley, from head of marketing services to VP of business development—Rebuilding the Brand provides dynamic branding information couched in an entertaining story. Fessler describes the methods used to create the iconic image Harley-Davidson enjoys today, methods that can be translated to nearly any industry, and explores the topics of brand experience, brand personality, brand extension, brand association, brand consistency, and brand welfare. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Urban redevelopment in American cities is neither easy nor quick. It takes a delicate alignment of goals, power, leadership and sustained advocacy on the part of many. Rebuilding the American City highlights 15 urban design and planning projects in the U.S. that have been catalysts for their downtowns—yet were implemented during the tumultuous start of the 21st century. The book presents five paradigms for redevelopment and a range of perspectives on the complexities, successes and challenges inherent to rebuilding American cities today. Rebuilding the American City is essential reading for practitioners and students in urban design, planning, and public policy looking for diverse models of urban transformation to create resilient urban cores.

This title presents the fascinating story of how the USA became the greatest and most powerful brand of all.

Countries are among the most powerful brands on the global marketplace. Love it or loath it, never has there been a bigger or stronger brand than the United States of America. More than any other country, America has been blessed with a huge range of positive brand attributes. The country is associated with the definitive youth lifestyle (Coke, MTV, Levi’s); with sporting prowess (Nike, NBA, Timberland); and with technological supermacy (Microsoft, Dell, IBM). America is well-informed (CNN, Time, Newsweek) and, naturally, wealthy (American Express, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs). Of the top 100 international brands, 64 of them are American-owned. The core of America’s potency lies in it being the country of origin for the world’s three most valuable and profitable business sectors: entertainment, merchant banking and IT. This makes America the world’s most powerful public domain brand. American brands simply hitch themselves onto this powerful national brand, and a cultural and commercial trail is instantly blazed for them around the world. This book traces American history, the values of Brand America and the growth of anti-Americanism upto the Obama presidency. America is truly the greatest branding story of them all, and this book tells it for the first time.

With the end of the Cold War and the prospect of a federal Europe ever closer, this book is a timely reassessment of the processes by which western Europe was reborn out of the devastation and despair of 1945. Concentrating on the first postwar decade and making rich use of the latest research findings, David Ellwood gives a detailed account of the practicalities of reconstruction - how it was done, what it cost, who paid for it, and what those involved hoped for, expected and actually received.

Upon becoming a television news commentator, Noelle Nikpour had a realization: She, like everyone, has a brand.A native of Arkansas, Noelle was already a successful Republican consultant and strategist who had raised funds for various political candidates.When she started appearing on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, HLN, and other television and national radio broadcasts, she realized she had a role to play.Branding isn't just about corporations building relationships with consumers through advertising. It's also become an important part of political campaigns – more important than candidates' ideas and certainly more important than their qualifications. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential candidacy proved that. Meanwhile, branding has become an essential part of modern life for every American. These days, everyone has a brand.In some ways that's good, and in some ways it's bad, but it's definitely today's reality. Her new book, “Branding America,” traces how branding has moved from the corporate world into politics and then into Americans' personal lives. It describes today's most important political brands: the Democrats, who have a terrible brand; the Republicans, whose brand is in need of repair; and today's rising brand – conservative women. And it explains how Americans can take advantage of this new reality to succeed in the workplace and in life.