Balanced Brand: How to Balance the Stakeholder Forces That Can Make or Break Your Business - Hardcover

"Trusted long-term relationships come to pass only through aligned principles and values, not short-term gimmicks and strategies. This engaging book, Balanced Brand, focuses on bringing the person to the brand, not the brand to the person." --Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness "Brands are experiences, delivered by multiple stakeholders across the entire organization. Balanced Brand outlines a clear, concise, useful, and usable method to re-think your entire range of branding activities. If you want your brand to succeed in the years ahead, you'll need the insights you'll find in Balanced Brand." --Don Schultz, president, Agora, Inc., and professor emeritus-in-service, Northwestern University "John Foley has written a remarkably comprehensive and cogent analysis of branding, and his commonsense approach has equal application to the public and private sectors. His BalancedBrand System requires that executives seek to align their stated values with their actual operating values, that they assess the values of their stakeholders and seek to harmonize them with the institutional values, and that there be authentic brand-building conversations. Foley demands authenticity, honesty, and discipline. But the rewards in terms of trust, branding, and reputation are immense." --Mark G. Yudof, chancellor, The University of Texas System

Companies usually assume if their sales are good, then their brand and reputation must be strong. But all too often, they don't have a clear understanding of the values that drive brand and reputation and actually sustain long-term profitability and growth. This leaves companies vulnerable to dangerous backlash between corporate values, and those of their stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, media, government, and community. Even well-known and seemingly successful brands and reputations have suffered from this backlash (e.g. Nike and overseas sweatshops, Wal-Mart and unfair employment practices, McDonald's and obesity issues.) Every stakeholder applies their personal and professional values to judge the performance of a company. Branding expert John Foley has developed the "BalancedBrand System", which helps companies assess corporate values, identify potential flashpoints, and align values to build a stronger brand and reputation. "BalancedBrand" identifies and helps manage the forces that will change the way business does business. Foley and co-author Julie Kendrick have created new tools that build and protect brands and reputations.