Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands

by David Vinjamuri

Every year, thousands of new business are started by people with no knowledge of modern marketing at all?and some of them survive and thrive. Accidental Branding tells the story of seven "accidental" brands and how their founders beat bigger competitors by breaking the standard rules of marketing. Successful brands like Burt's Bees, J. Peterman, and Clif Bar reveal how doing things differently can lead to big-time success. If you're an entrepreneur or a marketer, this guide will show you how to build stronger brands.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Leadership

212 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 2008

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated. The people and companies highlighted were interesting. Too much copy about what their houses looked like.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

What hooked me on this book is the fantastic Chapter 2, in which author David Vinjamuri presents six rules successful branders and entrepreneurs tend to utilize on a consistent basis. The seven remaining chapters of the book each detail a success story that supports these six rules, and they are case studies of familiar/well-known brands like J. Peterman, craigslist, Burt's Bees, and more. One of the best aspects of this book is its easy readability. This book isn't a dry textbook style read, but rather reads almost biographical. David really gets in to what makes these entrepreneurs tick, and presents it in an enjoyable manner.

While I don't feel like I have come away with insight that will necessarily take my career to its next level, I do think that the information introduced is plausible and practical, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in marketing or branding.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of paper! An uninspired journalist had an idea: get to known people. That act seems to be a magical item any no name journalist lacks. Skills seem to be secondary. So David goes and meets these people. He has some dull and uninspired talks. And that is about it.

To make thing worse, somebody in the editorial team had an inspiring idea: let's make the title catchy. Only this is a lie. The people featured in these pages don't have any idea of how they have built their brands. But at least they are competent and diligent in their work. Which can't be said about the author of this volume. And somehow I have a feeling the calling list was ten to a hundred times longer and these are the people nice enough to answer the call.

[Tuyet Lan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuốn sách này tên tiếng Anh đã nổ, dịch ra tiếng Việt còn nổ hơn "Tay không làm nên thương hiệu" =))
Accidental Branding- Thương hiệu Tình cờ- là cái tên được tác giả gán cho các thương hiệu có các người sáng lập tay ngang, tự kinh doanh và biến thương hiệu của họ từ nhỏ lẻ trở nên tầm cỡ. Không giống như tiêu đề sách hứa hẹn, cuốn sách này sẽ làm thất vọng những bạn đọc muốn tìm hiểu bí quyết kinh doanh của những nhà sáng lập này.

Cuốn sách giống tập hợp những kì giới thiệu gương mặt nổi bật của tháng của một tạp chí kinh doanh hơn. 7 câu chuyện về 7 nhà sáng lập thương hiệu (quần áo, thực phẩm thể thao, video cho trẻ em, đồ chăm sóc cá nhân, mỹ phẩm,...) kể lể dài từ lúc hình thành ý tưởng, những khó khăn và nỗ lực vượt qua để đạt đến thành công của họ. Đọc rất hấp dẫn và phần nào có thể truyền cảm hứng cho việc khởi nghiệp. Nhưng không đem đến nhiều kiến thức kinh doanh thực tiễn mà người đọc có thể ứng dụng.

Tác giả hơi gượng ép khi chỉ dựa trên 7 câu chuyện này mà đã rút ra được hình mẫu chung của Thương hiệu Tình cờ. Thế nên khi phát triển nội dung, chính tác giả dường như cũng đi lạc, và phần kết khá vội vã và hơi lệch chủ đề. Nhưng quan điểm kinh doanh cho những nhãn hàng mới khởi nghiệp thì cũng khá ổn: phải có câu chuyện độc đáo- truyền cảm hứng cho nhãn hàng của mình, nên tập trung vào 1 sản phẩm chủ lực, người sáng lập phải quản lý chỉn chu và sâu sát mọi khâu làm ra sản phẩm và quảng bá sản phẩm, sản phẩm phải được tạo ra dựa trên nhu cầu thực tế và có điều chỉnh phù hợp với yêu cầu của nhóm khách hàng mục tiêu.

Quyển sách này đề cao vai trò người lãnh đạo, gắn liền đặc tính và sức hút của sản phẩm với đặc điểm người lãnh đạo (sáng lập) nhãn hàng. Điều này có lẽ rất quan trọng với thương hiệu ở giai đoạn khởi đầu. Còn quá trình phát triển, thì mình thấy quan điểm ở cuốn "Từ Tốt đến Vĩ Đại" và "Xây dựng để trường tồn" là phù hợp -cần xây dựng bộ tiêu chuẩn, các quy trình chuẩn chỉnh để đảm bảo sự rời đi của người sáng lập/ lãnh đạo không ảnh hưởng nhiều đến tổ chức.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The structure of this book is unusual, in that it almost immediately reveals the branding rules before delving into the case studies which caused the author to develop those rules. Much better would have been shorter case study narratives, followed by a single rule this case study demonstrated, and some additional research backing up why this rule isn't simply related to this anecdote. Ultimately, not a wasted read (the case studies have interesting company histories), but also a book without much substance.

[Tamar Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it’s been a decade or so, I found this book to be inspiring as you explore emerging products and how they took ahold of the market. Two are still quite known - Clif Bar and The Art of Shaving. And Craigslist too.

[David Roberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accidental Branding is a fun and simple read that tells the story of some of my favorite brands and their founders.

Vinjamuri starts off quickly with his six rules of branding - Do sweat the small stuff, Pick a fight, Be your own customer, Be unnaturally persistent, Build a myth, and Be faithful. He then weaves these rules into stories about entrepreneurs who built great brands such as Cliff Bar, Columbia Sportswear, Burt's Bees, and Baby Einstein. I found all the stories interesting. At one point I was so entertained that I forgot the book was trying to teach me something. Whether I was already a fan of the brand or not, each story was fun and highlighted Vinjamuri's 6 rules.

My two biggest takeaways from this book were be authentic and sell your story. I felt like much of his point was that the story is what sells the brand and the story is much easier to tell when you stay true to who you are and why you're in business.

It's a good, quick read that kept me interested. I would recommend this book for anyone trying to build something on their own.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personal interviews that the author has with the leaders of these innovative companies is a fresher take on the standard "how to succeed in business" book. The book's advice sums to 1) know your product and/or customer 2) be "hungry" as you competition very well may be 3) be detail oriented. Most of these business people started with making a product to solve a problem of their own (i.e. Craigslist, Clif Bar, Baby Einstein, etc.) yet others were motivated out of necessity and hunger (Columbia Sportswear). It seems like this arena is ideal for obsessive compulsives (so I guess I still have a shot at being an entrepreneur.) I am not sure that I learned anything truly new from this book, but I found it an interesting read.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accidental Branding presents a series of case studies highlighting companies and their founders who have encountered overwhelming success from surprising circumstances. The recurring characteristics of these entrepreneurs from companies like Burt's Bees, Columbia Sportswear and craigslist include risk-taking, authenticity, determination, fearlessness, attention to detail, creativity and, in most cases, great timing and little magic. Vinjamuri emphasizes the importance of a great company story and ensuring that story is reflected in your culture, products and services. There's a lot here that resonates with the work we've done - and continue to do - at Anythink. Highly recommend for anyone interested in what makes a great brand.

[Lain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really was looking forward to reading this book. It had great promise. However, the "case studies" weren't particularly provocative or insightful. And there was too much extraneous info (I really don't care what the author ordered when he went out to eat with Craig of craigslist.org). With all the in-depth interviews and access that Vinjamuri had, his takeaways were disappointing. Too much blather, not enough analysis.

[Toni Conn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in the book show you that it takes hard work, and a little bit of luck, to turn an ordinary business into a big one.

The main theme here is that the business owner is the customer. If you created your business to solve a problem you and your friends have then these stories are just like yours.

This book covers both sides of entrepreneurship: those who want to be an entrepreneur forever and those who help their baby grow up and then let it live its own life.

[LMS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspiring. Much of the successful accidental brand-building featured in this book involved sacrifice, hands-on knowledge of customer problems (due to personal experience), hard work, and passion.

[David]

I wrote it

[David]

I wrote Accidental Branding