Brand risk is often narrowly defined as risk to reputation. Yet risk and uncertainty are evident in many aspects of brand performance and marketing operations. Considered and responsible risk-taking is central to effective brand management. Risk literacy is the marketer’s third necessary competence, alongside strategic insight and financial understanding.
In Brand Risk, a practical and accessible book for those who hold responsibilities in marketing or risk management, David Abrahams brings together relevant risk thinking and a range of techniques for the evaluation of brand exposures and opportunities - whether in response to the ambitions of a key business project, new market conditions or shareholder concern.
A balanced review of the subject is enriched by reference to topics of current interest and is supported by illustrative examples throughout. Presenting the essentials of brand management and risk management side-by-side, Brand Risk offers graduated and complementary approaches to brand risk assessment, from the intuitive to the data-driven.
Contents: Introduction. The Case for Risk Literacy: Corporate context; Marketing and risk; Risk literacy; Summary; Snakes and Ladders - Licensing brands. Defining Brand Risk: What is a brand?; Brand risk model; Addressing brand risks; Brand valuation; Summary; Snakes and Ladders - Market research. Learning to Take Risk: Why learn?; Human factors; Learning from failure; Summary; Snakes and Ladders - Customer service failures. The Language of Risk: Introduction; Useful distinctions; Probability; Expected value and volatility; Probability distributions; Objective and subjective probabilities; Beating the averages; Risk thresholds; Expected utility; Summary. Identifying and Managing Risk: Identifying risks; Risk mapping; Cause-and-controls assessment; Managing risk; Summary; Snakes and Ladders - Crisis management. Modelling Risks: Reasons to model risk; Decision trees; Expected value of new information; Dependency modelling; Stochastic models; Summary. Making Progress: Reaffirming the goals; Body of knowledge; Organizational context; Conclusions. Appendix - Chapter Maps; Bibliography; Index
About the Author: David Abrahams has spent twenty-three years in brand management, new product development and business management with global consumer goods and service companies. For the last decade he has advised corporate clients on brand-related aspects of risk management. A graduate in law from Cambridge University, he is a member of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with accreditation as a commercial mediator.
Reviews: 'In this excellent book, Abrahams puts forward a powerful case for professional marketers to develop a deeper understanding of brand risk, and incorporating it as an integral part of brand management.' Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), August 2008
'Abrahams's detailed and lovingly considered exposition provides a clear and useful grounding in many aspects of risk management. While his attention is always on the brand and the market, there is much that could be extrapolated into other areas...it is a book which will repay reading, however hoary and experienced a risk professional you may be.'
Andrew Leslie, StrategicRISK, June 2008
This title is also available as an eBook, ISBN 978-0-7546-8890-7
Click here for the Prelims and Introduction in PDF format