John Goodchild and Clive Callow have edited a short book, Brands Visions and Values, which can be a useful reference for a small business marketer. This is a fairly quick read, compiled from several different UK sources. If you are a Chief Marketer that needs to convince a “dollars and sense” type in your organization of the value of building a brand then this is a decent resource.

If you still think brand is all about logos and not about the employees in your company, then please read chapter two.

Note: this is not a book you’ll constantly pull down from your shelf in order to extract “how to market” solutions from. But, it can serve to help validate and reinforce the “why you market”, especially when you have to justify to a “dollars and sense type” why you are spending company resources on improving your small business brand.

Chapter Two, “The Role of Brands in Business”, is an article by Jonathan Knowles. Although directed at larger companies, this has solid information applicable to small business. On p. 23 Knowles offers this great quote: “The advent of the information economy means that an increasing proportion of the value of companies resides in the heads of their employees.” As a small business marketer, you know the importance of employees, but it is sometimes refreshing to have this underscored again in print.

Knowles also point out the difference between service and product brands, and how the service brands are not as well understood. Those of you who have read Harry Beckwith will relate. Pages 61-65 have some pertinent insights into service branding, and an instructive case study of a Credit Suisse campaign to change their service brand’s image. There are some significant lessons in these pages for a service marketer, especially if you deal in financial services.

The overview Knowles presents of how Virgin Atlantic views its staff as “an integral part of the offer” is also instructive; moreover, this echoes Frederick Reichheld’s writings on loyalty and the important role of employees in the company.

Pages 85 through 87, the conclusion of Knowles’ contribution, offer a quick overview of how the people who run business have shifted their attention over the past forty years. Especially for those of you newer in business, these pages are valuable to read to understand how business has shifted because no doubt it will continue to change throughout your marketing career.

Chapter Three, “Accounting for Intangible Assets” may be a worthwhile reference for your accounting firm. Mostly the chapter is a well-written overview of the last twenty years of the various debates in the UK on the subject.

We recommend you acquaint yourself with Brands Visions and Values, but spend most of your marketing “self-improvement” time on chapter two.