Real World: A Simple Survival Guide for CMOs and Brand Managers.

Global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale announced the release of Fact-Based Branding in the Real World: A Simple Survival Guide for CMOs and Brand Managers by Dr. Rolf M. Wulfsberg, Global Director, Quantitative Research at Siegel+Gale. Dr. Wulfsberg is a pioneer in brand research who has helped companies such as Bank of America, Caterpillar and Eaton improve their business results. This book is intended to make market research and fact-based branding—that is, rigorous quantitative measurement and forecasting techniques—as simple as possible for CMOs and brand managers to understand and use in business.

The average tenure of a CMO is alarmingly short—just 42 months as of 2011. In Fact-Based Branding in the Real World, Dr. Wulfsberg suggests three possible reasons for such high turnover:

– An inability to measure the financial return of marketing/branding initiatives
– A lack of familiarity with robust marketing and brand research techniques
– Limitations in the information that CMOs receive from their research professionals

According to CMOs, the single most important yardstick for gauging marketing success is the return on investment (ROI) for marketing initiatives. While this can be difficult to determine, Dr. Wulfsberg examines models for computing ROI and offers an effective method for predicting it in advance of implementation.

Research suggests that 20 percent of all CMOs are not using research at all in their jobs—a startling percentage. The key issue: a lack of familiarity with fact-based research. Not surprisingly, this can be a major barrier to professional success.

Fact-Based Branding in the Real World recommends how brand executives can get the most out of the research they commission and helps them determine whether it is sound—without having to become a statistician. It also proposes solutions to overcoming the inevitable problems that arise with data in the real world, and methods of effectively communicating with research professionals. It teaches CMOs and brand managers how to utilize brand research, including both acquisition and retention components.

The principles, tools and methods Dr. Wulfsberg offers in Fact-Based Branding in the Real World will enable executives to optimize brand positioning and brand architecture, design better customer experiences and harness the power of simplicity in branding.

So why should CEOs and brand managers embrace fact-based branding? According to Dr. Wulfsberg, it:

– Builds consensus within your organization
– Could add years, if not decades, to your tenure as CMO
– Differentiates between opportunities and dead ends
– Contributes to building more persuasive brand communications
– Integrates the voice of the customer (and prospective new consumer) into your marketing and communications practices
– Provides concrete metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of brand-building initiatives
– Greatly enhances efficiency
– Elevates brand and communications to a vital role within the organization
– Helps you talk to other executives using their language

Martin Gierke, Senior Manager, Corporation Reputation at The Boeing Company, says, “In his own unique and wonderfully reasoned manner, Dr. Wulfsberg takes us on an important journey toward smarter brand building. His thoughtful balance of the art and science of brand analytics is testament to his personal passion for both the rational and emotional realities that impact brand decision-making today. There is no question that tomorrow’s most powerful brands will have benefited from his thinking.”