Ever since the publication of Strategic Brand Management (2nd ed., Kogan Page, London, 1998), Jean‐Noël Kapferer, professor at HEC in Paris, has been known as one of the most prominent specialists on branding and as a contributor to the ever‐burgeoning literature on the topic. With the intelligently ambiguous title of his latest book, Re‐marques, he already indicates that this book is different – not a theoretical exposition of branding, as are most of his earlier treatises, but rather a series of anecdotal remarks on about 500 different brands. Kapferer produced a phenomenological description of successful and less successful brands, and of the strategies that were employed in developing and sustaining them, all of this building on theoretical notions developed in earlier work.
In the first part of the book, the author deals with new developments in the area of brands. The topics treated are the following: the difference between Japanese and Western branding strategies (chapter 1); the rise of “master brands” (chapter 2); the role of brands in reducing consumer risk (chapter 3); the product‐brand relationship (chapter 4); the branding decision as such (chapter 5); the downfall of local and the rise of global brands (chapter 6); efficiency in brand management (chapter 7); speed in product management (chapter 8); and the challenge of the Internet for branding (chapter 9). The second part presents a number of practical recommendations for successful brand management, conceived of not as an isolated exercise but always within the objectives, capabilities and strategies of companies. The author alerts us to menacing developments such as an increasing “decapitalization” of brands, with “mother brands” losing leverage to “daughter brands” and an ensuing erosion of brand equity (chapter 1). Moreover, many brands run the risk of losing authority (chapter 2), or of not sufficiently leveraging the values they represent (chapter 3). Size effects (chapter 4) and volume effects of per capita consumption (chapter 5) are of critical importance, as are relationship building and loyalty programs (chapter 6), efficient brand portfolio management (chapter 7), brand extension strategies in keeping with the positioning of brands (chapter 8), and a balance between brand identity and brand development over time (chapter 9). The third part of the book consists of 16 short articles all of which had been published in the business section of the newspaper Le Figaro between 1997 and 1999. They treat of the fortunes of certain brands such as Mercedes, Coca Cola, or Club Méditerranée, and of topics such as brand names in the case of a company merger, the effects of the introduction of the euro on price policy, and the difficulty of leveraging an image transfer for national brands such as Air France or British Telecom. The volume concludes with a brief plea called “Against imitation voluntarism”, in which the author emphasizes the virtues of customer bonding and, in view of the increasing qualitative convergence of many products, of relying on vision and differentiation in branding. Conformism is out, the “logic of brands” is in: “Volontary affirmation of one’s own values in the long term is the key to a strong brand” (p. 237).
This philosophical aperçu is typical of much of the book. It consists of a loosely concatenated series of vignettes on branding, organized around a large number of brands rather than a consistent explanatory theory. Few are the references to the author’s – or other authors’ – previous theoretical or empirical works on topics like brand loyalty, co‐branding or umbrella branding. Many of these are discussed in the volume, rather in an a propos fashion. Kapferer nonetheless adds new dimensions to the ever more complex field of brand architecture (and its terminology): “vertical brands” (p. 94), “transversal brands” (p. 20) and “programmatic brands” (p. 21) enrich the theoretical language of marketing, though it remains unclear whether the “supra‐marques” (indexed instead as “super‐marques” on p. 242) extensively discussed in the book (part one, chapter 2) are really “house brands”, as suggested by the author (p. 24), or not rather what is commonly known as “master brands”. And how do “méga‐marques” (pp. 134, 158f.), as brands that dominate product categories most surely “master brands”, relate to these without simply being a different designation? In view of the often‐idiosyncratic use of terms by various authors, an acceptable taxonomy of theoretical concepts in the field of product and brand management becomes very desirable, in whatever language studies are composed.
Kapferer’s book contains many reflections worth reading, such as on the differences between the brand cultures of Japan and of the West or on country umbrella brands (such as Reflets de France). One of the major merits of the book is certainly the counterbalance it brings to the domination of US brands in the English‐language literature. There are numerous brands of European and Asian origin which are successful regionally or on world markets, although some of these (like the several brands of hotel chains and tourism‐related companies under the roof of French holding company Accor) are given short shrift even in the present book. It will be interesting to see whether and how branding strategy changes after the acquisition of Seagram (including Metro Goldwyn Mayer) by French water and environmental technology conglomerate Vivendi, to which the author refers on several occasions. Brands such as Danone (Dannon), La‐vache‐qui‐rit (The Laughing Cow), Yoplait, Moulinex, Lancôme, Marks & Spencer, Leerdammer or Salomon are – though sometimes under different names – known on most continents. A discussion of the strategies behind these brands and not only the better known ones of the likes of Coca Cola or McDonald’s is in itself a valuable addition to the literature. Suffice it to mention Ricard, famous producer of anise liqueur, which has revitalized its brand through alliances with the rock music industry (p. 192).
Throughout his book, Kapferer emphasizes the importance of value to successful brands – both of the values brands are connected with and of the economic value added that constitutes brand equity. By standing for something that is recognizable, immutable, and trustworthy, at least over a certain period, brands instill confidence. This is all the more important in a “society of risk” (pp. 28ff.), although the author recognizes that many brands have lost the power to reassure consumers. Master brands at least have the task of leveraging the stature of the company and its values. “Orphan brands” (p. 30) that cannot fulfill the function of reassuring consumers will increasingly lose out against corporate brands backed by strong companies. This ties in with Kapferer’s – some may say: typically French – claim that “for the consumer, existence precedes essence” (p. 50). In their evaluation of products, consumers move from the concrete to the abstract, from products to image and identity. While at the beginning products “carry” brands, which inhere in them, the latter become increasingly detached as they monopolize the constitutive values of their category and thus become more immaterial. Only at this stage are they ready to be transposed to other product categories. During the brand life cycle, then, the relationship between products and brands changes from one of near‐identity to one of near‐independence. This insight, though already alluded to in Kapferer’s Strategic Brand Management and in work by other authors, is one of the trouvailles that make the book worth reading.
While there is thus enough that makes the book beneficial reading for marketing researchers and managers alike – provided they are capable of reading French – the philosophical underpinnings of the author’s ideas are at times sketchy, as in the existentialist credo quoted above. Whether, for example, the work of Solomon Asch, with its orientation towards social psychology, can really be adduced to explain the emergence of brand identity (p. 53) remains somewhat doubtful. We seem to perceive brands independently of social learning and in direct confrontation with the external commercial environment. The ecological psychology of J.J. Gibson and the work on prototypes and exemplars by Eleanor Rosch and her disciples appear to be more suitable candidates for a theory that can explain the psychology of brands, and particularly that certain features of products are sufficient for brands to be established. For a book that is more essayistic than systematic in character, such minor criticism may of course seem petty and uncharitable. Kapferer’s new book is an interesting óuvre that, to be sure, in US terms is rather a “trade book” than a scientific study. But don’t we all know that these often not only make for better reading but are also more inspiring?
