Do you have a favorite brand book?

No, to paraphrase a famous tag line, “No one can read just one”. With that in mind here’s a short list of a few of our collective favorites:

It must be said that Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency is “king” in the eyes of the strategist at BlackDog. We often pine and mourn the fact that Marty wrote the books that we like to think that we would have wrote.
Zag
The Brand Gap
The Designful Company

How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding by Douglas B. Holt.

Beyond Branding: How the New Values of Transparency and Integrity Are Changing the World of Brands. Beyond Branding is a collaborative work pieced thoughtfully together by fourteen authors that have, oddly enough, formed an exclusive brand society: Nicholas Ind, Denzil Meyers, Johnnie Moore, Chris Macrae, Thomas Gad, John Caswell, Tim Kitchin, Julie Anixter, Simon Anholt, Sicco van Gelder, Ian Ryder, Jack Yan, Alan Mitchell, Malcolm Allan. This contribution addresses everything from sustainability, anthropology and the common good in a practical voice.

A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the Twenty-First Century by Scott Bedbury and Stephen Fenichell. We all remember loving Bedbury’s book, but couldn’t articulate why…it was a long time ago.

Brand Warfare: 10 Rules for Building the Killer Brand by David F. D’Alessandro and Michele Owens. D’Alessandro addresses the value of brand in conservative industries and clarifies the power and pitfalls of sponsorship intelligently.

OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder by Lucas Conley. It is clear that Conley knows the difference between authentic brand and disingenuous fluff intended to distract (a.k.a. bullshit).

Brand Digital and Brand Simple by Allen P. Adamson

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Socialnomics by Erik Quailman

No BlackDog book list would be complete without mentioning On Bullshit by Dr. Harry Frankfurt. On Bullshit is actually a philosophy book that so resonated with BlackDog’s partners and ideologies that we have adopted “We don’t brand bullshit” as our battle cry. It’s a quick and marvelous read that we’d like to teach the world to sing.