University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Breakthrough Branding
Book

Breakthrough Branding

How Smart Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs Transform a Small Idea into a Big Brand

Catherine Kaputa
Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2012
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Accurate positioning, target marketing, and sharp visuals and design are not new branding concepts, yet digital media alter how they function. Branding expert Catherine Kaputa realigns the basics of branding to incorporate the game-changing influences of digital media. She covers business and personal branding extensively, presenting relatable – if disconnected – case stories of über-successes such as Zappos and Apple. Her useful and engaging, though fragmented, report reaches beyond the normal range of case studies to include Red Bull and Whole Foods. getAbstract recommends Kaputa’s lively saga to entrepreneurs, small-business owners and anyone with a great business idea.

Summary

One “Small Idea”

Rather than trying to come up with the next big thing, focus on identifying an exceptional small idea, a “simple, focused brand promise that defines what’s special about your brand.” Small ideas are straightforward and you can explain them in a sentence or two. For your simple idea to ring true, it must spring from your passion and values. To resonate with potential consumers, be authentic, like Gilt Groupe founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. Their successful small idea was an online club where members received daily email notifications about discounts on designer clothing.

You have the freedom to choose the business you want, so create a company with a purpose you find meaningful and fulfilling. Let your intuition guide you. Wendy Kopp created Teach for America, a nonprofit organization, to place college graduates in underperforming schools for two-year teaching commitments. As you develop your small idea, establish a work environment where everyone shares your mission. Promote and reward creativity, celebrate victories, allow mistakes, and hire people who fit with your brand’s personality.

Small ideas offer something unique...

About the Author

Catherine Kaputa is the founder of the brand strategy consultancy SelfBrand and the author of U R a Brand! and The Female Brand.

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