University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Brand Elevation
Book

Brand Elevation

Lessons in Ueber-Branding

Wolfgang Schaefer and JP Kuehlwein
Kogan Page, 2020
Buy book or audiobook

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

How does a brand inspire such devotion that customers wear the logo, congregate in person and online to discuss products and services, or passionately gather at events? Wolfgang Schaefer and JP Kuehlwein researched this phenomenon in their previous work, Rethinking Prestige Branding. Here they offer the Brand Elevation model, a six-step process to elevate your brand into an Ueber-Brand, research and identify your brand mission, balance exclusivity and inclusivity, attract rather than sell, and master Myth creation and storytelling, as have such brands as Burt’s Bees, Patagonia, Starbucks and Peloton.

Summary

Seven principles – which the Brand Myth anchors – comprise the Ueber-Branding Model.

The Ueber-Brand foundational principles are: “Mission Incomparable; Longing vs Belonging; Un-selling; From Myth to Meaning; Behold!; Living the Dream; and Growth Without End.”

Beloved Ueber-Brands are inspirational leaders and motivators with a meaning and identity that surpasses their product or service’s function. Ueber-Brands attain status by fulfilling the human yearning for meaning, to feel special and included, and to find truth and fulfillment.

A Mission Incomparable is a distinct, unique purpose beyond making money. The brand reflects customer tastes, supports their aspirations and fosters good feelings. Ueber-Brands develop fan communities with operating philosophies that resonate with customers. Patagonia, for example, has a central Mission of creating products that do no environmental harm. The company aligns every activity with this goal.

Master the balance between access and exclusivity; reject standard sales tactics to whisper a promise.

Ueber-Brands adapt the scarcity principle for modern times, capitalizing on the...

About the Authors

Wolfgang Schaefer is founder and CEO of Zwoelf Consulting and co-author of Rethinking Prestige Branding: Secrets of the Ueber-Brands. JP Kuehlwein is a principal and co-founder of Ueber-Brands Consulting, an adjunct professor of marketing at NYU and Columbia Business School, and co-author of Rethinking Prestige Branding: Secrets of the Ueber-Brands.

Comment on this summary