The best 41 Branding books

Services represent a significant and growing portion of the modern economy, yet marketing them remains a mystery. Selling the Invisible (1997) serves as a guide for promoting the intangible. It outlines how to set up a marketable service company, and how that business can then be advertised and promoted.

These blinks explain why traditional marketing no longer works, and why to be successful you need to build Purple Cows, remarkable products and services that stand out of the crowd. They also explain how you can reach your target market once you’ve found your own Purple Cow.

In How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp tackles conventional marketing wisdom, disproving many of the conventional marketing myths with scientific facts and establishing some scientifically proven principles marketers should use.

Positioning has become one of the most renowned, best-selling books about marketing strategies in the last few decades. It describes a revolutionary marketing concept developed by the authors in the 1970s after it became clear that classic advertising was no longer effective due to an increase in media and competition. Positioning focuses on how to position your product in the market to become an industry leader.

In Fascinate, author Sally Hogshead helps us realize our potential for fascination. By explaining in vivid language exactly how fascination works and how you can trigger it in others, Fascinate provides you, your company and your brand with the tools to fascinate. These “seven triggers of fascination” can help you to increase the odds of success, both in your personal life and in business.

In What Great Brands Do, author Denise Lee Yohn draws on her over twenty-five years of experience in brand-building to demystify the branding process. You’ll discover the main principles that have made brands such as Nike, Apple and Starbucks such iconic household names.

In The Brand Gap, you’ll get the inside scoop on how a strong brand can give your company a competitive edge. When you learn how to implement the five branding disciplines outlined in this book, you’ll understand that in closing the gap between strategy and creativity, you’ll be able to build an irresistible brand that will make customers take notice.

How can you get people interested in your brand in an age of ad-blockers, vanishing attention spans and colossal consumer choice? Paid Attention (2015) discusses the fast-changing media landscape, and maps out strategies for success that reach beyond banner placement and pop-ups.

Better and Faster (2015) outlines a specific set of tools and guidelines readers can use to outmaneuver their competition and attain success in the chaotic and unpredictable modern marketplace. Using countless real-life examples – both cautionary tales and inspiring success stories – Jeremy Gutsche lays out a path for finding opportunities and developing successful business ideas.

Getting Started in Consulting (2009) is the go-to guidebook for budding consultants. From finding your footing and learning about legal matters to mastering the dual art of marketing and branding, these blinks outline every step on your journey to building a strong consultancy firm – and maintaining it, too.

Marketing 3.0 is a handbook to the marketing strategies of tomorrow. These blinks explain how old tactics have grown outdated as people search for meaning in their lives and the companies that can provide it. Read on to learn how you can adapt your marketing strategy to the changing nature of consumer preferences.

Do the KIND Thing (2015) passes along the valuable lessons the author learned while building his successful and ethical brand. These blinks guide you through the ten fundamental tenets of creating a business that benefits the individual and the world, and is prosperous too.

Unconscious Branding (2012) reveals how marketers can tap into our subconscious, encouraging our participation in and support of company brands. In just seven steps, you’ll discover new strategies to guide your own company toward developing a brand with which customers can build a genuine relationship.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (1994) gives you the essential knowledge to build powerful marketing strategies. With practical, real-world examples, these blinks show you how to avoid common mistakes while ensuring your marketing push will stand fast against the toughest competition.

Hello, My Name is Awesome (2014) is about the most important decision a new business faces: choosing a brand name that will launch the company into the stratosphere where it belongs. You might think picking a name is straightforward, but you have a lot to learn! This is your guide to negotiating the snakes and ladders of the brand-naming process – and coming out on top.

Zombie Loyalists (2015) gives you the inside scoop on the customers that every company dreams of attracting. These blinks, illustrated with insightful stories from a wide range of businesses, provide you with simple steps that your brand can take to establish, grow and maintain a faithful, enthusiastic customer base.

YouthNation (2015) offers essential insights on modern-day youth – a generation, lifestyle and rising phenomenon that will be essential to any business’s success in the future. These blinks will teach you the ins and outs of YouthNation and help you build an up-to-date strategy for your company.

The two most important types of conversation you’ll have when founding a business are those with potential customers and those with potential investors. The Mom Test (2013) offers advice on nailing the information you really need from these meetings, and ensuring your business has the best possible foundation for success.

The Global Code (2015) is about a recent worldwide phenomenon: a global unconsciousness, or code, that contains a new system of values, beliefs and principles. This code is formed and shared by the Global Tribe, a highly mobile and cross-cultural group of people who are setting trends, shaking up the old status quo and becoming the target demographic for global luxury brands.

Personality Not Included (2008) explains how to build an awesome public face for your company. These blinks teach you how to develop a strong personality for your business, explain why that’s so important and help you clear the barriers between you and business success.

Rethinking Prestige Branding (2015) is your guide to the radically transformed world of prestige brands. These blinks explain how the practice of building a prestige brand has changed, what customers want today and what you need to do to make your brand a coveted object.

Eating the Big Fish (2009) gives a strategic overview of how second- and third-tier brands can challenge industry leaders and climb to the upper echelons of the business world. These blinks are full of concrete advice to help emerging brands make a name for themselves in competitive markets.

The Fortune Cookie Principle (2013) is a practical guide to building a successful brand through powerful storytelling, a compelling vision and a clear purpose. These blinks explain how to tie your product to the meaning that potential customers seek.

Crushing It! (2018) explains and explores why having a strong personal brand is crucial in business. Following up on his 2009 best seller, Crush It!, the author draws on both his own experiences and those of readers to illustrate why having a strong presence across multiple digital-media channels is a blueprint for success.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding (1998) is a practical, hands-on guide to the dos and don'ts of branding. Covering 22 memorable bite-sized nuggets of wisdom, these blinks provide an overview of the all-too-common mistakes made by marketers and showcases the tricks of the trade used by the most successful brands to assert their dominance in ultra-competitive markets.

Fusion (2018) advises businesses to bring together two corporate realms that are often regarded as separate: brand and culture. If fused into one, these two areas can create a new and powerful driving force in any business.

Top of Mind (2017) offers readers an exciting new perspective on marketing by helping them break free of old, outdated methods and embrace the new “You Marketing” movement. Author John Hall provides the tools and insight necessary to navigate the new world of marketing, focusing in particular on how to gain an audience’s trust and target their needs.

We’re All Marketers (2019) offers a helpful overview of the tactics and principles that are guiding the world of digital marketing. Whether you’re part of a small business or a giant corporation, or you’re simply curious about how ideas are sold online, these are tips that can change the way you think about marketing.

The Post-Truth Business (2018) addresses a question that’s been keeping marketing and advertising agencies up at night for a while now: How do you persuade consumers to trust your brand in an increasingly distrustful world? Drawing on Sean Pillot de Chenecey’s first-hand knowledge of the industry known as “adland,” these blinks show how today’s most innovative companies are strengthening consumer engagement and making sure that their brand doesn’t end up with a credibility gap.

Disruptive Branding (2019) explores the importance and nature of branding in our disruptive, technology-driven world. Drawing on best-in-class examples and practical how-to-guides, it’s a clear blueprint for anyone who wants to utilize a strong brand to drive business results.

Equity (2021) is your guide to building equitable systems in the twenty-first century. It was designed to help socially conscious leaders with the challenging task of creating fair and inclusive organizations that work for everybody.

The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks (2020) describes how brands can create effective and authentic content by understanding the basics of human psychology. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, it gets to the bottom of our online habits and shows brands how to connect with people on a deeper level.

Likeable Social Media (2011) is a handy guide to promoting your business on social media. This manual shows the best strategies for garnering positive attention on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Get Different (2021) is a practical guide for entrepreneurs who want to leverage their market strategies and set themselves apart from the competition. Using an established framework, it offers step-by-step guidance on how to turn a marketing experiment into a strategic plan that gets you noticed and generates leads.

Marketing Made Simple (2020) is a handy guide to growing your brand. This practical manual teaches a five-point system for effectively funneling new customers to your business.

Renegade Marketing (2021) is an incisive guide to becoming a cutting-edge B2B marketer in today’s frenetic corporate climate. It distinguishes four key characteristics of very successful marketing executives and shows you how you can apply them in your own company. Most importantly, it demonstrates how to create meaningful brands that are embodied at every level of your organization.

Branding Between the Ears (2021) explores how marketers can apply the latest scientific insights to their branding strategy. It explores how the human brain responds to advertising, and how consumers really make the decision to buy or not to buy.

Traffic Secrets (2023) reveals an explosive truth: your dream customers are primed and ready. Learn how to analyze your target audience, locate their hotspots, and capture them with evergreen growth-hacking strategies. This game-changing guide unveils precise techniques for driving consistent traffic to your funnels, laying the foundation for unstoppable online growth.

12 Months to $1 Million (2020) serves as your catalyst for creating a seven-figure business within just a year. By uncovering a mixture of pragmatic strategies and hard-earned wisdom, it places you, the aspiring entrepreneur, in the driving seat. Your journey to financial independence and business success starts here.

Emotion by Design (2022) explores the creative philosophies that can differentiate your brand from the rest. It features lessons and stories from the author’s design and marketing experience at Nike.   

Ogilvy on Advertising (1983) offers insights into the world of advertising from the Father of Advertising himself: David Ogilvy. With practical tips on copywriting, design, and media – and a showcase of iconic ad campaigns – it serves as both a guide and a manifesto for aspiring advertisers.