About the Book

You're on summer vacation, driving to the beach.

You've been in the car for nearly three hours. The kids are in the back seat screaming that they're hungry and need to go to the bathroom. You look up ahead and see two options: one is McDonald's golden arches; the other is a sign for Frank's Home-Style Cooking.

Where do you stop? And why?

Even if you choose to bypass McDonald's, its brand—namely, what its golden arches signify—helps you make a quick and informed decision.

How?

Through branding—including marketing, advertising and word of mouth—McDonald's golden arches have come to symbolize inexpensive fast food served in a well-lit, family-friendly environment. Its uniformed staff may not drape napkins over their wrists, but the service is reasonable, and for the most part the restrooms are clean and safe. You may not be captivated by what's on the menu, but you know what you are going to get and what it is going to cost.

What do you know about Frank's Home-Style Cooking?

Now put yourself in the place of a funder who has dozens of applications on his or her desk, a tight deadline to meet and limited resources to allocate. Which organization is most likely to receive funding; one that the funder knows, trusts and values or a relatively unknown entity?

In Branding for Success, Larry Checco debunks the notion that branding is the sole domain of large, well-funded corporations that can afford multimillion-dollar advertising budgets and celebrity endorsements. But that you, too, through efficient and cost-effective means, can raise the visibility and value—namely, the brand—of your organization in powerful and meaningful ways.

There is nothing in this book that is beyond the reach of any organization, regardless of size or financial resources. Its two primary objectives are: (1) to make the case for branding and its importance to the sustainability—and perhaps even the survivability—of your organization; and (2) to make the fundamental principles of good branding accessible to everyone.

In short, Branding for Success will help you answer the questions: Who are we? What do we do? How do we do it? And why should anyone care enough to support us?