Book Review: The Brand Within: The Power Of Branding From Birth To The Boardroom (Display Of Power Series)
by Daymond John
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Publication Date: Apr 01, 2010
List Price: Unavailable
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780982596210
Imprint: Display of Power Publishing, Inc.
Publisher: Display of Power Publishing, Inc.
Parent Company: Display of Power Publishing, Inc.
Read a Description of The Brand Within: The Power Of Branding From Birth To The Boardroom (Display Of Power Series)
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
"What I hope to do with this book is reach out to anyone
who wants to get a leg up on their own careers… And more than anything else,
it’s a book meant to remind readers that they will prosper from making the
right choices, from conducting themselves in the right way, no matter what
stage of the business world they happen to occupy.
I’ll look back and offer examples from my FUBU career to illustrate certain
points… My hope is that readers walk away from this book realizing it’s not
enough to talk the talk. You’ve got to walk the walk, if you mean to get and
keep ahead."
— Excerpted from Chapter One (pgs. 29-30)
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
At 41, Daymond John might not seem old enough to be writing his second
autobiography, but after perusing The Brand Within I’m convinced that far
more important than chronological age are a person’s accomplishments and
ability to share pearls of wisdom in an engaging and informative fashion.
Daymond definitely achieves all of the above in this combination memoir/
marketing handbook written in a culture-crossing style that ranges from
street to sophisticated.
One minute, he might drive home a point via salty language like "All I have
is my balls and my word, and I don’t break ‘em for no one." The next moment,
he is just as likely to resort to terms generally employed in corporate
boardrooms to explain complex business concepts.
In either case, Daymond is an entrepreneur to be taken seriously, if only
because he built a haberdashery started in his mother’s basement into a
multimillion-dollar fashion empire. FUBU, founded as "Five Urban Brothers
United" in 1992, eventually was strategically changed to "For Us, By Us," a
backronym conveniently exploiting the popular notion that the company’s
styles were made by blacks for blacks.
Here, the enterprising Mr. John emphasizes the importance of self-branding,
urging his readers to recognize and make the most of any opportunity to
enhance their image. "From the day you’re born, you’re branding yourself,"
he says. "You are what you wear. You are what you drive, where you live,
what you drink…’ etcetera. Consequently, "Every move you make will
establish… how the world looks back at you."
While it isn’t exactly pleasant to think of the road to riches as paved by a
series of critical consumer decisions, who am I to argue with a guy this
successful and so convincing when he makes a case that, "Like it or not,
intentional or not, you will be stamped—branded… and once you’ve been
tagged, it will follow you around." Branding as the blueprint for making it
in the 21st Century.