As I’m sweating the final details to prepare for a launch of our book this fall, probably the last thing I should be doing is reading other authors’ books right now. But after meeting John Gerzema, co-author of The Brand Bubble and Chief Insights Officer of Young & Rubicam, I felt compelled to find the time. One benefit of being on airplanes a lot lately is that there’s no shortage of time for catching up on my reading. In this case I was rewarded richly with a killer book that dovetails nicely with our Marketing with Meaning concept.

Like any compelling story, The Brand Bubble begins by scaring the hell out of the reader. In trolling through historic BrandAsset Valuator information, which tracks consumer opinion on thousands of brands, the authors found that nearly every major brand has seen declining equity value in recent years. They pair this with data that suggests people are much less brand loyal and are more indifferent to advertising than ever before. But what’s even scarier is that the valuations of brands in stock price have steadily increased (even allowing for the recent nosedive in stocks). Hence, the “brand bubble” is the next to pop.

Through the rest of the book, Gerzema and Ed Lebar focus on an analysis of the handful of brands in their database that are growing brand value today. The key factor that winners share is energy; in the brand sense, energy is “the consumer perception of motion and direction in a brand.” And just as a shark must keep swimming to stay alive, brands must keep moving forward to maintain their energy and strength.

These brands create a constant sense of interest and excitement. Consumers sense they move faster, see farther, and are highly experiential and more responsive to their future needs. In terms of our correlations, we saw a definite pattern: the more energy a brand has, the greater the consideration, loyalty, elasticity, pricing power, and brand value (as a percentage of firm value) it commands. This unique measure establishes a direct link between brand momentum and creativity, financial earnings, and stock performance.”

Using the BrandAsset Valuator as a guide, the authors walk the reader through examples of these high-energy brands (such as Lego, IKEA, Virgin, and Whole Foods) and share the keys to success in bringing forward momentum to your brand.

Overall, I found The Brand Bubble to be one of the smartest business books I have read in some time. It is intellectually challenging without being wonky. It hits on very big points but remembers to bring things down to the level of a brand manager trying to deliver his cases each week. I believe any marketer of big brands must read this book and get her entire team to do so as well.

I also was happy to see clear consistency with the direction of Marketing with Meaning. This book does a lot to promote the idea of “purpose brands”: Decide what higher-level goal or reason for existence that your brand has, and then choose marketing accordingly. Once your brand has dedicated itself to a purpose, the next step is to create meaningful marketing that delivers on that purpose.

So order The Brand Bubble today and buy copies for your entire team. It’s great reading to prepare you for our book launch in the fall.