To build a quality brand you need to narrow the focus and combine that narrow focus with a better name and a higher price.

The issue is clear. It’s the difference between building brands and milking brands. Most managers want to milk. “How far can we extend the brand? Let’s spend some serious research money and find out.”

Words are the key to brand building.

Your brand should welcome healthy competition. It often brings more customers into the category.

One reason 90 percent of all new brands are line extensions is that management measures results with the wrong end of the ruler. It measures only the success of the extension. It never measures the erosion of the core brand. And it’s not just the erosion, it’s also the lost opportunities.

Strategy should be developed first from a publicity point of view.

Never forget leadership. No matter how small the market, don’t get duped into simply selling the benefits of the category early in the branding process.

When you don’t have the leading brand, your best strategy is to create a new category in which you can claim leadership.

Run up a red flag whenever you hear the words: “Why should we limit ourselves?” You should limit your brand. That’s the essence of branding. Your brand has to stand for something both simple and narrow in the mind. This limitation is the essential part of the branding process.