Shireen Smith - Brand Tuned: The new rules of branding, strategy and intellectual property

Much as I didnt expect this, I enjoyed this book immensely. It was refreshing to see some legalistic rigour brought to bear on the most misused and overused term in the marketing lexicon.

Rory Sutherland

Vice-chairman, Ogilvy UK

www.ogilvy.com/uk/

This book belongs on your shelf. It explains how to develop and protect IP, a brand name, and brand symbols all crucial to long term success and all underappreciated and understudied.

David Aaker

Vice-chairman, Prophet; brand strategist; author

davidaaker.com

As marketers we need to hone our skills and keep learning to expand our knowledge. I recommend this book for marketers who want to improve their knowledge and understanding of the application of IP to their work.

Sophie Devonshire

CEO, The Marketing Society

marketingsociety.com

Brands are the lifeblood of a business. If you own, or are custodian of, one then you must, must, must protect and nurture its precious equity. This book will give you a head start.

Phil Barden

Managing Director, DECODE Marketing Ltd;
author of Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy

Your brand is a cornerstone asset and its worth getting right. This book will make sure you are creating a brand in line with the latest evidence-based thinking on how brands grow and how to develop distinctive brand assets. This book should be a companion for any entrepreneur with ambition to create real value.

Daniel Priestley

CEO, Dent Global

www.dent.global

A welcome salve for many a curious soul and a thoroughly enjoyable easy read on two critical subjects for the Digital Age. Hopefully this invigorating book will help change the way marketers, designers, and MBA students are trained in IP, and IP lawyers are trained in branding. Not before time!

Chrissie Lightfoot

CEO, EntrepreneurLawyer Ltd

entrepreneurlawyer.co.uk

Brand Tuned is essential reading for all entrepreneurs who want to build and protect brands for long term profit and market share. You should read this before you even think about naming a product or designing a logo.

Joe Gregory

Founder, Rethink Press; author of Make Your Book Pay

rethinkpress.com

Brands are important assets. They take time to build. This book summarizes how we can most effectively build and protect them so we dont waste valuable time and resources. A useful guide, not just for those working in a legal profession.

Wiemer Snijders

Partner, The Commercial Works; curator of Eat Your Greens

www.commercialworks.eu

Anyone involved with setting up or growing a business will benefit enormously from the insight provided by this book into the world of branding. All aspects are thoroughly covered in a way which is both enjoyably readable and positively instructive.

Michael Harrison

Chartered patent and trade mark attorney

Past President, Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys

In Brand Tuned, Shireen Smith brings clarity and focus to the critical concepts of building and protecting brand value.

Derrick Daye

Branding Strategy Insider

Shireen Smith has done the branding community and all businesspeople a great service by highlighting the importance of IP law in branding. Who better than a lawyer with branding experience to explain where the two disciplines overlap and dispel some common misconceptions about both.

Rob Meyerson

Podcast Host, How Brands Are Built

www.howbrandsarebuilt.com

Well organized and perfectly written, Brand Tuned is a bedside book for any entrepreneur who takes their business journey seriously. It approaches branding not only as naming a company but also as a strategy to help you start your business journey one step ahead. From its cleverly structured methodology to well-presented research, Brand Tuned will surely become a guide for small and big scale businesses alike and help light the way for start-ups as well as experienced industry leaders. Knowing her readers needs thoroughly, Shireen Smith continues to share her valuable experience in the most innovative way possible.

Levent Yildizgoren

Managing Director, TTC wetranslate Ltd

Shireen Smith provides an elegant discussion on brands, whose modest length belies the scope of its wisdom and practical advice. Nearly every page offers an insight worth remembering, and she combines her intelligent observations with abundant germane examples. If you are a trademark professional, read this book. If you are a branding or marketing professional, read this book.

Neil Wilkof

Counsel, Dr. Eyal Bressler

Author of Trade Mark Licensing

First published in Great Britain by Practical Inspiration Publishing, 2021

Shireen Smith, 2021

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

ISBN 978-1-78860-269-3 (print)

978-1-78860-268-6 (epub)

978-1-78860-267-9 (mobi)

All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

Contents

Foreword

A s I began to prepare for the launch of my new platform, FemPeak, I knew it was imperative to sort out any IP issues as soon as possible. I was already connected to Shireen and was aware that she was a respected intellectual property lawyer specializing in trademarks and brands. So, she seemed the right ally for my new venture, and I began working with her.

I soon discovered that the name I was intending to use was unsuitable. There was a risk that a trademark owner might sue me for using a similar name. Although this was disappointing news, Im so pleased I discovered the problem early on when I was just getting started. It would have caused untold inconvenience and stress if I had used the name without considering the IP side.

I soon found a different name, FemPeak, and protected it so I can have complete peace of mind that nobody else can lay claim to the name. Another key way my early attention to IP helped is in giving me a process to follow and documents to use whenever I engage help, such as web developers. Like that I know the IP belongs to my company.

As a tech philosopher, film maker, and founder of a digital marketing firm for thought-leaders (Smart Cookie Media), I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to prioritize IP in this digital age. Getting help with IP early on, as I did with FemPeak, sets you up to build your brand on strong foundations.