Spotting an exceptional brand is easy, but building an exceptional brand is one of the most overwhelming and elusive challenges organizations face. Many business leaders mistakenly believe that brand-building superstars like Apple, Lululemon, Zappos, and Nike achieved their successes as a result of good timing, years of experimentation, or just plain luck. Denise Lee Yohn knows the truth: these companies employed specific techniques that elevated brand building from a niche marketing function to the core driver of their business, turning them into industry icons. In What Great Brands Do , Yohn sheds light on these proven techniques and identifies the seven key principles that the world's top brands consistently live out. Yohn reveals how: Great brands start inside Great brands avoid selling products Great brands ignore trends Great brands don't chase customers Great brands sweat the small stuff Great brands commit and stay committed Great brands never have to "give back" Demystifying the brand-building process, What Great Brands Do lays out clear steps for implementing each of these principles. These philosophies contribute to Yohn's innovative brand-as-business approach, which puts the brand at the heart of every company decision and fuels faster growth, increased profit margins, stronger corporate cultures, and superior stakeholder relationships. Examining how this approach operates in the real world, What Great Brands Do features case studies that analyze the brand-building successes and failures of companies including Google, Trader Joe's, IBM, Patagonia, Shake Shack, and many others. A vital resource for CEOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, and other leaders, What Great Brands Do paves a clear and accessible road to building a world-class brand.