Brand Power Built In: How Tech Producers Really Win Hearts and Minds
Lefang He
Matt Holt Books/An Imprint of BenBella Books (April 2026)
How to embed brand power and customer loyalty within a product’s DNA…”from the beginning”
Throughout human history, the objective of marketing has been to create or increase demand for whatever is offered for sale or trade. This is usually a three-step process:
1. Attract favorable attention
2. Associate what you offer with a need to be filled, a problem to be solved, etc.
3. Establish what you offer as a brand with strong appeal
In Brand Power Within, Lefang He explains HOW TO achieve these strategic objectives:
o Rethink brand for each of your products
o Build in brand power from the start
o Develop your positioning strategy
o Establish your brand identity
o Integrate your brand into your product experience
o Launch with a sequenced go-to-market strategy
o Scale your brand to accelerate acquisition and retention
o Iterate and modify (as needed) after measuring impact
o Cutivate and nourish a culture that powers brand success
o On a regular basis, evaluate what works and what doesn’t; determine WHY and WHY NOT; and respond accordingly
According to He, ” This is what brand is really all about — creating meaningful connections and experiences through the product and everything around it to win hearts and minds. But this is what many companies fail — because their brand thinking either does not exsist at all or remains superficial. For example, in many cases, brand positioning, the most foundational work inform execution, is outsourced. That’s the missed opportunity and untapped value that most companies overlook.” (Page 4)
NOTE: Although He focuses on tech companies and their branding initiatives, most of the material in Brand Power Built In (with only minor modification) can be of substantial value to leaders in most other companies, whatever their size and nature may be.
These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the nature and extent of her coverage:
o Three Myths on Why Tech Companies Undervalue Brand (Pages 16-28)
o Product Experience Is the Most Powerful Brand Builder (36-40)
o The Six Building Blocks for Implementation (44-46)
o Why Positioning Matters (54-57)
o Tools to Uncover Insights(64-66)
o 40 Questions to Ask About Your Positioning (70-72)
o How Irreverent Branding Made Liquid Death a Billion Dollar Company (75-79)
o Brand Identity Is a Strategic long-Term Asset (86-93)
o Why Brand Thinking Matters in Product Design (100-104)
o Weaving Storytelling and Emotional Connections Within the product (106-109)
o Why Sequenced Growth Matters (122-127)
o Sequencing Your Customer Acquisition Strategy (131-134)
o Pulling Customers In Through Effective Storytelling (134-138)
o Why Brand Power Accelerates Acquisition and Retention (147-148)
o Acquisitio: Integrating Brand and Performance Marketing (151-156)
o Building Trust as Your Ultimate Growth Multiplier (165-166)
o Why Brand Equity Matters (173-176)
o Integrating Brand and Business Performance Metrics (181-184)
o How Your Culture Shapes Your Products (195-198)
o Build Your Brand Power (215-217)
Almost everyone in your organization should be involved in — or at least actively support — efforts to create or increase demand for whatever your company offers for sale or trade. Lefang He explains HOW you and your colleagues can establish or strengthen a brand-power workplace culture, one within which a brand with sustainable power can be created.
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Here are two suggestions while you are reading Brand Power Built In: First, highlight key passages. Also, perhaps in a lined notebook kept near-at-hand, record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to the “Summary” that concludes each chapter, and, to all of the material in Part IV, “Support a Brand Made Culture.”
These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.