Brand strategist releases evidence-based guide to brand associations

Model strategist Ulli Appelbaum introduced the discharge of The Science of Brand Associations: Win Minds, Win Markets on August 18, 2025. The 114-page hardcover publication represents the primary complete, evidence-based information targeted completely on model associations, an idea Appelbaum argues serves because the working system of promoting.

In response to the press launch distributed August 19, 2025, the e book attracts on cutting-edge neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and a long time of evidence-based advertising analysis. Appelbaum intentionally averted opinion-based frameworks in favor of approaches supported by rigorous information and analysis.

“Whereas researching this e book, I intentionally averted opinion-based frameworks or philosophies in favor of these supported by rigorous information and analysis. The previous usually simply confuse and do not present any readability or course,” Appelbaum said within the announcement supplies.

The publication addresses what Appelbaum identifies as advertising’s most neglected but important idea. The e book contends that manufacturers perform as psychological networks of meanings, emotions, and experiences saved in customers’ minds and reminiscences. These networks form notion, set off recall, drive choice, and in the end decide buy selections.

Scientific basis and methodology

The Minneapolis-based strategist constructed the e book round findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. The analysis demonstrates that model associations permit manufacturers to develop sooner than competitors, purchase extra prospects, command increased value premiums, and climate recessions extra successfully.

The publication contains 10 data-backed explanation why model associations drive enterprise outcomes, 9 confirmed methods, and 14 evidence-based ideas for constructing stronger model affiliation networks. Diagnostic scorecards and sensible frameworks allow readers to evaluate and strengthen model well being.

Appelbaum included insights from revered thought leaders together with Mark Ritson, Byron Sharp, Jenni Romaniuk, and Kevin Lane Keller. International analysis companies comparable to Ipsos and Kantar contributed information to help the frameworks offered.

The e book maintains concentrate on sensible utility slightly than theoretical dialogue. In response to Jacob Cass, co-host of the JUST Branding Podcast, “Ulli connects the dots between advertising science and real-world branding like nobody else. That is the OS behind how manufacturers really develop.”

Skilled background and credentials

Appelbaum brings greater than 25 years of worldwide model technique expertise to the publication. His shopper portfolio spans 4 continents and contains Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Basic Mills, Harley-Davidson, Chrysler, and extra blue-chip manufacturers.

Previous to founding boutique technique consultancy First The Trousers Then The Footwear Inc. in 2014, Appelbaum held senior technique roles at high international companies. His positions included Head of Technique at BBDO Germany, Leo Burnett Chicago, Fallon Worldwide, and SapientNitro.

His work has earned seven Effie Awards and an ARF Ogilvy Award for Excellence in Analysis. Earlier publications embody “The Model Positioning Workbook,” “Model Positioning Methodology Playing cards,” and “Aha! The Final Perception Era Toolkit,” which proceed to information hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide.

Appelbaum serves as a visitor lecturer on the College of Minnesota’s Hubbard Faculty of Journalism and contributes to advertising publications in the USA and Europe. He regularly seems as a podcast visitor and keynote speaker.

Business reception and market positioning

Early trade reception positions the e book as a strategic basic in improvement. Paul Chibe, CEO of Pabst Brewing Firm, famous, “Too usually at present, entrepreneurs function with out course or focus, wasting your funding. This e book delivers the frameworks wanted to construct highly effective, profitable manufacturers.”

The publication addresses a spot in out there literature. Regardless of the foundational position of brand name associations in model constructing, this marks the one e book on Amazon targeted solely on the subject.

Jami Guthrie, VP of Technique, Insights & Prioritization at McDonald’s, emphasised the sensible implications: “Understanding how model associations are fashioned and retrieved does not simply result in smarter advertising—it results in higher methods, higher tales, and higher outcomes.”

The e book targets entrepreneurs, model strategists, and company leaders in search of to audit, construct, and strengthen their model affiliation networks. The content material applies to professionals launching startups, revitalizing legacy manufacturers, or refining advertising methods.

Publication particulars and availability

The e book launched by means of impartial publishing on August 18, 2025. The hardcover version prices $44.90, with paperback out there at $29.90. A Kindle version is priced at $19.90.

The 114-page publication carries ISBN-13: 979-8296542403. Print dimensions measure 7.24 x 0.46 x 10.24 inches with a weight of 9.9 ounces. The studying age is listed as 14-18 years.

Amazon rankings present the e book reaching #5 in International Advertising and marketing and #25 in Market Analysis Enterprise classes. The publication achieved #1 New Launch standing in International Advertising and marketing.

Free bonus supplies accompany the e book, together with scorecards for model affiliation community evaluation, infographics protecting the 14 confirmed ideas of brand name development, and the 16 lethal sins of brand name administration. A self-assessment device permits readers to guage their model efficiency in opposition to science-backed ideas.

The publication arrives because the advertising trade more and more emphasizes evidence-based approaches over conventional opinion-driven methods. PPC Land has documented this shift by means of protection of data-driven advertising traits, together with the 72% improve in programmatic promoting funding deliberate for 2025.

Model associations acquire explicit relevance in digital promoting environments the place measurement capabilities allow exact monitoring of client notion and model recall. Current PPC Land analysis reveals 80% of entrepreneurs emphasizing cross-channel measurement, aligning with Appelbaum’s concentrate on systematic model constructing approaches.

The scientific method contrasts with the advertising trade’s historic reliance on artistic instinct and opinion-based frameworks. Research covered by PPC Land demonstrates rising demand for evidence-based advertising sources amongst professionals in search of aggressive benefits.

Related TV’s emergence as a brand-building platform, documented extensively on PPC Land, creates new alternatives for implementing model affiliation methods. With 80% of respondents figuring out CTV as primarily reaching model goals, Appelbaum’s frameworks provide well timed steering for optimizing these investments.

The e book’s emphasis on psychological availability and distinctive model belongings addresses core challenges in digital promoting attribution and measurement. As privateness rules reshape concentrating on capabilities, model associations present various pathways for sustainable aggressive benefit.

Advertising and marketing professionals working with worldwide manufacturers face explicit complexity in constructing constant model associations throughout numerous markets. Appelbaum’s international expertise with companies and purchasers in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the USA informs frameworks designed for multinational utility.

Timeline

• August 18, 2025: E book publication date and official launch
• August 19, 2025: Press launch distribution saying the publication
• 2014: Appelbaum based First The Trousers Then The Footwear Inc.
• 2016: PPC Land founded as digital advertising information supply
• Might 2025: PPC Land published guide to important advertising publications
• February 2025: PPC Land reported on programmatic promoting development reaching 72%

Abstract

Who: Ulli Appelbaum, an award-winning model strategist with over 25 years of worldwide expertise, working with purchasers together with Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and Harley-Davidson.

What: Publication of “The Science of Model Associations: Win Minds, Win Markets,” a 114-page evidence-based information to constructing stronger manufacturers by means of scientific understanding of how associations kind and performance in client minds.

When: August 18, 2025, with press launch distributed August 19, 2025.

The place: Revealed independently and distributed by means of Amazon globally, with the creator primarily based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Why: To deal with the hole between opinion-based branding recommendation and scientific proof, offering entrepreneurs with rigorous, data-backed frameworks for constructing manufacturers that develop sooner, purchase extra prospects, and command increased premiums.

PPC Land explains

Model Associations: Psychological networks of meanings, emotions, and experiences saved in customers’ minds that hook up with particular manufacturers. In response to cognitive psychology analysis cited in Appelbaum’s work, these associations perform because the working system that drives model development by shaping notion, triggering recall, and in the end figuring out buy selections. They symbolize the foundational idea underlying all profitable model constructing efforts.

Proof-Based mostly Advertising and marketing: A scientific method to advertising technique that depends on rigorous information, analysis, and scientific findings slightly than opinion-based frameworks or artistic instinct. Appelbaum intentionally structured his methodology round this precept, avoiding philosophical approaches in favor of these supported by measurable proof from neuroscience and cognitive psychology research.

Cognitive Psychology: The scientific examine of psychological processes together with notion, reminiscence, and decision-making that kinds the theoretical basis for understanding how model associations develop and performance. The e book attracts extensively from this discipline to elucidate how customers retailer, retrieve, and act upon brand-related data of their minds.

Neuroscience: The examine of the nervous system and mind perform that gives scientific insights into how model associations are fashioned and retrieved on the neurological stage. In response to the publication, cutting-edge neuroscience analysis demonstrates the organic mechanisms underlying model choice and buy conduct.

Model Technique: The long-term planning and execution of promoting approaches designed to construct distinctive, memorable, and invaluable model positioning in customers’ minds. Appelbaum’s 25 years of worldwide expertise encompasses this self-discipline throughout 4 continents with blue-chip purchasers together with Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Harley-Davidson.

Advertising and marketing Frameworks: Systematic methodologies and instruments that information strategic decision-making in model constructing and marketing campaign improvement. The e book offers diagnostic scorecards, sensible frameworks, and evidence-based ideas that entrepreneurs can apply to evaluate and strengthen their model affiliation networks.

Shopper Habits: The examine of how people make selections about buying, utilizing, and disposing of services and products. The publication examines how model associations affect client notion, recall, choice formation, and supreme buy selections by means of scientific evaluation of behavioral patterns.

Digital Advertising and marketing: The follow of selling manufacturers and merchandise by means of digital channels together with search engines like google and yahoo, social media, linked TV, and programmatic promoting platforms. The e book’s relevance extends to digital environments the place measurement capabilities allow exact monitoring of brand name affiliation effectiveness and client response patterns.

Programmatic Promoting: Automated shopping for and promoting of digital promoting house utilizing information and algorithms to focus on particular audiences. Current trade information reveals 72% of entrepreneurs planning to extend programmatic funding in 2025, creating alternatives to use model affiliation methods in data-driven promoting environments.

Model Constructing: The systematic course of of making consciousness, recognition, choice, and loyalty for a model by means of constant messaging, visible id, and client experiences. Appelbaum’s method emphasizes scientific understanding of how associations kind in client minds slightly than counting on conventional creative-driven strategies alone.