The most overlooked concept in marketing is also the most powerful.
What if everything you thought you knew about brand-building was missing the most powerful ingredient?
The Science of Brand Associations: Win Minds, Win Markets is the first comprehensive, science-backed, and evidence-based guide to the one concept that silently drives every successful brand—the network of meanings, experiences, and feelings living in your customer’s memory and mind.
Brand associations networks are your brand’s hidden operating system. They shape perception, trigger recall, drive preference, and ultimately, determine purchase. They allow your brand to grow faster than the competition, acquire more customers, command a higher price premium, and weather recessions better.
Grounded in Science. Validated By Decades of Research. Built for Results.
Drawing on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and evidence-based marketing, Ulli Appelbaum—an award-winning brand strategist with 30+ years of global experience—translates decades of academic insights and evidence-based learning into clear, practical strategies. You’ll get the exact frameworks, diagnostic tools, and hands-on exercises used to build some of the world’s most successful brands—no fluff, no fads.
You’ll Learn How To:
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- Understand how brands are formed, stored, and retrieved in the brain
- Build the right mix of associations to grow brand salience
- Apply 9 science-backed strategies to shape memorable brand association networks
- Leverage brand codes and distinctive assets like never before
- Use scorecards to assess and strengthen your current brand strategy
- Avoid the 16 common reasons brands fail
- Overcome negative associations and refresh outdated brand perceptions
- Tailor your approach based on brand size and competitive context
For Marketers Who Want to Win Minds and Markets
Whether you’re launching a startup, revitalizing a legacy brand, or refining your marketing strategy, this book gives you a proven roadmap to create brands that people remember, choose, and buy.
If you’re a brand strategist, marketing director, agency planner, business owner, or student, The Science of Brand Associations will shift the way you think about branding forever.
Finally, a Book That Fills the Gap
Incredibly, this is the only book on Amazon focused solely on Brand Associations, despite their foundational role in brand building. If you’re serious about driving growth, differentiation, distinctiveness, and relevance, this is your competitive advantage.
Practical. Research-backed. Essential.
Unlock the operating system of brand growth—and learn how to build brands that win both minds and markets.
Transform the way you think about brand building and win minds and markets.
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PRAISE
“As someone who’s spent decades trying to connect data, insight, and consumer behavior to business outcomes, I found this book incredibly valuable. Understanding how brand associations are formed and retrieved in the mind doesn’t just make for smarter marketing—it helps us build better strategies, tell better stories, and ultimately drive better results.” – Jami Guthrie, Vice President Strategy, Insights, & Prioritization, McDonald‘s
“Ulli’s Rosetta Stone gives the marketer the frameworks needed to build powerful winning brands. Every marketer should read it, learn it, and apply it their strategic branding efforts!” – Paul Chibe, CEO of Pabst Brewing Company
“In The Science of Brand Associations, Ulli Appelbaum finally gives this topic the focus it deserves. He distills decades of research and experience into a clear, practical guide for building stronger, more resonant brands… If you lead a brand or shape one, this book belongs on your desk.” – Fernando Merce, CEO, Chemical Guys
“This book is a much-needed wake-up call for our industry… With scientific rigor and practical wisdom, Ulli gives us an evidence-based blueprint for building brands with lasting impact.” – Stephan Loerke, CEO, World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)
“Most marketing books are all flash, no substance. This one actually delivers. Smart, practical, and zero fluff — just stuff that works.” – Wade Crouch, Director of Marketing and Product Management, One Degree Organic Foods
“This is the OS behind how brands actually grow… If you work in brand strategy, this is one for your reading list!” – Jacob Cass, Brand Designer & Strategist at JUST Creative, Podcast Host ON BRAND
“If you’re serious about evidence-based thinking and want practical guidance on how to test, adapt, and apply proven concepts — not opinions — this book is an essential read.” – Baiba Matisone, Brand & Creative Strategy Consultant
“Ulli does a great job of taking current research and prevailing theories about branding and distilling them into actionable, useful guidance to drive value.” – Kevin McTigue, Clinical Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management
“The Science of Brand Associations provides savvy marketers with pragmatic tools to fuel their businesses… sage advice, backed by science and data… A marketing classic, if I can be so bold.” – Laura Luckman Kelber, Chief Marketing Officer & Advisory Board Member
“Even if you believe your brand is tuned to the perfect pitch, the book’s stories, checklists, and scorecards provide a clear and concise way to audit your brand and achieve success.” – Mary Meehan, CEO, Panoramix Global and Metametrix
“This is a remarkable book because Ulli combines in „The Science of Brand Associations“ hard research facts with decades of experience in the marketing and branding world. A must-read for all who want to systematically build stronger brands.” – Olaf Hartmann – Managing Partner, Multisense Institute, Brand Strategist, Author, MARKENKRAFT podcast
“The Science of Brand Associations turns the science of how memories are formed into a roll‑up‑your‑sleeves operating system for brand builders.“ – Quy Le, Brand Strategy Consultant
“Marketers that use what Ulli has provided here should be able to move their brands into leadership positions with respect to brand associations both in the short and long-term. I highly recommend reading this book!” – Matt Sundstrom, Principal, Sundlight MR&A
“This isn’t a trendy branding book – it’s a strategic manual built on evidence, with real-world relevance. Recommended to anyone serious about building brands that last.” – Matt Davies, Strategy Consultant & Executive Advisor and podcast co-host of JUST Branding
What makes this book especially valuable is its practicality. Ulli doesn’t just explain the theory. He gives you frameworks, tools, and real-world examples you can actually use. Whether you’re trying to strengthen a global brand or grow a challenger, the ideas in this book will help you focus on what matters and cut what doesn’t. It’s smart, clear, grounded in evidence, and refreshingly free of buzzwords. Highly recommended for marketers who care about results.- Karrie Drobnick, Chief Strategy & Experience Officer, Community First Credit Union
What stood out most to me is how effectively Ulli distills the most essential, and often complex, elements of brand associations into clear, useful lessons. This isn’t just theory for theory’s sake; it’s a true toolkit. I’ve already used it as a guide for a project I’m working on, and it elevated my thinking in a way that felt intuitive and immediately impactful. If you’re looking for a book that both inspires and equips you to build stronger, more resonant brands in a way that just makes sense… this is it. Thank you, Ulli, for doing the hard work for us, and for making me a smarter, stronger marketer. – Lucienne Castillo, VP Consumer & Marketplace Intelligence, Pabst Brewing Company
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HOW STRONG IS YOUR BRAND? (FREE SELF-ASSESSMENT)
Take this quick self-assessment and discover how well your brand performs against the science-backed, evidence-based success principles outlined in “The Science of Brand Associations: Win Minds, Win Markets”. You’ll instantly receive a short and personalized report showing your brand’s overall performance, your areas of strength, and areas for improvement to strengthen and grow your brand. CLICK HERE TO START THE TEST
DOWNLOAD FREE BONUS TOOLS FROM THE BOOK
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- “Scorecard: Brand Association Network Mix”, allows you to assess whether you are building the right types of associations
- “Scorecard: Brand association Network Strength” allows you to assess whether you are doing everything to strengthen your brand’s associations
- The 14 proven principles of brand growth comparing small and large brands (from book)
- The Science of Brand associations master scorecard (table from book with no evaluation)
- Master Scorecard Overall Brand Strength (TAKE THE ONLINE TEST)
- Infographic: 5 Principles to Get Your Brand Association Mix Right
- Infographic: 9 Proven Strategies to Build Strong Brand Association Networks
- Infographic: 14 Proven Principles of Brand Growth
- Infographic: 14 Proven Principles of Brand Growth for SMALL BRANDS
- Infographic: 14 Proven Principles of Brand Growth for LARGE BRANDS
- Infographic: The 16 Deadly Sins of Brand Management
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