Total Brand manager

📘 Book Title: Total Brand Manager

Author: Dr. Rashid Alleem
Published: 2020
Focus: Branding, Leadership, Organizational Transformation
Context: Written during the COVID-19 pandemic to guide businesses through crisis via brand-centric leadership.


🌟 Core Idea

Total Brand Manager presents a unique, people-centered branding model known as the SEWA 8Ps Branding Cycle—developed by Dr. Rashid Alleem during his leadership at SEWA (Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority). The book demonstrates how to rebuild and rebrand an organization by aligning people, purpose, and performance.


🧱 The SEWA 8Ps Branding Cycle

  1. Passion – Deep emotional commitment to purpose and service.
  2. Product – Delivering tangible value and unique selling points (USPs).
  3. Positioning – Carving a distinct space in customers’ minds.
  4. Promise – Upholding commitments and building trust.
  5. Personality – Giving the brand a human voice and consistent character.
  6. Presentation – The way a brand communicates, looks, and feels.
  7. Persistence – Sustained effort and resilience over time.
  8. Perception – How the brand is experienced and remembered by stakeholders.

👥 Human-Centric Team & Culture

  • Dr. Alleem forms a dedicated SEWA 8Ps Team, each member acting as a guardian of one of the 8Ps.
  • Promotes gender equality, employee empowerment, and cross-functional leadership.
  • Encourages open dialogue, weekly knowledge-sharing, and emotional intelligence.

📍 Key Features of the Book

  • Conversational Storytelling: Told in a day-by-day narrative format across 11 days + a postscript “A Month Later.”
  • Real Offices with Symbolism: Every meeting occurs in creatively themed rooms like:
    • Room of Possibilities
    • No Disruption Zone
    • Knowledge X
    • Positivity & Happiness Room
  • SEWA 2025 Vision is launched during the pandemic as a case study in resilience and optimism.

💡 Key Lessons & Themes

  • Branding is Culture: The brand isn’t just a logo—it’s how people behave and feel.
  • Agile & Sustainable: Embraces agility, customer-centricity, and green practices.
  • Crisis as Opportunity: The COVID-19 pandemic is used as a catalyst for reinvention.
  • Feedback-Driven: SEWA adopted open-door policies and “Listening Centers” to stay in tune with staff and customer feedback.

📣 Final Takeaway

This is not a theory-heavy branding book. It is an actionable, real-world playbook for leaders who want to create authentic, values-based brands from the inside out. Through the 8Ps, it inspires transformation rooted in purpose, clarity, and resilience.