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Paperback
Publisher: Peachpit Press
"When everybody zigs, zag," says author Marty Neumeier in this fresh view of brand strategy. ZAG follows the ultra-clear "whiteboard overview" style of Neumeier's first book, THE BRAND GAP, but drills deeper into the question of how brands can harness the power of differentiation. The author argues that in an extremely cluttered marketplace, traditional differentiation is no longer enough—today companies need “radical differentiation” to create lasting value for their shareholders and customers. In an entertaining 3-hour read you’ll learn:
- why me-too brands are doomed to fail
- how to "read" customer feedback on new products and messages
- the 17 steps for designing “difference” into your brand
- how to turn your brand’s “onliness” into a “trueline” to drive synergy
- the secrets of naming products, services, and companies
- the four deadly dangers faced by brand portfolios
- how to “stretch” your brand without breaking it
- how to succeed at all three stages of the competition cycle
ZAG is an AIGA Design Press book, published under Peachpit's New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA. For a quick peek inside ZAG, go to www.zagbook.com.
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| ZAG . . .to the front of the competition |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Building brands is what my company does I have read MANY books on the subject and Marty with runners on 1st, 2nd and 3rd base in the bottom of 9th inning, blasts one over the fence with his book! An easy and short read yet packed full of invaluable information on getting out of the starting blocks on the right track when it comes to building your brand. He speaks effecitvely on what that means and how to do it. It not only reads well but pictorially it's a winner. Visually he always brings the point home. Al Reis's the 22 Immutable laws of branding was my #1, now this has inched its way to the forefront of my favorite reference books in this area. Bravo Marty, bravo!
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| Very Interesting |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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A very interesting book, shows everybody a different side of Marketing conceptualization. Gives the oportunity to go step by step in a creation of a brand in such a way that makes it different to all other brands, and create loyalty in consumers towards your brand.
Highly recommended.
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| Great thoughts, presented perfectly for busy people |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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You have to read Zag like you read the bible- it tells a great story but you often are better served not delving too deeply into the statements made by the author to support his points (i.e. the fact that 11 million people went to Europe in 2006 versus 8 million in 1964 as evidence of a shift in American society- though as a percent of the population it is almost no change at all in Americans traveling abroad).
Such is the nature of writing about a topic where 1) the author makes his money selling branding services; 2) he doesn't believe in hard numbers to prove points, harboring the predictable anti-research position that is both a great strength and weakness of this book and books like this (i.e. Blink). It also may be the most acceptable way to write a book that is not so dry and academic that nobody would want to read it.
But the story being told is a great one and it is really well told. Neumeier needs to get a lot of credit for presenting ideas simply (not simplistically) which many other authors would make very complicated. The book is also just really well thought out so that it is thoroughly enjoyable to read even as you get into some pretty important topics that others might get bogged down in jargon or overly long explanations. The book also gets high markst for not only discussing what a "zag" is but also showing you how you can get there if you follow his clearly outlined process.
So while the book is clearly a campaign for what he believes versus an objective look at branding, it is great read and I would recommend it for anyone working in marketing/branding that wants a refresher or reminder about what you should be thinking about in our ever-changing world.
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| ZAGGING |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Excellent Book!
It is:
- Fun to read
- Openminding
It provides great practical ideas. You can apply the 17 steps to differentiation in your work place righ away.
I could not stop reading it.
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| Zag is Zagworthy |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I purchased this book at the same time as the Brand Gap, being confident in the fact they'd both be helpful, well-written, yet densely packed tomes of information - and I was right!
Zag hones in on one element discussed in the Brand Gap - differentiation - and expands it into a 200-so page book. According to Neumeier, differentiation, or creating zag, is one of the most important elements of branding - and it needs to happen at every step of the way, from conception to naming to marketing.
The great thing about Zag is the way it presents the information - much like in the Brand Gap it follows a 'whiteboard', graphic-heavy, basic (but important) facts. This time around however, it pairs the basic format with a strong, easy-to-follow example through the faux development of an educational wine bar chain.
Neumeier then takes the reader through 17 steps (including some helpful exercises) you should take as a business owner, venture capitalist, or advertising professional when determining whether your product is zagworthy - or how to make it so it is.
In terms of why I gave the book 4 stars as opposed to 5...The last section of the book - once the 17 steps are completed and the wine bar is 'fully developed' - is a little bit dense/doesn't seem to flow as well as the rest of the book/series.
Also there is a decent amount of repetition between Zag and the Brand Gap, and I am hesitant in believing that people would pick up one without the other. Although it makes sense to reinforce the principles (and sell more books I'm sure) in some cases, it almost made it hard to differentiate some of the messages between the books, making me feel a bit cheated in that I paid money to read the same pages over.
I have a hunch Neumeier might take the 5 main principles found in The Brand gap and expand each of them into books like Zag did for differentiation - and I can't fault him for doing so. Zag is definitely an improvement on The Brand Gap in that it offers a focused "here's exactly what you can do" strategy, but it still remains general enough that virtually any level of professional (student, beginner, executive etc.) can sit down and walk away a couple of hours later feeling like they learned something.
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