This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching readers the seven universal story points all humans respond to; the real reason customers make purchases; how to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and how to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media. Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

    A rich tapestry of anecdotes, object lessons, parodies, insights, and predictions, The Cluetrain Manifesto illustrates how the Internet has radically reframed the seemingly immutable laws of business--and what business needs to know to weather the seismic aftershocks.

    It’s about being a part of a community, knowing that contributions matter and experiencing a greater affiliation with others.The premise begins at the 2003 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle company’s 100 year anniversary celebration. Thousands and thousands of bikers throughout the world attended the event. As a Harley owner stoodproudly by his bike at that event, what two words from a passerby would have made their weekend? “Nice Bike.”“Nice Bike” is more than a casual compliment. It’s the engine that is fueled with the three actions of acknowledging, honoring and connecting with others. Nice Bike can help you with your daily interactions, create more meaningful relationships and add more joy in your journey on the road of life.When you have a better understanding of how to make meaningful connections, you can live a life filled with a greater sense of self worth and accomplishment in your work and in your life. Acknowledge, honor, and connect and you will change the world, one person at a time.

    The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers. They challenge them. The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades.Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles, and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance, only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance.Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products, Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money. They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives. Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection, they are assertive, pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale.The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep. Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization, you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force. The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep, once equipped with the right tools, can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and, ultimately, greater growth.

    You put in the hours. Yet you feel like you are constantly treading water with "Good Work" that keeps you going but never quite moves you ahead. Or worse, you are mired in "Bad Work"—endless meetings and energy-draining bureaucratic traps.Do More Great Work gets to the heart of the problem: Even the best performers are spending less than a fraction of their time doing "Great Work"—the kind of innovative work that pushes us forward, stretches our creativity, and truly satisfies us. Michael Bungay Stanier, Canadian Coach of the Year in 2006, is a business consultant who’s found a way to move us away from bad work (and even good work), and toward more time spent doing great work.When you’re up to your eyeballs answering e-mail, returning phone calls, attending meetings and scrambling to get that project done, you can turn to this inspirational, motivating, and at times playful book for invaluable guidance. In fifteen exercises, Do More Great Work shows how you can finally do more of the work that engages and challenges you, that has a real impact, that plays to your strengths—and that matters.The exercises are "maps"—brilliantly simple visual tools that help you find, start and sustain Great Work, revealing how to:Find clues to your own Great Work—they’re all around youLocate the sweet spot between what you want to do and what your organization wants you to doGenerate new ideas and possibilities quicklyBest manage your overwhelming workloadDouble the likelihood that you’ll do what you want to doAll it takes is ten minutes a day, a pencil and a willingness to change. Do More Great Work will not only help you identify what the Great Work of your life is, it will tell you how to do it.

    If you work in an advertising or marketing agency, then this book is indispensable.Distilling decades of experience, advertising executive Robert Solomon has compiled the definitive resource for advertising and marketing account executives: a fast-reading, pocket-size, actionable checklist of 58 essential ideas to help client service professionals improve their account management strategy and skills. Now fully updated and revised, The Art of Client Service is geared to the entire account team -- copy writers, art directors, and planners, researchers, media executives, support staff -- anyone who works with clients. With brevity, levity, and clarity, Solomon recounts both successes and failures, and uses them to formulate fast-reading, actionable tips, including:Know when to look it up; know when to make it up. (#7)What happens when I screw up? (#51)Respect what it takes to do great creative. (#19)In a high-tech world, be low-tech (#46)Be brief, be bright, be gone. (#31)How to write a letter of proposal (#44)The Zen of PowerPoint. (#45)You'll also find new chapters on technology in advertising, the changing role of client service in an increasingly high-tech era, and an updated bibliography of essential reading.

    A global fashion communications executive, she is the voice behind the wildly popular @DKNY PR GIRL twitter feed that now boasts over half a million followers. Known for her chatty and intimate tone, she has also become beloved for her top-notch career advice and her enthusiasm for mentoring. Thousands of online conversations have led to many a coffee, mentoring strangers. But who can have coffee with everyone who asks? LEAVE YOUR MARK is her way of grabbing that coffee.Now, in her first book, Aliza is here to tell her story, complete with The Devil Wears Prada-esque moments and insider secrets. Drawing invaluable lessons from her experience as a top fashion publicist, Licht shares advice, inspiration, and a healthy dose of real talk in LEAVE YOUR MARK. She delivers personal and professional guidance for people just starting their careers (“ ‘To Whom It May Concern’ never concerns anyone”) and for people who are well on their way (“Don’t just learn your job, learn everyone else’s”). With a particular emphasis on communicating and building your personal brand, something she knows a thing or two about, Aliza is your sassy, knowledgeable guide to the contemporary working world, where personal and professional lines are blurred and the most important thing you can have is a strong sense of self. PRAISE FOR LEAVE YOUR MARK AND ALIZA LICHT AKA @DKNY PR GIRL:"I can't think of a better mentor to help get you going at work and in life. Read it, be inspired- then go out and own your passion." – From the foreword by Donna Karan"Aliza was one of the first people in the fashion industry to embrace the potential of social media and the importance of engaging with followers and, in so doing, changed what it means to work in public relations. Any professional who wants to be powerful, yet accessible, with a voice that is authentic, unique and engaging, should follow her lead.” - Nina Garcia, Creative Director of Marie Claire and Project Runway Judge"With this book, Aliza teaches you to smoke the competition with grace and honesty, excel in your career with wit and hard work, and be an overall kinder and more thoughtful human. If you want the job of your dreams, read this book."-Stacy London, TV Personality & Style Expert“Aliza Licht is a pioneering PR maven, a powerhouse of perfection, a commander of communication, a fierce fashion woman and now an awesome author …LEAVE YOUR MARK will help you do more than that - it is an indispensable guide to success and celebration of the self. Learn the rules then go ahead and break them!!" - Kelly Cutrone, New York Times Best Selling Author of IF YOU HAVE TO CRY GO OUTSIDE"Smart, savvy and sophisticated, LEAVE YOUR MARK is the new professional must-have. No matter what industry you work in, Aliza's insider tips from career to personal branding, will help you make your mark and then leave it!"-Joe Zee, Editor in Chief of Yahoo Style“Sassy, classy, and smart, LEAVE YOUR MARK is more than just a juicy look behind the laptop of DKNY's PR genius, Aliza Licht; it's also a best friend in book form, the kind who'll tell you what you need to hear rather than just what you want to hear. –Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, creators of GoFugYourself.com and the authors of THE ROYAL WE

    ZAG follows the ultra-clear "whiteboard overview" style of the author'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 cycleFrom the back cover: In an age of me-too products and instant communications, keeping up with the competition is no longer a winning strategy. Today you have to out-position, out-maneuver, and out-design the competition. The new rule? When everybody zigs, zag. In his first book, THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier showed companies how to bridge the distance between business strategy and design. In ZAG, he illustrates the number-one strategy of high-performance brands--radical differentiation.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.

    Building on case studies of world-class brands such as Dell, Disney, Microsoft, Sony, Dove, Intel, CitiGroup, and PowerBar, Aaker demonstrates how powerful, cohesive brand strategies have enabled managers to revitalize brands, support business growth, and create discipline in confused, bloated portfolios of master brands, subbrands, endorser brands, co-brands, and brand extensions. Aaker offers readers step-by-step advice on what to do when confronting scenarios such as the following: • Brands are underleveraged • The business strategy is at risk because of inadequate brand platforms • The business faces a relevance threat caused by emerging subcategories • The firm's brands are tired and bland • Strategy is paralyzed by a lack of priority among the brands • Brands are cluttered and confusing to both customers and employees • The firm needs to move into the super-premium or value arenas to create margin or sales volume • Margin pressures require points of differentiation Renowned brand guru Aaker demonstrates that assuring that each brand in the portfolio has a clear role and actively reinforces and supports the other portfolio brands will profoundly affect the firm's profitability. Brand Portfolio Strategy is required reading not only for brand managers but for all managers with bottom-line responsibility to their shareholders.

    Just look at any of the breakthrough business ideas of the last thirty years-from Federal Express overnight delivery to Saturn's fixed sticker price-and you'll see a perfect example of the principle of disruption in action. Still, do you really understand what makes these ideas great? On an intuitive level, maybe, but can you articulate it clearly, reproduce it to create your own business breakthroughs, and make it an integral part of how your company operates? Probably not-unless, of course, you're already familiar with the principles and practices spelled out in Disruption, the groundbreaking new book by global advertising and marketing authority Jean-Marie Dru. To put it simply, disruption is about uncovering the culturally embedded biases and conventions that shape standard approaches to business thinking and get in the way of clear, creative thinking. It's about shattering those biases and conventions and setting creativity free to forge a radical new vision of a product, brand, or service. It's about spearheading change rather than reacting to it. In Disruption, Dru shows you how to harness the enormous potential of this concept. He introduces innovative strategies for breaking down creative barriers and shows you how to analyze traditional approaches from new perspectives. Next, he provides valuable tools for identifying and cataloging conventions, including what if, multicultural analysis, and the disruption bank. He then demonstrates-with the help of dozens of galvanizing examples from around the world-how to apply this knowledge systematically to create innovative competitive strategies, marketing campaigns, and operations plans that can revitalize your company or department. Disruption is must reading for all advertising and marketing professionals, as well as business people who understand the value of creativity. Praise for Disruption Dru offers not just a convincing context but a successful methodology for breaking out of creative ruts. There's nothing like stirring up a little turbulence to get new thoughts flying. In this book, Dru tells how to pump new energy into brands, with fresh, even revolutionary thinking. -Aldo Papone Senior Advisor, American Express Company Dru's advertising theories in Disruption are nontraditional, which is exactly what you need to regain the interest and trust of today's consumers. -Scott Bedbury Senior Vice President, Marketing, Starbucks Coffee Company Disruption is all about risk-taking, trusting your intuition, and rejecting the way things are supposed to be. Disruption goes way beyond advertising, it forces you to think about where you want your brand to go and how to get there. -Richard Branson Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group of Companies. I read Disruption with admiration and recognition. The neat marketing premise of disruption, as articulated, is brilliant. The case studies are compelling . . . making this an unusually easy read. -Owen J. Lipstein Editor-in-Chief, Psychology Today, Spy, Mother Earth News. I enjoyed reading Jean-Marie Dru's book and found myself nodding my head rather than nodding off. It's a timely and well-argued reminder of the need to be different. -David Abbott Chairman, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Ltd. Dru offers a truly absorbing compendium of the what, how, and why of creating advertising that takes consumers by surprise-advertising that is different but effective. He offers a distinctive approach to discovering unconventional but sensible ideas for brands and for the advertising that supports them -in print, TV, or the Internet. -Stephen A. Greyser Professor of Marketing/Communications, Harvard Business School. Disruption is a catalyst of the imagination, an invaluable guide for rejecting conventionality, ideas which have always been at the heart of MTV. -Bill Roedy CEO, MTV International

    They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet, as this influential and immensely popular book shows, these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future.In the international bestseller Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves (spanning more than 100 years across 30 industries), the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating "blue oceans"—untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves, which the authors call “value innovation,” create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade.Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture their own blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this bestselling business book charts a bold new path to winning the future.

    Instead, you start by finding the people who resonate with your message and connect with your ideas, attract them to you, and then - once the audience is there - offering them the things that will help them the most. It's one of those ideas that may seem counter-intuitive at first, but once you think about it for a few minutes, it's hard to imagine how anything else ever made sense.In the Audience Revolution, this idea is explained in detail, along with examples of how this approach to business has been used by successful businesses ranging from Netflix and Copyblogger, to celebrity consultants like Jim Collins and Scott Stratten, to best-selling authors like Seth Godin and Jeff Walker, to internationally renowned speakers like Randy Gage and Mitch Joel.Through their examples, you'll learn how you can apply this Audience First strategy to your online business, to get you better results faster, make you more profitable, and decrease your risk, all at the same time.

    With illuminating anecdotes from his own in-the-trenches experiences and dozens of case studies of other winning—and failed—branding efforts (including Harley-Davidson, Guinness, The Gap, and Disney), Bedbury offers practical, battle-tested advice for keeping any business at the top of its game.

    His search revealed seven definable assets that together construct the belief system that lies behind every successful brand, whether it's a product, service, city, personality, social cause, or movement. In Primal Branding, Hanlon explores those seven components, known as the primal code, and shows how to use and combine them to create a community of believers in which the consumer develops a powerful emotional attachment to the brand. These techniques, work for everyone involved in creating and selling an image-from marketing managers to social advocates to business leaders seeking to increase customer preference for new or existing products. Primal Branding presents a world of new possibility for marketers of every stripe—and the opportunity to move from being just another product on the shelf to becoming a desired and necessary part of the culture.

    But David Airey’s “Logo Design Love” is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in reader-friendly, concise language, with a minimum of designer jargon, Airey gives a surprisingly clear explanation of the process, using a wide assortment of real-life examples to support his points. Anyone involved in creating visual identities, or wanting to learn how to go about it, will find this book invaluable. - Tom Geismar, Chermayeff & GeismarIn Logo Design Love, Irish graphic designer David Airey brings the best parts of his wildly popular blog of the same name to the printed page. Just as in the blog, David fills each page of this simple, modern-looking book with gorgeous logos and real world anecdotes that illustrate best practices for designing brand identity systems that last. David not only shares his experiences working with clients, including sketches and final results of his successful designs, but uses the work of many well-known designers to explain why well-crafted brand identity systems are important, how to create iconic logos, and how to best work with clients to achieve success as a designer. Contributors include Gerard Huerta, who designed the logos for Time magazine and Waldenbooks; Lindon Leader, who created the current FedEx brand identity system as well as the CIGNA logo; and many more. Readers will learn:• Why one logo is more effective than another• How to create their own iconic designs• What sets some designers above the rest• Best practices for working with clients• 25 practical design tips for creating logos that last