AIGA Publications and Design Press

ZAG: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands

 

Marty Neumeier, published September 20, 2006
“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, quick 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

To preview pages from the book, visit the book’s website at Zagbook.com.

“One of the most powerful principles in building a brand is focused alignment. The result of alignment is coherence; the result of non-alignment is wasted resources.”
 

About Marty Neumeier

Marty Neumeier is president of Neutron LLC, a San Francisco firm specializing in brand integration for clients such as Kodak, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, and Procter and Gamble. During his 30-year career, Neumeier has worked as a graphic designer, writer, editor, and publisher. His magazine Critique (1996-2001) was the first journal on design thinking, and led directly to the formation of Neutron and the ideas in The Brand Gap. He’s a frequent speaker on the topics of branding, design, and creative collaboration, and conducts seminars and workshops for corporate marketing departments, design firms, and design and business schools.