Marty Neumeier

THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand-building. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a “charismatic brand”―a brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:• the new definition of brand• the five essential disciplines of brand-building• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand• why collaboration is the key to brand-building• how design determines a customer’s experience• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply• the importance of managing brands from the inside• 220-word brand glossaryFrom the back cover:Not since McLuhan’s THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE has a book compressed so many ideas into so few pages. Using the visual language of the boardroom, Neumeier presents the first unified theory of branding―a set of five disciplines to help companies bridge the gap between brand strategy and customer experience. Those with a grasp of branding will be inspired by the new perspectives they find here, and those who would like to understand it better will suddenly “get it.” This deceptively simple book offers everyone in the company access to “the most powerful business tool since the spreadsheet.”

"When everybody zigs, zag," says Marty Neumeier in this fresh view of brand strategy. 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.

Best-selling brand expert Marty Neumeier shows you how to make the leap from a company-driven past to the consumer-driven future. You’ll learn how to flip your brand from offering products to offering meaning, from value protection to value creation, from cost-based pricing to relationship pricing, from market segments to brand tribes, and from customer satisfaction to customer empowerment. In the 13 years since Neumeier wrote The Brand Gap , the influence of social media has proven his core “A brand isn’t what you say it is – it’s what they say it is.” People are no longer consumers or market segments or tiny blips in big data. They don’t buy brands. They join brands. They want a vote in what gets produced and how it gets delivered. They’re willing to roll up their sleeves and help out – not only by promoting the brand to their friends, but by contributing content, volunteering ideas, and even selling products or services. At the center of the book is the Brand Commitment Matrix, a simple tool for organizing the six primary components of a brand. Your brand community is your tribe. How will you lead it?

“The complex business problems we face today can’t be solved with the same thinking that created them,” says author Marty Neumeier in this entertaining and original read. Instead, he says, we need to start from a place outside traditional business thinking. In an era of fast-moving markets and leap-frogging innovations, we can no longer “decide” the way forward. Today we have to “design” the way forward—or risk ending up in the fossil layers of business history.This is the third in the author’s bestselling series of “whiteboard overviews.” In his first, THE BRAND GAP, he addressed the gulf between business strategy and customer experience. In his second, ZAG, he explored the number-one strategy of high-performance brands. In the third, THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY, he shows how design thinking can build a culture of nonstop innovation. “If you wanna innovate,” he says, “you gotta design.”Excerpts from The Designful Company(Click images for larger versions)

Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap and other business bestsellers, has written a book that leaps off the shelf—right into your pounding heart. One rainy night in December, young CEO David Stone is inexplicably called back to the office. The company’s chairman tells him that the board members have reached the end of their patience. If David can’t produce a viable turnaround plan in five weeks, he’s out of a job. The problem is, he’s already used every trick in the book and nothing has worked. His only hope is to try something new. But what?The powerful tools at the center of the story are the five Qs of strategy and the five Ps of design thinking. These make up the basic principles of agile strategy—a faster, more collaborative approach to building a brand. Whether you’re a CEO, strategist, marketer, manager, designer, writer, researcher, or consultant, you’ll find familiar challenges and recognizable faces here. You’ll also discover the ability to see business in a new light—not as a static set of requirements, but as a living entity that responds to passion, purpose, and creative collaboration. Scramble is that rare book that everyone on your team will eagerly read, discuss, and put into action.BONUS At the back of Kindle and paperback versions is a concise guide for applying the agile strategy principles in the story. Audiobook listeners can download the guide as a PDF.

Not since Strunk and White’s ELEMENTS OF STYLE has a book compressed so many insights into so few pages. With his trademark simplicity and wit, Marty Neumeier has written and illustrated a concise guide that can be read quickly over a lunch break or savored slowly over a lifetime. Part 1, “How can I innovate?” offers insightful guidance such as “Feel before you think,” “See what’s not there,” and “Ask a bigger question.” Rule #1 gives the paradoxical advice: “Break the rules.” Part 2, “How should I work?” offers down-to-earth tips on craft: “Use a linear process for static elements,” and “Express related elements in a similar manner.” The reader is also reminded: “Don’t be boring!” In Part 3, “How can I learn?” contains practical advice including “Do your own projects,” “Invest in your originality,” and “Develop an authentic style.” Finally, Part 4, “How can I matter?” deals with the deeper questions of a career in creativity, such as “Overcommit to a mission,” “Build support methodically,” and “Become who you are.” THE 46 RULES OF GENIUS is a reassuring lighthouse against the swirling tides of innovation. Geniuses from every discipline will want to keep it in sight. (Educators: Those who recommend this book to students may also be interested its deeply researched precursor, METASKILLS, from which the rules were drawn.) From the back cover: There’s no such thing as an accidental genius. Anyone who’s reached that exalted state has arrived there by design. But simply wanting to get there is not enough. A would-be genius also needs a theoretical framework, a basic compass, a set of principles to guide the way forward. Marty Neumeier, acclaimed author of The Brand Gap and Metaskills , has compressed the wisdom of the ages into the first “quick start guide” for genius — 46 glittering gems that will light your path to creative brilliance. This is THE essential handbook for designers, entrepreneurs, marketers, educators, artists, scientists, innovators, and future leaders in every field.

The Industrial Age has taught us how to break problems into parts, but not how to build parts into solutions. We're baffled when we're confronted with complex challenges like recession, political gridlock, climate change, childhood obesity, pollution, and failing schools. We see them as separate ills, each requiring a separate remedy-if we can imagine a remedy at all.Why are so many jobs disappearing? Why are a few people getting rich while the rest of us struggle? How can we pay for the costs of healthcare? Why can't our trusted institutions behave ethically? What's the cause of governmental gridlock? How can we afford to educate our children? How do we stop damaging the ecosystem? Why do we create ugliness?Author Marty Neumeier suggests that these problems are merely symptoms of a much larger problem-our inability to deal with interconnected, non-linear, and amorphous challenges. It's not that our problems are too difficult, he argues, but that our skills are too basic. Success in the post-industrial era demands that we move our thinking from the static, the linear, and the step-by-step to the dynamic, the holistic, and the all-at-once.In this sweeping vision for personal mastery in a post-industrial era, Neumeier presents five metaskills-feeling, seeing, dreaming, making, and learning-that can help you reach your true potential. They'll keep you two or three steps ahead of the machines, the algorithms, and the outsourcing forces of the "robot curve". They'll also bring you greater creativity, higher purpose, and a deeper sense of fulfillment.Metaskills is more than a manifesto. It's a compass for visionary leaders, policymakers, educators, and planners. It's a creative framework for designers, engineers, scientists, and artists. It's a picture of the future that allows people from a wide range of disciplines, industries, and professions to envision new ways to create value together. Perhaps more important, it's a long-overdue examination of what it means to be human in the 21st century.

Scarlett is a university graduate with a master's in biophysics and a chip on her shoulder. Artie is a retired professor of art history. They've been hired by a wealthy collector to authenticate a cache of paintings discovered under the floorboards of an Italian townhouse. And they've taken an instant―and intense―dislike to each other.The calculus shifts when they stumble on something unexpected―a manuscript written by Leonardo da Vinci's last pupil. It's an astonishing firsthand account of the great master as he grapples with a murder at the prestigious Aldine Press. It's a mystery Leonardo is compelled to solve, or else his notebooks may never be published.Scarlett and Artie fear a similar fate might await the manuscript if their client gets his acquisitive hands on it. He'll bury it deep in his vault, and the world will once again be deprived of Leonardo's genius. They put aside their differences and make a they'll steal the manuscript. They land a publisher, change their names, disguise their looks, and set off across northern Italy in a frantic race to publish the story and disappear for good. But have they underestimated the deadly resolve of their client?Carefully researched and faithfully rendered, Octavo is a breathtaking historical mystery, a pulse-pounding modern thriller, and a loving evocation of Leonardo's times, penned with indelible characters and studded with wondrous discoveries.

The Dictionary of Brand is the first book to establish a "linguistic foundation" for brand builders—a basic toolkit of 221 terms that allow specialists from different disciplines to work together in a larger community of practice. Although the terms are widely used by brand specialists, most have yet to appear in other dictionaries or glossaries. Marty Neumeier, design guru and author of The Brand Gap, assembled an advisory board of ten experts from the fields of brand strategy, research, advertising, product design, identity design, web design, and corporate brand management to help define the terms. The Willoughby Design Group contributed illustrations and an attractive page layout that make this book a delight to use. This is the perfect book to get your whole team on the same page, or to simply keep on your shelf as a handy reference tool.

The letters from A to Z form pictures illustrating the meaning of nouns and verbs from acrobat to zigzag

BRAND STRATEGY + DESIGN THINKING = NONSTOP INNOVATION In this DVD video, brand guru Marty Neumeier presents concepts from his three bestselling "whiteboard" books--THE BRAND GAP, ZAG, and THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY--to give you the tools you'll need to thrive in the new economy. Using memorable principles and simple exercises, he'll lead you and your team on a lively journey from traditional business thinking to "designful" thinking. You'll come back to these ideas again and again as you transform your company into a powerhouse of nonstop innovation. What you'll learn: - Why the old business rules no longer apply- How to beat the twin foes of speed and clutter - The modern definition of "brand"- How brands create barriers to competition- Why "charismatic" brands are more valuable- The three questions that can focus any company- How to find and harness your "onliness"- Why innovation depends on design thinking- How "making" improves "knowing" and "doing"- How everyone in the company can be a designer- The modern definition of "design"- Why you need to spend time in the "dragon gap"- The qualities that make for good design- How to move design up the ladder of leverage- How design can solve "wicked problems" - Why shareholder value starts with vision- How to activate the "corporate drivetrain" - How to use stories to shape company success- How a "metateam" can begin to connect silos- Why every company needs a CBO- The 16 levers that can jumpstart innovation What you'll get: DVD with 45 minutes of content and exercises--enough activities for a one-day workshop!Downloadable materials, including printable exercise sheets and supplementary contentiPod version of video "Marty Neumeier's INNOVATION WORKSHOP" is a recent recipient of a BronzeTelly Award. This is a video DVD.Run time: 47 minutesLanguages: EnglishClosed Captioned in English

If you work on brands, you need this ebook! BRAND A-Z is a hyperlinked dictionary with 1,000 indispensable terms in brand strategy, marketing, advertising, design, innovation, and business management. Each definition is connected to others, so you can follow the links wherever they lead, building a rich, personal tapestry of knowledge about branding and related disciplines.Brand expert Marty Neumeier provides a “linguistic foundation” that allows specialists from different areas to collaborate effectively in a larger community of practice. A must-have tool for individuals, teams, and entire organizations involved in branding. Includes 50 illustrations.“BRAND A-Z is a comprehensive resource that brand-builders can’t—and shouldn’t—live without. It’s filled with clear, pithy, and enlightening definitions that will help you navigate the brand-new world we live and work in today.”—DENISE YOHN, author of WHAT GREAT BRANDS DO“In branding, every word is slippery. So we desperately need clear definitions. This brilliant book nails it.”—ROBERT JONES, strategist at WOLFF OLINS, brand professor at UEA, author of BRANDING“Marty Neumeier has a way with words. With his interactive dictionary, it’s easy for this non-digital native to find the perfect term—like skeuomorphism!”—JONATHAN COPULSKY, principal at DELOITTE CONSULTING, author of BRAND RESILIENCE“In a field crowded with different perspectives, a reference guide that disambiguates industry terms is gold.”—MELIS SENOVA, PhD, CEO of HUDDLE, author of THIS HUMAN“Marty’s approach to brand-building is unmatched, and this handy guide should be required reading for any student of modern marketing.”—MARK DiCRISTINA, director of marketing at MAILCHIMP“BRAND A-Z is a must-carry book for any designer today. I’d never go to meeting in Silicon Valley without this dictionary on my phone.”—CRAIG FRAZIER, illustrator/designer, author of THE ILLUSTRATED VOICE

This is a bundle containing both Marty Neumeier's book, The Designful Company, and his Innovation Workshop DVD.In his bestselling book The Designful Company (0321580060) Marty Neumeier introduces the management concept of nonstop innovation. "If you want to innovate," he says, "you've got to design. And if you want to innovate continuously, you need a culture of innovation." Whether the reader is a CEO of a global firm or the newest employee in a startup, the principles in these pages will help readers master powerful currents of change. The book a new definition of design; how design thinking is different; what is good design?; and the sixteen levers of change.The 45-minute DVD video (0321636937) expands to fill a one-day workshop (normally costing $800 per person!). Neumeier presents concepts from his three bestselling "whiteboard" books--THE BRAND GAP, ZAG, and THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY--to give teams the tools needed to thrive in the new economy. The DVD Video includes downloadable exercises to help work through crucial brand and innovation questions. The video a new definition of brand; the three big strategic questions; how to find your "onliness"; and applying the levers of change.Format details for the This is a video DVD. Run 47 minutes. English. Closed Captioned in English.