Acknowledgments

Where do I start? Even though the book is brief, it took hundreds of people to bring it to fruition. At the front end there were many experts with whom I consulted about content, and at the back end there were many more who lent their skills to publishing, manufacturing, and marketing. In between, during the three years it took me to research, write, and design the book, I received guidance from many business thinkers who know their terrain much better than I.

Dr. James Forcier, for example, gave me his economist’s-eye view of barriers to competition. Tim Calkins shared his “circumstances that favor the leading brand” and other insights from the brand strategy class he teaches at Northwestern University. Ron Sanchez, PhD, a professor at the Copenhagen Business School, clarified many strategic issues for me in his workshop on strategic management processes. And Gary Elliott, vice president of brand marketing at HP, helped me to think more deeply about the relationship between business strategy and brand building.

I’d like to thank my old advertising buddy, Garth de Cew, for the clever definition of branding that graces pages 24 and 25. Also my friend and former client, Peter Van Naarden, for helping me articulate the vision for Bibli—we got so excited that we nearly quit our day jobs to build a chain of wine bars. The wine bar vision wouldn’t have been nearly as rich, however, without the previous input of hundreds of talented people who attended Neutron’s branding workshops. Wonderful ideas.

Many thanks to my reviewers, including Brian Collins of Ogilvy & Mather, Jonathan Copulsky of Deloitte Consulting, Kip Knight of eBay, Rob Rodin of RDN Group, Rod Swanson of Electronic Arts, and Keith Yamashita of SY[P]. Thanks especially to Greg Galle of C2, whose relentless demand for a coherent story spurred me to work extra weeks tying together the loose threads in the narrative.

Also to my fellow authors for their warm support, including Al Ries, the go-to expert on positioning; Seth Godin, the author of more fresh ideas about marketing than will fit on a shelf; and David Aaker, who showed the world why branding is more than identity, packaging, and advertising.

My sincerest thanks to Nancy Ruenzel and her publishing team at Peachpit, including Michael Nolan, who has championed my whiteboard overviews from day one, and the launch team—Sara Jane Todd, Scott Cowlin, David Van Ness, Brook Farling, and Charlene Will.

I couldn’t have produced a single page without professional help. A crisp salute to my fellow Neutrons, including Deanna Lee, Josh Levine, Jennifer Murtell, Sue Smith, Laura Strojnowski, and Tonje Vetlesetter for their fine work. Hats off also to our Web team, Rob Bynder and Brad Benjamin, for cracking the problem of how to make a screen behave like a book (see www.zagbook.com). Finally, a huge hug for Heather McDonald, who took on the challenge of designing the interior pages with grace and good cheer.

I’m grateful for the use of Tim Baker’s portrait in front of Guss Pickles, a New York institution since 1910. You can visit Tim, general manager, and CEO Andrew Liebowitz, a fourth-generation pickleman, at their newly expanded plant at 504A Central in Cedarhurst (left), New York, and order shipments online at www.gusspickle.com. Try their famous sour pickles—you’ll instantly appreciate the value of specialization.

The actual writing of a book is a solitary activity, requiring that the writer spend long hours at the keyboard—mostly at night and on maddeningly sunny weekends—all the time fending off doubts of ever finishing. During the process it helps enormously to have a first-class support system. Therefore the lion’s share of credit goes to my wife Eileen, for offering more patience, encouragement, and respect than any husband deserves.

Finally, love to Mom and Dad, my bookends, who have framed my life from left to right, top to bottom, beginning to end.

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