ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands, 1st edition

Published by New Riders (September 20, 2006) © 2007
Marty Neumeier

Title overview


  • Easy to read new business guide gives you a fresh and winning perspective on brand strategy.
  • 200 pages of easy to read, easy to use and easy to remember principles.
  • It’s filled with tips, processes and practical advice to help readers understand and build a high-performance brand, including
      • How to ‘read’ customer feedback on new products
      • The 17 steps for designing ‘difference’ into your brand
      • The secrets of naming products, services and companies
      • The four deadly dangers faced by brand portfolios
  • Ensures you will out-position and out-manoeuvre the competition to stay one step ahead by stretching your brand.
  • Understand how to succeed at all three stages of the competition cycle.

Table of contents

  • Part 1. Finding Your Zag
  • Hit ’Em Where They Ain’t
  • The Dynamics of Different and Good
  • Look for the White Space
  • Uncover a Need State
  • Find a Parade
  • Part 2. Designing Your Zag
  • Brand As a System
  • Checkpoint 1: Who Are You?
  • Checkpoint 2: What Do You Do?
  • Checkpoint 3: What’s Your Vision?
  • Checkpoint 4: What Wave Are You Riding?
  • Checkpoint 5: Who Shares the Brandscape?
  • Checkpoint 6: What Makes You the “Only”?
  • Checkpoint 7: What Should You Add or Subtract?
  • Checkpoint 8: Who Loves You?
  • Checkpoint 9: Who’s the Enemy?
  • Checkpoint 10: What Do They Call You?
  • Checkpoint 11: How Do You Explain Yourself?
  • Checkpoint 12: How Do You Spread the Word?
  • Checkpoint 13: How Do People Engage With You?
  • Checkpoint 14: What Do They Experience?
  • Checkpoint 15: How Do You Earn Their Loyalty?
  • Checkpoint 16: How Do You Extend Your Success?
  • Checkpoint 17: How Do You Protect Your Portfolio?
  • Part 3. Renewing Your Zag
  • Scissors, Paper, Rock
  • The Focus of Scissors
  • The Momentum of Rock
  • The Size of Paper
  • How Structure Becomes Stricture
  • Unlocking Your Zag
  • When Good Shareholders Go Bad
  • The New Prime Directive
  • A Two-Stage Rocket
  • Zagging At the Speed of Change
  • The 17-Step Process
  • Take-Home Lessons
  • Recommended Reading
  • About Neutron
  • Acknowledgments
  • About The Author
  • Index

Author bios

Marty Neumeier's professional mission is to "incite business revolution by unleashing the power of design thinking." He does this by writing books, conducting workshops, and speaking internationally about the power of brand, innovation, and design. Marty serves as Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency, and divides his writing time between California and southwest France.
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