Brands must build a new relationship with their customers and the culture they participate in. The old rule was to create safe, ordinary products and combine them with mass marketing. The new rule: create truly innovative products and build the marketing right into them.

Today, it''s within the product itself that a brand has the most leverage with consumers. So where should companies start? They must take their brands back to their foundations and realize that the message is not the product, but that the product is the message. Authors Alex Bogusky and John Winsor have worked with some of the most important brands in today''s marketplace, including American Express, Best Buy, Burger King, Coca-Cola, Google, Nike, Microsoft, Patagonia, and Toyota, utilizing the tools they discuss in this book.

Writing in a swift, irreverent style, Bogusky and Winsor make readers feel like they are getting a front-row seat at a top-level marketing strategy session.