The book Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands revolves around the most important tendencies in the sphere of business. The author proposes his own vision of the development of a certain brand. Neumeier (2007) highlights the need for radical differentiation as the traditional one could not satisfy modern needs. For this reason, he insists on the necessity of the creation of the unique, distinctive features needed to become prosperous. It becomes crucial to find your own zag and develop it (Neumeier, 2007). Additionally, the author presents a reader with the ways how to do it and how to achieve significant success.
Therefore, analyzing the given book, one could agree that Neumeier convinces a reader that the changes are inevitable, and it is vital to be ready to face the challenges resulting from the change process. The author tends to provide information related to the modern business world and explains to readers how to become successful under modern conditions. In this regard, the book could be useful both for a common reader, students, and a person trying to run his/her own business.
To achieve his main goal, the author tries to show a reader the necessity of change. That is why he cogitates about the outdated character of the previous methods and highlights their inability to guaranty the stable income under modern conditions. While reading the book, a reader realizes the rightness of the author’s ideas and claims. It means that he manages to achieve his main goal. Neumeier also provides clear evidence for his words and underlines the fact that the blistering development of business resulted in the multiplication of the number of brands (2007). At the same time, it impacted the increase in the level of rivalry.
That is why it is crucial to be able to create a new approach to preserve competitiveness and remain prosperous. In general, the book presents the original perspective on numerous topical questions. Some of the author’s claims could not be taken as the original ones. However, his idea of zags and the necessity of their development contribute to a better understanding of the main problems and impacts the originality of the approach.
Reading the book, it is difficult to find the weak points. In the majority of cases, the author sounds convincing and manages to make a reader accept the efficiency of his approaches. However, the parts of the book related to the brand gap are less persuasive because of the absence of a solid background need for the discussion and recognition of the main claims.
In this regard, the lack of scientific rationale is one of the obvious weaknesses of the book. The description of the brand gap seems incomplete, as there is no detailed explanation of the factors that impact this phenomenon and introduce some changes to the market structure. In general, the absence of this data could be appreciated as a serious disadvantage.
However, the work still has great practical utility. Students and professionals can learn plenty of information related to the sphere of management and economy. Additionally, the owners of the small and middle business might also use the data to reorganize their companies and promote their further beneficial development.
If to speak about my personal attitude, the book will obviously impact my life. Regarding the information presented in it, it is possible to suppose that the basic approaches could be applied to some real-life matters to make them more efficient and increase the level of my own performance. Additionally, the importance of the creation of a unique style could also trigger the great change process.
The sphere of work will also be influenced. Being focused on management, I try to obtain new information related to the given concern to become more efficient. For this reason, a completely new approach to the organization of business will help me to reconsider my own ideas and apply them in my future life.
Finally, the information presented in the book does not contradict to my principles. Being the citizen of the UAE, I am sure that the ideas presented by the author could be used there to improve the state of a certain company or create a new brand with its unique, distinctive features. Additionally, the book might help me to become successful while managing a certain project. In other words, the Neumeiers work is not contrary to my culture and vision of the market.
To summarize, there are several concerns resulting from the book analysis. First, it could be taken as a good guide for a person who wants to run his/her own business or just wants to reorganize the existing one to guarantee its competitiveness. Secondly, the book presents a reader with a number of new significant facts related to the world market and peculiarities of its evolution. The author uses these processes as the background for his cogitations and convinces a reader in the necessity of change. For these reasons, I could recommend it for everyone who is interested in the issue and wants to obtain the new and useful information. The book could be rated 8 because of the lack of some theoretical knowledge.
Reference
Neumeier, M. (2007). Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.