From Publishers Weekly
In his 1999 bestseller, The End of Marketing as We Know It, business guru Zyman argued that Madison Avenue–style marketing campaigns were done for: the purpose of marketing was to get more customers to buy more products, not to amuse people with arty ads. In his new book, Zyman drops another bucket on the marketing world: innovation, the designing and branding of new products, is a waste of time and money. "Only one of every 58 new product introductions succeeds," he points out, and those that do may end up cannibalizing a company's existing brands. Renovation, he says, is a better way for companies to spend their resources. Using a steady stream of large-scale examples (Coke, P&G, etc.) and statistics, Zyman drives home the need for executives to retain customers, to think in terms of what customers want (not in terms of what they can be sold) and to require dollar-based accountability from marketing strategies. General readers may stumble over terms like "value proposition" or "top-line" vs. "bottom-line" growth—a glossary would have broadened this book's audience. But Zyman already has a legion of fans, and these will be eager to snap up his tips on how to leave a company's "essence intact [while] giving it new vigor." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
According to bestselling marketing expert Sergio Zyman, many companies rely too heavily on innovation to solve their problems. Whenever a brand or business gets old and tired, the impulse is to scrap it and start over with something fresh. It sounds great, but more often than not, innovation simply doesn’t work. Zyman knows this firsthand— he was the chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola during the disastrous launch of New Coke. So what’s the alternative? Zyman now preaches the power of renovation, not innovation. Recapture the essence of your existing brands, products, and core competencies, and do more of the things that made you great in the first place. For instance, Coca- Cola’s essence was about authenticity, continuity, and stability, and New Coke undermined all three qualities. It seems obvious in retrospect, yet too many managers are so impressed by innovation that they approve ideas no one will buy, such as premoistened toilet paper or smokeless cigarettes. With Renovate Before You Innovate, Zyman explains the tools managers need to revitalize their marketing strategies and improve their growth rates. This book will challenge the conventional business wisdom and help companies make smarter decisions.

About the Author
Sergio Zyman is the bestselling author of The End of Marketing as We Know It as well as the chairman of the Zyman Group, a strategic consulting firm whose clients include EDS, ConAgra Foods, Alcoa, and Blockbuster. He is also the namesake of Emory University’s new Zyman Institute for Brand Science. Armin A. Brott is a business writer.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Applying Zyman's years of experience as the chief marketing officer of the Coca-Cola Company and the practical knowledge gained from his consulting work across many different industries, Renovate Before You Innovate offers practical tools to rejuvenate your company and drive sustainable, profitable growth. Among other things, you'll learn the crucial difference between your core essence and your core competency, how to rethink your value proposition, and how to avoid the five innovation pitfalls. Each lesson is brought to life with real-world examples from dozens of high-profile companies, including classic innovation failures such as New Coke, RJR Nabisco's smokeless cigarettes, and Taco Bell Lites.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In his 1999 bestseller, The End of Marketing as We Know It, business guru Zyman argued that Madison Avenue-style marketing campaigns were done for: the purpose of marketing was to get more customers to buy more products, not to amuse people with arty ads. In his new book, Zyman drops another bucket on the marketing world: innovation, the designing and branding of new products, is a waste of time and money. "Only one of every 58 new product introductions succeeds," he points out, and those that do may end up cannibalizing a company's existing brands. Renovation, he says, is a better way for companies to spend their resources. Using a steady stream of large-scale examples (Coke, P&G, etc.) and statistics, Zyman drives home the need for executives to retain customers, to think in terms of what customers want (not in terms of what they can be sold) and to require dollar-based accountability from marketing strategies. General readers may stumble over terms like "value proposition" or "top-line" vs. "bottom-line" growth-a glossary would have broadened this book's audience. But Zyman already has a legion of fans, and these will be eager to snap up his tips on how to leave a company's "essence intact [while] giving it new vigor." Agent, James Levine. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries - Summary

Obsession with innovation is a current business fad. Many companies rely too heavily on innovation to solve their problems, and they attempt to start over with something fresh to revive old and tired businesses. Innovation sounds great. But it is often the lazy approach to marketing, and it typically doesn't work.

So what's the solution? Sergio Zyman preaches the power of renovation to accelerate and sustain top-line growth. It starts with recapturing the essence of your existing brands, products and core competencies and doing more of the things that made your business great in the first place. It includes redefining your competitive space and creating preference for your business. In the end, it provides the most compelling customer experience.

Renovate Before You Innovate will challenge conventional business wisdom, facilitate smarter business decisions, and help companies "sell more stuff to more people more often for more money more efficiently™."

Obsession With Innovation
While innovation and risk taking can be critically important elements of some companies' strategy, for most companies, it simply isn't the right way to drive organic growth. What should you do instead? In a word, renovate. This means no longer doing different things with existing assets and competencies, but doing better things with them instead. It means re-engaging with your customers by using your relationship with them to provide the products and services they truly want. Renovation is starting with what you can sell and then seeing whether you can deliver it. There is, however, a big difference between what companies should do and what they actually end up doing.

Your core competencies are not simply a list of your products or services. They are based on four distinct factors: knowledge (what you know and what you've learned), experience (what you've been through), resources (what you have), and people (what you do and how you do it). These competencies are the things you're good at; the things you know how to do better than anyone else.

Core essence is somewhat more abstract. It's who you really are as a company or brand. It's the relationship customers and noncustomers alike have with your brand; it's what your brand stands for in their hearts and minds and the promises your brand makes to consumers. Your core essence is critical in determining where you can go as a business - if you try to extend your brand beyond your core essence, customers will not cooperate.

Champions at Leveraging Core Essence
If you succeed in leveraging your core competencies, core essence, and assets and infrastructure (the three elements of the value equation), you'll be able to grow your business successfully. Consider Starbucks Coffee, whose core competencies are building stores, motivating people, and sourcing the best coffee in the world. Its core essence is providing a great coffee experience. Likewise, grilling food is the core competency of Outback Steakhouses; its essence is Australia; and its new chain of seafood restaurants, Fishbone (which is modeled on Outback), is a great success.