Lords of the Rings. 1992 Vyv Simpson. ISBN 0773726365. Should be subtitled: How the IOC and Samarach have hurt the Olympic brand.

Written by two journalists makes it readable, useful and a non fiction book you do not want to put down. Did you know that Samarch was one of the last fascist deputies of Franco? Find out how Adidas gained total control over the World Cup/FIFA and then the IOC. The IOC is far from fixed and with the Whistler bid coming up we should be very aware. Get it from the library.

Brand Warfare , David D’Alessandro ( CEO of John Hancock) 2001 . ISBN 007136293. This is a good book. Buy it. Read it lots. Great stuff about sponsorship and 10 rules for building the killer brand. Great quotes like:

“Companies that become great brands do not do so solely by riding the coattails of a few brilliant commercials. They become great because every contact the customer has with the company from calling a toll-free support no. to actually lacing up the product and using it, is seamlessly enjoyable.
Will it help or hurt the brand is the moist useful mantra in the marketplace.”

The Mind of the Strategist. The art of japanese business. 1982 Kenichi Ohmae. ISBN 0070475954. Classic. Ohmae was the Director of McKinsey and Co in Japan. He laid out a blueprint for business strategy that predates most of the current writing. He was a practicer not an academic with strategy, making this a useful book. This book was referenced by Porter, Christiansen and others.

His four basic points for gaining a business strategic advantage were:
Identify key factors for success, be the best at one
Identify relative superiority where the competition is not
Use aggressive initiatives to challenge assumptions.
Take advantage of strategic degrees of freedom.

Through examples he indicates where Japanese businesses succeed and fail in strategy. It is also chock a block with business process examples.

In these present times his ideas on what to do in different economic climates is very timely. Lots of copies in the library