In the past, brands were the sole domain of owners, advertisers and marketers. Strategies were crafted in smoke-filled boardrooms and rolled out with little to no input from consumers. Times have changed. Today, consumers are the new owners. They have more information, more channels, more power and more choice but less time, less loyalty and less trust than ever before. Brands intersect every aspect of our lives, but the business of building brands is still misunderstood. Dim Sum Strategy presents a carefully curated selection of proven strategic tools, with insights and anecdotes from three decades working with some of the world's leading brands at the world's top agencies. The book is structured to follow the author's proven Brand Centered Management(TM) process, with a smattering of different "tools" split into four parts: Discovery, Definition, Direction, and Delivery. Each tool is presented in bite-sized, standalone chunks; you can read the book in stepwise fashion or cherry-pick in whatever order you wish--just like a dim sum meal. Review "This book is full of common sense. The kind of sense that isn't always common." --Andrew Robertson, President & CEO, BBDO Worldwide, Inc. "If you've had your fill of long-winded books on branding, then Dim Sum Strategy is for you. Filled with bite-sized nuggets of wisdom, it's the perfect format for time-stressed professionals. In other words, all of us." --Graham Kelly, Founder of Originate and former Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy, BBH, Saatchi & Saatchi, and TBWA "Peter Wilken brings great warmth, humanity, and vast experience to bear on his wide-ranging analysis of the myriad brand philosophies and tools out there. In an era where there is no 'one size fits all' solution, his Dim Sum Strategy is just what you need." --David Guerrero, Creative Chairman, BBDO Guerrero "I've read numerous books on brands and branding, but this one is refreshingly different. Peter Wilken, who has a wealth of experience in the field, has captured all the essentials right here and expressed them in an easy-to-digest manner. Bon appetit!" --Dr Wayne Lotherington, Founder & CEO, Allsorts Habit Creation and author of How Creative People Connect About the Author Peter Wilken is a branding expert with 30 years experience working with some of the world's most prestigious brands, including Coca-Cola, BMW, Disney, FedEx, IBM, McDonald's, Shell, Sony, and Visa. A 'madman' advertising veteran, Peter ran top creative agencies such as BBDO, Leo Burnett, and Ogilvy. He co-founded The Brand Company in 2002, a Hong Kong-based firm whose clients included AIG, SmarTone-Vodafone, and Shangri-La Hotels. A global nomad, Peter has lived in England, Scotland, America, the Solomon Islands, Singapore, China, and the Philippines. He moved to Canada in 2007, where he founded his private consulting company Dolphin Brand Strategy and the online brand strategy coaching platform The Lighthouse Brand Strategy Academy. He lives in West Vancouver, BC with his wife Regina. They have three grown sons, two grandchildren and a psycho-beagle. I wrote this book for three reasons.  The first was to 'get the monkey off my back' - I'd been procrastinating for years about writing about the story of The Brand Company and the trademarked Brand Centered Management™ 4Ds process I co-developed with my partners there.  The second was because I heard the consulting clients I'd worked with saying: "Peter, the work you've done with us was terrific, but you could help so many other businesses if you codified it and shared it - go write the book!" The third was because I wanted to lend some authority to my consulting, speaking and coaching business. The launch timing was impeccable - just before Covid landed. My wife was one of the first 10 people in British Columbia to be admitted to the emergency unit at VGH here in Vancouver with COVID-19. Dystopian scenes of first responders in hazmat suits and flashing ambulance lights in the dead of night, not knowing whether we'd see her again. Nobody knew what was happening, protocols hadn't even been established...we were quarantined for three months, not allowed to go out of the house and having food delivered to our doorstep.  Plans for the book launch and speaking events were abandoned - I was more concerned about my wife (she has since made a full recovery I'm happy to say) and keeping family and soul intact. The book was forgotten. I never spent a dollar marketing it. My New York Publisher was one of the casualties of Covid years and ended up folding.  Somehow though, the book found its way out there through a process of osmosis. I began receiving lovely notes from people I'd never met before, mostly brand professionals and business owners. I'd see quotes from the book appearing in places. And lovely testimonials. perhaps the nicest compliment I had was ' Your book is top of my pile - it's a 15-tab book'...that is the reader had put 15 paper tabs to mark references in the b