This book does provide a valuable summary of others works in branding. Helps to explain and clarify how many different items have a link to your brand and shape the percpetion of it in customers minds. Not a new thought, but again a good succint summary that reminded me to think through how such relationships add value or take away from the organization and brands I work for. What this book does add is a way to depcit these relationships on a 3 dimensional model. Interesting ... but I would question the value of the time and effort spent to create such a diagram. I don't think the authors would disagree with me when I say it is the thought process that makes the difference .. not the fancy depiction.

Hill and Lederer in this book give us a very convincing argument why branding must be treated as an asset on line with products and intellectual properties. They introduce us to the "brand portfolio molecule" [BPM], which comes across as a very powerful tool to understand the relationship between not only the different brands in a company's portfolio but also to other brands outside the direct control of the company as perceived by the customer. With this information the authors move on to show how active brand portfolio management can be used to identify new growth opportunities both within the portfolio and as natural extensions.
The book is full of actual examples of good and bad practice, and it covers both established companies that turns to active brand portfolio management and newcomers, that incorporate it from the beginning.
The message in this book is not only for marketing people but also very much for the business leader, who wants to understand the power of brands and how he or she can use it to grow the company.

The true challenge for any business book is to be both interesting and relevant. The Infinite Asset was worth the time for me, and I think it will be for a wide range of audiences. Those managing large portfolios (and of course the consultants aspiring to help them) will like the "big idea" first section. Those managing individual brands, people trying to break into brand mgmt, and new MBAs will appreciate the second section.

Yes, it is organized more as two books in one, and often the best statement of the concept is at the end, rather than the beginning of the chapter. But it is well written (has great quotations) a fast read for the complexity of thought and experience it contains. Worth the time.

I teach "Critical Writing and Thinking" to adults with limited basic skills but high motivation. As reference books, I've assigned the Landa List along with Elements of Style. Obviously, two very different guides. Many of the students prefer Landa List. They cite the ease with which they can find answers to questions, that they don't have to read through long paragraphs to get essential information. I hold it up in class and say, "OK, if you have any add'l questions about this topic, here's one place to look." Their ability to find answers encourages students to ask questions where they might have just given up and decided they didn't know how to get themselves out of a writing dilemma.

As a professional writer and editor, I own many style manuals, but none of them comes in handy more often than The Landa List. This trim little volume (it's only about fifty pages long) offers refreshingly clear, concise advice on how to avoid most common grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. It explains the difference between affect and effect, tells you when to use commas and semicolons, and offers helpful tips on how to use italics, dashes, and parentheses. It even includes a list of the 100 most commonly mispelled words. And it offers all this without all the extraneous clutter of many longer, more specialized writing manuals. (After all, who really needs to know the format for footnoting an unpublished foreign manuscript?) Small enough to fit comfortably in any desk drawer, and priced to fit almost any budget, this practical little publication is a real find!

Have you ever found yourself sitting at the keyboard of your computer and needing a quick answer about spelling, grammar, or punctuation? The Landa List writing guide offers users a quick and easy way to produce clean copy for any written undertaking, including Web content. This 50-page guide offers a surprising amount of information within its covers that will make anyone look good in print.

This economical guide is well-organized, clearly written, easy to read, and provides writing solutions involving punctuation, the use of numbers, capitalization, grammar, spelling, gender usage, proofreading, and confusable words. Lists of the top misspelled and confused words are provided to help users avoid making embarrassing usage mistakes. It's great for online use!

Although this guide doesn't pack the punch that The Chicago Manual of Style does, how many people have one of those sitting on their shelves anyway? Who has the time to thumb through it while composing newsgroup and e-mail messages online? Who wants to run out and pay for one?

The Landa List conveniently fits inside desks, notebooks, and briefcases and is ideal for people on a budget and on the move. It's a great gift idea for students, secretaries, and people involved in creating Web content who need immediate answers. It's also ideal for classroom, company, and promotional use. Keep this book within arm's length of your computer. Highly recommended!

An excellent first-person account of USMC elite in the Big War.

Lately, I've grown tired of the general histories of WWII and its various subjects, and have been seeking personal accounts in the style of "Company Commander." In this book, Lane does not disappoint. His narrative is very compelling and well illustrated from his personal collection.

If you are interested in WWII, the Pacific island-hopping campaigns, or the USMC from one who lived through it, this is a must have.

Semper Fi

There are many books written about recognized Marine heros. There were many. There were many men that were not singled out, Units that were not considered Elite as we might classify them today. They were the "Everyman's Marine" that performed as part of a team so the goal of victory could be met. These men unloaded the supplies, drove the trucks, resupplied the combat units, constructed roads and causeways that permitted heavy weapons to be utilized.

This is the book that gives them a voice. Col Lane was a SSGT in the Pioneer and Engineer Batallions of the First Marine Division in the South Pacific. Doesn't sound very glamorous, Heh? Tell that to the tank commander that went across "Suicide Creek" on Cape Glouster after SSGT Lane was shot from the seat of a bulldozer(as several Marines were)attempting to build a path for the tank to cross while under intense enemy fire.Another Marine finished the job so the tanks could be brought into action against the Japanese troops.

I have a feeling that the Marines in those tanks had a different perspective on heroism than most of us have gained by our previous reading.

Col Lane unselfishly describes the events and lauds the actions of these comrades that most of us have never read about.Now their time has come in Marine Pioneers-The Unsung Heros Of World War Two. A story too long in waiting to be told. He has spoken for men that would not or could not speak for themselves, and I thank him for this.

An excellent read, written as I would have like to have heard it through my Father's words. He too was a Pioneer that served with Col Lane from Guadalcanal through Cape Glouster and New Britain.

A unique view of uncommon men.

A very good narative of all events.

It's 1894, and Rose Wilder, her mama, and her papa are packing up their covered wagon and leaving the prarie. Rose hates to say goodbye to say good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa, but she can't wait to start her new life in Missouri!

This book is great, not long enough but so much fun to read. I liked learning how Rose lived. I want to read the whole series now!

Its 1894, and Rose Wilder and her Papa and Mama move from the prairie to Missouri . They past a Dusty Trail and when they make camp Rose gathers fire wood. The next day they eat hardtacks and Rose travels with George and Paul on there wagon. Then they cross a river, go swiming, and meet Russians and help a lost dog but soon they come to Missouri.

Wonderfull story line. Can't wait to read more from this author!

Story line very interesting and captivating. Very well written. Could not put it down. Makes one want to read more about the characters. Hope there will be a sequel.

This book comes highly recommended. I started reading it one morning and finished it that evening...I couldn't put it down. It is quite refreshing to find a book that contains decent language, characters with morals, and valuable lessons to be learned. I'll be anxiously awaiting the next offering from this author.

This book is the sequel to the much beloved 'little house by Boston Bay. The end of the great war of 1812 is much celebrated, although Charlotte must feel the loss of her father's apprentice Will, who has yet to return to the comforts of their dear home in Roxbury. Her older brother Lew loses his little finger to infection, and the Tucker family sadly learns that Will must lose his leg to the same disease. Through infections and hurricanes and mortal disasters alike, they posess an inner courage and faith which unites them to look for a better tomorrow, and inspires us to do the same. With a delectable spice of humor thrown in, this book is a must-read.

This was a very good book. Charlotte Tucker (Quiner) is a little girl living in the outskirts of Boston. She has many household chores to do while her older siblings go to school. She is living during the War of 1812, and it takes place a little bit after her father's striker, Will leaves to fight in the army. They miss him a lot, but the winter days are filled with many chores, so they don't have a lot of time to reflect or think. Another worry also comes to mind when Lewis (Charlotte's brother) gets an infection from a splinter. This is a pioneer family you will never forget!

"Little House by Boston Bay" and the beloved "On Tide Mill Lane" are classics of the Charlotte Years. But they are also the only books of the Charlotte books. Ms. Melissa Wiley, write more Charlottes, and not to mention the Martha Years! Notify all your Little House fans the second you can!

I thought this book was very insightful and gave me some information that I will find helpful some day. It also was orgznized by subject which made it flow more consistently.

This book is by far the best of the men's guides out there. Organized well, concise, yet complete, it offers advice on everything from preparing a bar to how to make money in the stock market to how to handle the awkward situation when your girlfriend asks you if she's overweight. A must-have.

Similar to POV magazine, this is a helpful, well-written guide to just about anything a guy might not think of but could use in the way of getting the most out of life. Really great...

As a collector of and dealer in Outsider Art, I first read the book and then contacted the author, who at the time was also a dealer. I bought several pieces from him. These artists are less well-known to the self-taught collectors, but most of them are excellent and should be better known.

Dan Prince has produced a quality book of outsider art. The layout is pleasing and the stories are fascinating.

Actually, I am one of the artists featured in the book. Anyone that wants to E-mail me about their thoughts about me or my work is welcome to it. Thanks. I think my chapter, "Danny Dowler" is a great one. Although a lot has changed in my life regarding my personality, it still is a great piece of work.

Before the movie, before the television series, before all the spin offs, there was just the play. The story is a classic spin on the buddy plot. Oscar Madison is a successful sports writer who happens to be best friends with Felix Unger, a newswriter for CBS. Each week Oscar has five of his buddies over for a Friday night game of poker. However, on one fateful night Felix fails to appear in time for the game. It turns out Felix has just been thrown out by his wife and has no place to go. Feeling sorry for his old friend, Oscar invites Felix to stay with him and be his roommate. What ensues is a classic Neil Simon look at friendship that will endure for ages.

When you pair David Paymer and Nathan Lane as Felix and Oscar in the Odd Couple, you are in for a comic tour de force that over stretches its material. With a supporting cast which includes Dan Castellaneta and Yeardley Smith (both from The Simpsons) and Linda Purl, the cast is almost perfect. This production is a little too visual in a few of its jokes. However, on the whole, it unscrupulously grabs the audio listener by his ears and shakes him with laughter.

Nathan Lane is delightful as Oscar Madison. I also enjoyed hearing Dan Castellanata ("Homer Simpson") as Murray, and Yeardley Smith ("Lisa Simpson") as Cecily Pigeon.

I found this book Pinocchio a rather wierd book because it wasn't what the whole story was like and it kinda went really fast and skipped alot of the original story but it still got to the point and I could still understand what the story was really trying to tell me. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read,.....you'll enjoy it!

We think that Pinocchio: The Boy, written and illustrated by Lane Smith, is a very enjoyable book to read. It has great illustrations made by collages. You probably should read it by yourself, because there are lots of little illustration details that you'd never notice if you read it out loud. We give Pinocchio a hundred million stars! It's a little different from the real Pinocchio story. This book is more like a sequel to Pinocchio. The story is about a blue fairy who turns Pinocchio into a real boy, But when he wakes up, he sees that his owner is sick. Pinocchio travels all over town to look for soup for Geppetto. This book could be enjoyed by all ages. Eve, Holly, Tyeler, Kate and Elizabeth all enjoyed it!

"Last week in a nutshell..." So begins Lane Smith's delightfully manic tale of what happened next. After a speedy recap of Pinocchio's exploits from the original story, Mr Lane ends his introduction with: And so, with a wave of her wand, the Blue Fairy granted this wish and turned the wooden puppet Pinocchio into a real boy. But he had no idea! That nutty fairy had changed him while he was asleep." That belly of the whale incident has left Geppetto pretty sick. So Pinocchio sets out early the next morning towards beautiful downtown Collodi to buy his dad some chicken soup. He doesn't know he's a real boy, and no one from his past, Cricket, puppetmaster, shopkeeper, even his own father doesn't seem to recognize him now that he's flesh and blood. But soon a little girl enters the picture, and that's when all the fun begins..... Mr Smith's spare and irreverent text is entertaining and engaging. But it's his bold, bright, and busy collage artwork that really steals the show. Each stunning illustration is filled with vibrant color, dazzling wit and playful humor, and children will want to stop, linger, and explore before turning the page. With an appropriate, fairy tale happily-ever-after ending, Pinocchio The Boy is a marvelous visual feast, and an updated, fun-filled romp youngsters 4-8 won't want to miss.