This work assembles a wide-ranging collection of BCG "thought pieces" in the field of marketing and branding, many of them previously available only to the consultancy's clients. Its central theme of "breaking compromises" refers to the act of moving beyond the impasse of the problematic "either/or" scenario - for example, a product may be perceived as being either cheap or good quality but seldom both. In an environment where customers must compromise to choose, these pieces demonstrate how innovative companies can expose these compromises and use the knowledge to recalibrate the relationship between customer and product.

Table of Contents:
OPERATING EFFICIENCY; Don't Get Trapped in the Skills Gap (D. Edelman & J. Levitan); Make in a Week What You Sell in a Week (N. Fiske); Price by Design, Not by Default (M. Grindfors, et al.); Building Partnerships Through Discovery (R. Padgett & P. Siegel); When to Deconstruct (D. Edelman & D. Heuskel); Starting Fresh: Taking a Value Appproach to Costs, (K. Helmkamp & J. Chapuis); The Power of Direct Story Delivery (M. Gjaja & H. Vogel); RETAILING; Reinvigorating the Core: The Retailer's Challenge (F. Barber); Capturing the Missing $30 Billion (R. Lesser & C. Cotney); Inner Cities Are the Next Retailing Frontier (M. Porter, et al.); Levels of the Game in Frequency Marketing (T. Breazeale & T. Chassaing); A Frontline Without Limits (A. Miles & Y. Morieux); Systematic Value Creation in Retail (M. Krentz & K. Waddell); MARKETING AND SELLING; From Lone Rangers to the New Selling Elite (C. Costa, et al.); The Research Advantage: The Marketplace Meets Management (J. Everett); Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Neglected Customers (D. Nelson); To Your Health (F. Barber); THE CONSUMER; Segmenting for Innovation (J. Everett & P. Siegel); Winning a Segment-of-One at a Time (D. Edelman & S. Malak); Consumer Distemper (D. Pecaut & J. Dea); Customer Retention: Beyond Bribes and Golden Handcuffs (T. Chassaing, et al.); One Size Doesn't Fit All (J. Everett & B. Hulit); THE BRAND; Total Brand Management (D. Edelman & M. Silverstein); Brand Renaissance (D. Pecaut); The Brandnet Company (A. Mei-Pochtler & P. Airey); Experience Your Brand (G. Stalk); Creating a Flawless Brand Experience (M. Silverstein); The CEO as Total Brand Manager (G. Stalk); Managing Brands for Value (R. Bixner, et al.); E-COMMERCE; Boom or Bust On-Line (T. Chassaing, et al.); Branding on the Internet: Navigating Around the Hype (D. Goldstein, et al.); Serving the E-Generation (D. Edelman, et al.); Myths and Realities of On-Line Retailing (D. Pecaut); Winning on the Net: Can Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Succeed on the Internet? (J. Davis & S. Gunby); GLOBAL MARKETS; Global Conquistadors (P. Siegel & M. Silverstein); Meeting the Local Challenge in China (J. Wong & M. Bvkkerink); The Uncompromising Asian Organization (M. Bvkkerink & W. Hamid); Rediscovering the Asian Promise (W. Hamid & D. Young); STAYING AHEAD; Believing in Growth (J. Chapuis); The Paradox of Success (B. Jones & M. Silverstein); Achieving Domain Expertise (B. Jones & M. Silverstein); Seeds of Destruction (M. Silverstein & E. Huet); Manage Your Value (M. Deimler & J. Whitehurst); Six Challenges for the New Millennium (M. Silverstein); Index.