Read this book. Digest it. Ingest it. Think about it. Internalize it and please, God please, use it if you’re a writer, designer, creative director, account executive or if you in any way work with products, services or anything that may enter the public sphere.

Neumeier and his company Neutron, LLC has brought some of the freshest and most insightful thinking to the brand / marketing / communications conversation. The Brand Gap is the first in a series of books that have created considerable dialogue within the industry and signaled a paradigm shift toward the power of differentiation and design centered thinking.

Yet, it’s still shocking how resistant some are companies are to going against the cliché and predictable bandwagon jumping that so often characterizes many marketing department strategies.

Note to everyone: Sameness is not a marketing strategy.

Let’s be bold. Let’s take chances and stand for something meaningful and relevant. Who knows, we might just collectively raise what has been a very low bar.