A stylish, provocative look at the tremendous-often invisible-success of Canada's greatest brands.

Ikonica is the first exploration of Canada's rich and unique brand heritage. Authors Jeannette Hanna and Alan Middleton shed light on the evolution of our country's best-known brands, from the Hudson's Bay Company to Blackberry. This visually stunning tour of Canada's branding environment highlights the prime movers, the triumphs and the failures.

Both Hanna and Middleton draw on years of experience as brand strategists to offer an inside look at the major players in Canadian branding, from global success stories like the Four Seasons Hotels to domestic upstarts like WestJet. The heart of the book is more than thirty interviews with a "who's who" of major business and cultural figures including Paul House (Tim Hortons), Robert Milton (Air Canada), Fred Schaeffer (McCain) and William Thorsell (Royal Ontario Museum). The authors' provocative analysis shows what it takes for Canadian brands to punch above their weight in the global marketplace.

Jeannette Hanna is vice-president, brand strategy, and co-founder of the leading corporate branding and design agency Cundari SFP (formerly Spencer Francey Peters). An internationally recognized writer and speaker, Jeannette lectures frequently on brand management issues at conferences and business schools across North America.

Jeanette Hanna's profile page

Alan Middleton, recognized as one of Canada's most authoritative marketing commentators, is executive director of the Schulich Executive Education Centre and assistant professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. In 2005, he became the first inductee into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends in the Mentor category.

Alan Middleton's profile page

• Winner, Applied Arts Annual Award for Design
• Nominated, Advertising and Design Club of Canada - Directions Award

"The book is a treasure trove of all things Canadian, business-wise...This is a great resource book, which allows us to brag about a lot of products and services, uniquely and distinctly Canadian."

Shelf Life

"For readers who struggle to isolate iconic -- or 'ikonic,' as the authors prefer -- brands beyond the ubiquitous Tim Hortons and the once-ubiquitous Hudson's Bay, this may seem a comic prophesy. But co-author Jeannette Hanna, vice-president, brand strategy at the corporate branding and design shop Cundari SFP, argues that the mistake Canadians make is in undervaluing our chameleon nature. 'The way we compete is to be invisible, to blend in like wallpaper,' Ms. Hanna says. 'That is a great asset because people see you then as one of their own.'"

Globe & Mail

"In Ikonica, intrepid brand strategists Jeannette Hanna and Alan Middleton take a stylish, comprehensive look at Canada's brand heritage. This one-part investigation, one-part hurray, is conducted in a familiar Canadian style, combining clean, earnest fun with plain facts, strong metaphors of journey and discovery, and a subtle hint of quiet desperation."

Vancouver Review

"Now here's the perfect way for any loyal citizen with a bent toward commerce to gear up for the Canada Day weekend. [Jeannette Hanna & Alan Middleton]...have teamed to produce one of the more handsomely packages business books of this or any other season, Ikonica...While the core of the book is its treatment of brands...the wee essays ponder the notion of what is definably Canadian."

Toronto Star