Want to know the secrets behind Canada's most popular coffee-and-donuts chain? Read all about them in a new book chronicling the rise of Tim Hortons, from its humble beginnings to the national institution it is today. Written by former Tim Hortons marketing director Ron Buist, Tales from Under the Rim: The Marketing of Tim Hortons is an engrossing, fast-paced business memoir. According to Buist, it took "one hockey player, one favourite barber shop, one former drummer, and one police officer," plus "the luck hard work brings" to make Tim Hortons a second home for millions of Canadians. The original founders — Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Tim Horton, donut entrepreneur Jim Charade, and Nova Scotia born franchise wizard Ron Joyce — are all profiled in the book, along with many of the store owners in whom the success of the chain resides. If you have ever wondered about the invention of the apple fritter or the raisin dutchie, how timbits are made, or the origins of "Roll Up the Rim to Win," Tales from Under the Rim will answer your questions. Detailing the company's creative marketing strategies of the past 24 years, with loads of fascinating anecdotes, Tales from Under the Rim provides hitherto unknown glimpses into the transformation of a modest chain into Canada's most successful franchise operation. Tim Hortons is Canada's most successful coffee chain, with over 2,300 stores in Canada and US, and a Canadian market share of 70%, the highest of any franchise operation in the country. Each day, Tim Hortons franchises sell more than three million cups of coffee and more than a million donuts.

Ron Buist joined Tim Hortons in 1977 and embarked on a 24-year journey of creative genius and marketing success. Although he retired in 2001, his influence can still be felt in many aspects of the Tim  Hortons marketing campaigns. As the company’s long-term director of marketing, he designed and developed the campaigns that helped drive Tim Hortons to its position as industry leader. An avid believer in the influence of television, Buist produced over 100 commercials, including the now famous “True Stories” commercials such as “Lillian,” the elderly woman who walks up the steep hills of Lunenburg every morning for her Tim Hortons coffee, and “Coach,” who inspires his Timbits hockey players before their big game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Buist also coined slogans, designed the first Tim travel mug (a trademark for the chain), developed print advertising campaigns, and invented the highly successful “Roll Up the Rim to Win” contest. First introduced in 1986, “Roll Up the Rim to Win” is one of the most successful contests of its kind in North America — so successful that it has since become a part of Canadian cultural history. Ron Buist attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) where he graduated from the Radio and Television Arts program. He worked in radio and television in Oakville, Ottawa, and Toronto before becoming advertising manager for Black’s Camera Stores. There, he was in charge of marketing Black’s Bigger Prints, a change in process that that revolutionized photo finishing in Canada. His 13-year experience with Black’s helped him land a job with Tim Hortons in 1977. Nowadays, Buist is a retail and franchise marketing consultant and professional speaker. He and his wife Mary Ann live in Oakville, Ontario, and have two adult children, Kevin and Suzanne.

Ron Buist's profile page

"The 'mother' of invention... A name that is on the lips of most Canadians?— though they don't even know it. Along with other brilliant Canadians who've enriched our lives with light bulbs and TV, we raise a cup to you." —?The Toronto Sun

"The perfect coffee-table book?—?a book about coffee." —?The Edmonton Sunday Sun

"A readable and colourful account of the marketing successes that kept Tim Hortons in the forefront of the public mind...an interesting and accessible text for students of marketing." —?British Journal of Canadian Studies

"Buist's Tales from Under the Rim: The Marketing of Tim Hortons really does reveal the truth behind Tim Hortons success. That is, there is no mystery." —?The Halifax Chronicle Herald

"On a Rrrroll! You may not be familiar with Ron Buist, but you know his handiwork." — The Ottawa Citizen

"A celebration of the results of marketing at its best." —?The Fredericton Daily Gleaner

"The book's subtitle is bang on. Tim Hortons is many things to this country, but it's above all else a triumph of marketing.... Buist's version of the rise of Tims holds a lot of common sense lessons that Canadian marketers of all stripes and sizes would do well to commit to memory." —?Marketing Magazine

"Enlightening peeks into the building of a business empire." —?The Canadian Press

"The perfect business gift... Like its subject, it is comfortable, friendly, and a predominantly pleasant experience?—?Christmas morning or any other time." —?Financial Post