We wrote Ikonica as an exploration of Canada’s rich and unique brand heritage. Alan and I wanted to shed light on the evolution of our country’s best-known brands, from the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canadian Tire. We've looked at the prime movers, the triumphs and the failures. And the book has been an opportunity to revel in the visual abundance of our cultural landscape.

We both could 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 Cirque du Soleil to domestic upstarts like WestJet. The heart of the book is almost 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). Our analysis uncovered what it takes for Canadian brands to punch above their weight in the global marketplace.

We hope that Canadian readers will learn a little and laugh a little at what they see in this mirror. And we hope that international readers will more fully recognize the contributions of a people whose distinctive tone of voice is understatement.

Jeannette Hanna

 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.

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.