Tales from Under the Rim: The Marketing of Tim Hortons

by Ron Buist

Overview

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

Tales from Under the Rim is a behind-the-scenes look at a simple business that became a Canadian icon. Tales from Under the Rim chronicles the rise of Tim Hortons, from its humble beginnings to a national institution. The recipe was simple: it took "one hockey player, one favourite barber shop, one former drummer, and one police officer" plus "the luck hard work brings" to transform a once unknown donut shop into one of Canada's leading franchise operations.

In this bestselling business memoir, Ron Buist shows how Tim Hortons became a second home to millions of Canadians. It includes the grass-roots marketing strategy that defined the early years, the Tim Hortons habit of listening to customers, and the whole story of Roll Up the Rim to Win, the no-frills contest that has become a defining feature of Canadian life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780864927088
Publisher:	Goose Lane Editions
Publication date:	05/31/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	218
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ron Buist 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, where he worked as the marketing director for 24 years. During that time, he launched some of the best-known and most successful marketing campaigns in Canadian advertising history.

An entrepreneur, author, marketer, and thinker, he is now a highly demanded motivational speaker. He and his wife Mary Ann live in Oakville, Ontario, and have two adult children, Kevin and Suzanne.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Prologue: Walking Miss Lillian to the Top of the Hill 15

Chapter 1 Grabbing the Tail of a Comet 19

Chapter 2 In the Beginning Who Put she Dough in the Donuts? 29

Chapter 3 "We Were All Like Family" 43

Chapter 4 Going Coast to Coast 53

Chapter 5 My Partners, the Store Owners 75

Chapter 6 Roll Up the Rim to Win Eight Years to an Instant Idea 93

Chapter 7 Broadcasting the Brand 113

Chapter 8 The True Stories Behind the True Stories 139

Chapter 9 Changing Times 165

Chapter 10 Building Memories: The Tim Horton Children's Foundation 183

Chapter 11 Summarizing Success 197

Notes 209

Index 213

Editorial Reviews

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

"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."

"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."

"A celebration of the results of marketing at its best."

"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 perfect coffee-table book? — a book about coffee."

"Enlightening peeks into the building of a business empire."

"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."

From the Publisher

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

Edmonton Sunday Sun

"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."

Toronto Sun

"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."

Chronicle Herald

"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

"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

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

Financial Post

"A celebration of the results of marketing at its best."

Daily Gleaner

"Enlightening peeks into the building of a business empire."

Canadian Press

"Geddes' accessible poetic style brings to life a rich array of characters inspired by a blend of history, culture, myth, and imagination. . . . his two most recent collections offer the reader a point of entry into the inner workings of old China by bringing to life a thronging diversity of voices tinged with both creativity and lore. . . . Swimming Ginger reanimates one of China's most iconic artifacts and infuses it with irreverence, gently poking fun at the fantasies of ancient Chinese culture the we might otherwise be wont to adopt. In answer to such fantasies, Geddes creates an earthy, vibrant, and altogether more pragmatic account of lives lived in twelfth-century China."

Ottawa Citizen