Tales from Under the Rim: The Marketing of Tim Hortons [Hardcover]

Ron Buist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Goose Lane Editions; First Edition edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864923651
• ISBN-13: 978-0864923653
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,740,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay style but lacks a bit in substance., December 10, 2003

By 

"stupage_stu" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales from Under the Rim: The Marketing of Tim Hortons (Hardcover)

A better title might have been: A History of Tim Hortons from the Head of Marketing. Not as snazzy but it gives a truer meaning to what the book is about. Ron Buist in the first half gives you the beginnings of Tim Hortons and how it was the hard work and dedication of the founders and the franchisees who created the brand "Tim Hortons". Taking an idea that differentiates you from the rest, listening to your customers and workers, giving people more than they expect these are all the underlying ideas that pepper the first half of the book. Nothing too revolutionary or an example of marketing genius at work. The second half are a few memoirs or recollections of a couple of the "True Life" television commercials and the "Roll Up to Win" campaign. And also the Tim Hortons Foundation is thrown in afterwards.

All in all the book is the recollections of Ron Buist as the marketing director at Tim Hortons for over 25 years. When you look at the book and after you've read it that would seem obvious as to what it would be but its not quite sold that way, at least to me. I would have also liked to hear some insights given into what made the marketing work. How has the marketing and what marketing in particular has helped make Tim Hortons a Canadian staple. There wasn't a lot of that in here. Sort of like rolling up the rim of your coffee cup and seeing you won a timbit; it's something but not what you were really hoping for. Overall I give it a B- on the StuPage. Okay style but lacks a bit in substance.