Innovative and creative marketing is more important than even in a shaky economic climate. Here's some of the best strategies we've found for quickly moving your brand from intriguing concept to household name.

Brand Marketing: Guinness

How do you refresh a 243-year-old brand? By brewing a modern experience that combines the power of history with the allure of contemporary design. Guinness Storehouse, in Dublin, reimagines how a brand can perform for customers, employees, and the community. Scott Kirsner

Are Brands out of Hand?

A new kind of brand proletariat is on the loose, courtesy of Harvey Alpert, the man behind Brand in Your Hand. Jack Hitt

Battle of the Brands

John Hancock`s outspoken CEO names names and points fingers at some high-profile brand offenders in his new book. He also offers some good advice on not screwing up your own company`s brand. Jennifer Reingold

Don`t Shout, Listen

At Procter & Gamble, branding is almost everything. And in the age of the Web, almost everything is up for grabs. Here`s how P& G has turned the Internet into a device for listening to customers -- and for experimenting with its brands. Fara Warner

Who`s Fast Hall of Fame: Brand Builders

Brand builders forging product identities that endure and entice. Fast Company

Cleaning Up Brand Clutter

With 35 varieties of bagels, 66 subbrands of GM cars, and more than 13,000 mutual funds, American consumers are suffering a severe case of brand overload. Marketing guru Peter Sealey has a tough-love cure: "simplicity marketing. George Anders

Driving Innovation

Traditional car companies are courting a new group of consumers with hard-driving innovation. Learn about the unconventional branding campaigns launched by Chrysler, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz to inject some soul in new cars created for generation Y. Anni Layne Rodgers

Can TiVo Go Prime Time?

TiVo Inc. has what every young company dreams of: smart executives, a killer product, famous (and fanatical) customers, a huge potential market. Scott Kirsner

Trendsetter - Hilary Billings

From Pottery Barn to the feel of a room at the W Hotel to finding just the right gift at RedEnvelope, Hilary Billings has mastered the art of creating "lifestyle brands" -- products and services that forge an emotional connection with customers. Ron Lieber

Brandaq: The End of Marketing

Brandaq (bran-dak) also Brandex, BrandX: 1. n. An exchange for the buying and selling of lifetime loyalty contracts associated with consumer brands. 2. v. To unlock and commercialize any long-term value through a negotiated contract. Jeff Belle