Book Reviews: Marketing

The Breakthrough Company

Keith McFarland

A very good friend of mine gave me The Breakthrough Company to read. You'll see it on the bookshelves at the airport or in good bookstores. The Breakthrough Company is like the next book after Built to Last and Good to Great. Written in the same premise, it details why the most innovative companies in the world succeed. He pinpoints how everyday companies are becoming extraordinary, showing that luck is a negligible factor. He identifies that breakthrough success turns out to be associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that any person from any business can emulate.

McFarland spent five years building and analysing the world's largest growth company performance database, interviewing more than 1500 CEO's on 4 continents. Quite simply, he wanted to know what made them tick. This book is the result. It's a really good read and I can always tell a good book by the number of highlighting marks I have through it - this book is loaded! You'll take many good useable nuggets from this book to apply to your business, and whether you're a one off operator or running a multi million dollar organisation, there are some good learnings in this book. 

Differentiate or Die

Jack Trout

A lot of people will be familiar with Jack Trout. He co-authored Positioning and Marketing Warfare with his buddy Al Ries. In this book Jack Trout takes a simplistic view of marketing and raises the very important question ‘what differentiates you from your competitors?' If it's nothing, then more likely your business or brand will die. The power of this book is in its simplicity, logic and clarity and getting down to the essence of the real problem we see in today's marketing battlefield. Very few companies differentiate themselves from their competitors and this book is going to take you a long way towards getting a simplistic view of what needs to be done in order to do it. With a myriad of different stories and anecdotes from companies that Trout has worked with, it's a good read. The only downside for Australian readers is all the examples are American, so you'll need to use your imagination to put the dots together for the same sorts of examples, which are very prevalent in our own business environment.

Chasing Cool

Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman

Cool isn't just a state of mind, a celebrity fad or a worldwide obsession - it's a business. In boardrooms across the world, product managers are examining vodka bottles in candy bars wondering how to make this thing cool. How do we make this gadget into the iPod of our industry?  In this very engaging book, authors Noah Kerner a celebrated marketing maverick, and Gene Pressman legendary creative visionary and former co-CEO of Barney's New York have uncovered surprising and universal patterns and trends. Chasing Cool includes interviews with more than 70 of today's most respected innovators from Tom Ford and Russell Simmons to Cristina Aguilera, and the team from Apple. In this book you'll learn how to apply these lessons to your own business and creative projects in order to stand out in today's cluttered marketplace. Great reading and a must for anybody involved in marketing, brand or business in general.

A New Brand World

Scott Bedbury

When you hear brand names like Nike and Starbucks, you might assume that whoever was the strategist behind both of these remarkable marketing stories must know their stuff. Scott Bedbury was the guy behind the building of both of these benchmark brands.

This is a really interesting book filled with great nuggets for anybody who is into marketing, branding, promotions or advertising and it really does take you through the models required to build your brand to be one of the best in the world. I also found the real life stories and anecdotes fascinating as both of these brands have a special place in the world of marketing and brand creation. This book is well worth a read.

Meatball Sunday

Seth Godin

I'm a self confessed Seth Godin fan. I love the fact that he writes short, succinct books on topics that are of importance to marketers, brands and business owners now. This book talks about the 14 trends that can't be ignored. The thing I like about the book and something I totally agree with is that he talks about businesses who are trying to get into new age marketing techniques through blogs, emails, You Tube, videos and so on, when in actual fact the product itself needs to get into the new age. Putting all the new forms of media and communication on top of a standard product is like putting cream and cherries and ice cream on top of a meatball. That is the essence of Meatball Sunday. I highly recommend this book. Seth Godin uses great examples and a succinct definitive guide as to how you can apply the 14 trends to today's business. Old marketing won't work anymore, you have to get with the program and develop new marketing thinking. This is the next book to get you started to fire up your creative juices as to how you can apply this trend to your own brand. A good read, a small book but packed with great stuff.

Inside Drucker's Brain

Jeffrey A Krames

On the way to the airport I was out of books and popped into Dymocks to try and find a book for my trip to London. I had heard a lot about Peter Drucker but had not really read or had access to many of his philosophies or procedures. When I saw this book I thought it was time to understand who this guy was and I'm very glad I did. Its only a small book but it is a very good summary of Peter Drucker's work. There is no doubt that Drucker was the man who not only innovated, but in some cases created management and marketing structure for the world. He's widely regarded as the greatest expert on management - in fact he pretty much invented the subject. He wrote 38 books over 6 decades and covered a lot of ground. This book distills the essential learnings from Drucker's work in an easy to read manner based on an interview between the author and Peter Drucker in a one day period. It s a really good read, I highly recommend it, and it's certainly one you have to put on to your reading list if you have anything to do with management, business, marketing or brand. ...

The Star Principle

Richard Koch

Richard Koch has made over $1 hundred million pounds from spotting star businesses. In this book he shares the secrets of his success and how you too can identify and enrich yourself creating stars. This is a very good book for anybody starting a business, entering into a new venture or wanting to promote new products for your own organisation. If you're a budding entrepreneur or investor or you are given the task of inventing new categories for your company, then this is a good step by step handbook as to how to do it. Whoever you are, if you can identify and invest in stars you'll make your life much sweeter and richer in every way. Its an easy read and once again builds on the principle of creating new categories. However, this is also a checklist to ensure you're going in the right direction. Its not the first book I would buy but certainly worthy of a week's reading. 

Grapevine - the New Art of Word of Mouth Marketing

David Balter & John Butman

This is a really interesting book. Although a lot of it is common sense, it's fascinating to look at the science behind true word of mouth. Most brand experts or marketing people don't truly understand word of mouth. These guys do. If you're in marketing, brand advertising, PR, communication or in small business, and you rely on people spreading your word of mouth, then this is a great book to read. Littered with true examples of where word of mouth has worked and conversely failed, this is a very easy to read and fascinating book by the guys who created a word of mouth agency called BZZ Agent. Due to their incredible hands on experience, these guys have filled the gap that was missing on this topic.

Often Wrong - Never in Doubt

Donny Deutsch

Why not me? Its not a question, it's a philosophy to live by, it's Donny Deutsch's motto, and it's the secret possessed by any person with the right stuff. The one in a hundred who get to the top of their team, their company, their business or their industry. Donny Deutsch is the leader of one of the biggest ad agencies in New York and in this common-sense, bottom line, no nonsense book, he shows you what it takes to be not only an inspiring leader, but to get the most out of your life, as well as some interesting background and secrets to the ad industry. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it did pose some interesting questions about advertising, marketing, business and leadership. If you find yourself saying ‘why not me?' then read this book.

Beyond Buzz

Lois Kelly

In a consumer driven world where social networking, mySpace, Facebook, blogs and podcasts rule, the old marketing model no longer works. While much of the attention has been paid to the mechanics of creating buzz, only the savviest of marketers have learned how to craft the right kind of message - because without it even the loudest buzz will soon die. The bottom line is that marketing today involves engaging in conversation. It's not about cajoling, seducing or selling, it's about meaningful conversation.

I like this book because I totally agree with the majority of the content written within in. I believe that marketing today is full of jargon or what's referred to as a white blizzard of meaningless messages. Beyond Buzz will give you the tools and the guidance to build the kind of understanding trust and excitement that keeps customers talking about you and buying from you. The author has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world and helped them to revolutionise their marketing and communications and how they approach their customers so that they can more quickly understand their message, believe their products and most importantly buy. Beyond Buzz will show you how to create an interesting conversational theme that will engage your customers and take your marketing to a remarkable new level. I agree with the direction this book takes and think that the marketer or communications person should read it and at least give it due consideration.

Zag

Marty Newmeier

In an age of 'need to' products and instant communications, keeping up with the competition is no longer a winning strategy. Today you have to out-position, out-manoeuvre and out-design the competition. The new rule, according to Newmeier, is to Zag when everybody else is Zigging. Its more of a handbook than anything. Anybody who has sat through my brand strategy/marketing warfare sessions will know that I talk a lot about the fact that today's brands are winning through category, not so much just brand name anymore. As illustrated in Australia by Pure Blonde and Lo Carb beer, this book is a step by step handbook as to how you go about creating a new category and Zagging while everybody else Zigs. Its a very easy read and quite informative. I'm sure that any brand, marketing or communications person will find some nuggets in it and I think its an excellent handbook for small to medium sized enterprises who are looking to find a point of difference to their competition. A worthy read and perfect size for a short haul business flight. 

Brand Sense - Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight and Sound

Martin Lindstrom

I had bought this book because I enjoy Martin Lindstrom's website and he is seen as being at the forefront of marketing and brand. Its a good book, without being great. Although it does stimulate your thinking around the five senses and how they can relate to your own brand. There is no doubt that he raises very pertinent and strong points in this book and elements that I totally agree with. It's an interesting read for anybody in marketing and brand, and probably a good book to add to your reading list, although it won't blow you away. Good reading, but not outstanding.

Love is the Killer App

Tim Sanders

Love is the Killer App offers an easy to follow road map with new twists on how to use and share information, add power to networks and help people succeed by showing love. The end result is that we're shown how to build ourselves into an outstanding brand - marketing advice that will create winners in any business setting. This is a different approach to marketing but one that's worth adding to your arsenal of marketing literature. Although not a book for everybody, its easily digested and even more easily applied. If you follow Tim's basic principles you can't help but lift up those around you and your own career. Become a love cat and grab this book. It's a great read on how to win business, influence colleagues and make friends.