Promotion Books

I Think this book is a very good book for any one how want to study marketing...

The book provides very good insights into how to design effective communication campaigns and is based on solid academic research. An excellent book for anyone who wishes to design a communcation campaign!

John Rossiter and Steven Bellman provide brilliant insights into marketing communications.The book is an exceptional guide to the important field of communication. In an impressive manner the authors manage to translate the complex science of marketing communications into a practical manual of how to design effective communication campaigns. A great book!

This update of the classic Rossiter & Percy advertising book is heading towards being another classic. What differentiates this book from many other advertising texts is that its advice is based on sound consumer behavior research findings. The reader is assured that the advice given in the book is based on fact rather than folklore.

So many texts are useless and dry as dust because they merely `catalogue' every possible theory and every possible stream of research that bears on the subject leaving the reader thoroughly bewildered. Not this one!

The authors of this updated `sequel' to Rossiter and Percy take the same refreshing but comprehensive approach to blending theory and practical that made the original book unique and so successful internationally. Again, they don't shy away (like so many other authors do)from advancing their expert views on what theories are most useful and relevant.

When it says 'master class' it means that it won't tell you what to think but it will teach you how to think, which is much more enduring and useful. Every planner I know should read this and inwardly digest its perennial wisdom.

Stephen King was one of the two fathers of account planning. Despite many of these papers being over 30 years old, they have never been a more pertinent reminder about how to think about creating powerful brands and communication, and the role that ad agencies can play. It's proof that sometimes when trying to find a path forwards it's useful to look at the past. A must read for anyone in the communications industry.

A Master Class in Brand Planning is an invaluable, long over-due introduction to the writings of Stephen King for all marketers in the United States. King, a pioneer in account planning in the UK, spent his career teaching his colleagues, his clients and countless fans how brands work, how to approach brands and importantly how to sustain brands. The brilliance of this compilation of his work is the addition of contemporary commentaries by today's leading thinkers about advertising, marketing and brands. They make this book as relevant and timely as the latest blog on brands. A must-read for people starting out in the business, people building and selling brands, and people teaching marketing in business schools.

Stephen King's writings, as most reviewers acknowledge, are as relevant and stimulating today as they were when he first published them. Between the lines, however, one can still detect the humor and irreverence which were King hallmarks. Stephen was relentlessly rigorous in his approach to brand planning, but at the same time was disarmingly charming and witty. You'll find these qualities here as well.

In an age when desires for instant insights attract attention to short cuts, Stephen King will give 'real planners' tools that require thoroughness and hard work, but which lead to far richer and more rewarding results over time. Brands he touched in his lifetime, and people he inspired, still reign all over the world!

It's a treasure trove, indeed!

Long live the King!

The flyleaf gets this right: "an unexploited gold mine." Way back in what now seems almost prehistoric in advertising years (the late 60s), Stephen King was revealing the secrets to the way consumers think (and do not think) and illuminating the way advertising agencies and marketers should think (and should not think) about brands. How do we explain the degree to which his perspective and advice have gone unexploited?

This book, based on King's published writings and fine introductions by savvy marketing thinkers, removes all excuses for failing to develop marketing communications that connect consumers and brands. Among the articles included is one of his seminal essays, "What Is A Brand?" That means we no longer have to decipher his words truncated by a poorly scanned pdf that we downloaded (likely without permission) from a website googled on a tip from some King insider who managed to discover him when so many others did not. It's surprising and fortunate that the ideas he posited over 30 years are still utterly relevant and cogent in a business that's changed in unimagined ways in those ensuing decades. Yet so many agencies and advertisers have failed to learn from and apply his insights.

Gratefully the editors of this book make his work -- and that of other brilliant thinkers like Stanley Pollitt -- accessible and timely to anyone willing to dig in. You now have no excuse. Exploit this gold mine.

MoneyHunt

According to the subtitle, the authors provide "27 New Rules for Creating and Growing a Breakaway Business." How "new" these rules are is subject to honest disagreement but all are sound and can be of great value to anyone who is either preparing to launch a new company or who has launched one which is now experiencing serious problems. Either way, I rate this book highly. It is well-written. The material is anchored in a wealth of real-world experience. For each reader, some rules are probably more relevant than are others...at least today. However, having had extensive recent experience with several start-ups, I can attest that each of the 27 will become relevant at one time or another. I also think this book can be of substantial value to senior-level executives of so-called "mature" companies. Why? Because every company needs what I call a semi-annual or quarterly (if not monthly) "gut check" -- or "reality check" -- which challenges all basic assumptions and premises concerning its vision, mission, priorities, allocation of resources, positioning, core competencies, customer relationships, competition, etc.

The authors devote a separate chapter to each of the "Rules", with the 27 chapters organized within seven Parts:

Part One: Do You Have What It Takes?

Part Two: The Right Idea at the Right Time

Part Three: Markets and Competition

Part Four: People

Part Five: Show Me the Money!

Part Six: The Legal Side of Business

Part Seven: Getting Out -- and Moving On

The book concludes with five Appendices: The MoneyHunt Story, Business Plan Template, Online Audition for MoneyHunt, Legal Dos and Don'ts of Raising Capital, and Demystifying the Business Organization. Although all of the material provided is solid and well-presented, I was especially interested in Appendix A which explains the origin and development of a television program on which entrepreneurs (hunting for money, of course) appear.

Who will derive the greatest benefit from this book? As previously suggested, those who are merely thinking about launching a new company; also those who are preparing to launch a new company; also those who have launched a company now encountering serious problems; also those in a well-established company which may be losing its competitive edge. Here's another category of reader which I also want to include: Those involved in a large organization who must compete aggressively each day for a share of that organization's resources. For them, effective application of the 27 "Rules" will of course require strategies and tactics which are substantially different from those required when "creating and growing" a new enterprise.

The hunt for money never ends because the need for money never ends. Unless you have everything required to achieve your specific objectives, read and then re-read the book. If and when circumstances tempt you to think that you can relax a bit, read it again.

This is the book ALL entreprenuers need. If you're starting your own business, get your hands on this detailed and helpful book! Cliff and Miles know their stuff, and let you understand what and what NOT to do when starting a business. A truly great book.

In the typical Moneyhunt "pull no punches" style, the is a candid look at mistakes made in small businesses...and how to avoid them. I especially liked the chapter "During a Gold Rush, Sell Shovels." Wish I'd read this when I started by biz...I'd be a lot richer AND have more hair!

In the process of building my company, I came across this amazing book. Like a map on the business highway, it showed me which roads to travel down, and which to steer clear of. I recommend this book to anyone who has, or is thinking about starting a business.

I went to Crown looking for The New New Thing but bought this book instead. After reading the first rule, I knew I have to buy it but couldn't wait to order from Amazon. Rushed to my car and finished the whole book. The rule on ruthless validates a few plans I had in mind....I never watched the show but extremely grateful that the two gentlemen wrote this book. I know I can never find a great business book like this written in any other language, not in this century.

I thought this book was great and loaned it to a few friends who have also like it. The most important message in the book for many people will be the fact that "it isn't just you." One friend commented that she felt the entire book was telling her story, helping her understand that what had been happening to her in the workplace was not about her as an individual but reflected a culture that was steeped in old biases.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how many women are perceived and treated in the workplace.

Margaret doesn't sugarcoat the realities of being an executive female. But she's not on a rant, either, and provides plenty of upside and solid strategies. The Naked Truth is recommended reading for women on every rung on the ladder.

Author and executive Margaret Heffernan fearlessly declares that decades of advice telling business women to act like men, follow traditional rules and cleave to heartless stereotypes are wrong. Breathe a sigh of relief. It's not you; "It's the system, stupid!" In her eyes, the business world inherently does not welcome, respect or value women. Refreshingly, instead of blaming women, the author conveys the advice of hundreds of female survey respondents who say men hold the aces in the business world and don't want to share. Honest, funny and sometimes disconcerting, she offers advice, inspiring examples and helpful stories. She explains how to find or create a humane, cooperative, supportive workplace that fits your principles - and how to make a realistic appraisal if you are at the change-it-or-quit stage. The one shortcoming is the author's absolute unstated assumption that women are innately, inevitably more cooperative, honest and caring than men. This stereotype is a two-edged sword, wounding those men who do have sound values, and reinforcing the typecasting that women ought to be sweet and nurturing because it's in their genes. That aside, we recommend Heffernan's clear view of the hurdles that block a woman's path to business success and work-life balance. She confronts painful realities and adapts them, or adapts to them, even if in nontraditional ways. If you have to be one person at work and someone different at home, her dynamic vision can help you pull it all together.

5 stars for certain and a must read for business women. My hat is off to margaret who speaks directly to issues and DOESN'T ask women to be more like men. She presents many different ideas - some her own and some presented by other women. Its wonderful to read a book that speaks to you and you feel involved in. Well done indeed.

Margaret Heffernan has never been afraid to talk about the ugliness that can happen for women in Corporate America. Her new book is no different. It brings up almost every important issue for women trying to climb the traditional corporate ladder. In some cases she offers solutions, either from her own experience and research, or through the shared stories of women she interviewed for the book.

Two things in particular in the book stuck with me. In one section she discusses women and their "relationship" with work. I really liked the use of that word, "relationship." Because I do have a relationship with my work, just like I have a relationship with the people in my life or with money. (I had never really thought about it in that way before.) The second item that struck me was after I read one woman's description of something very sexist that happened in the workplace, I expected the next line to say, "that was ten years ago." Instead, the line was "that was in 2004." I think we need reminding that not everything has changed, and in fact, anything going on now is even worse than ten years ago, because it's 2005, and we all (including the boys) know better.

A quick read - and yet it has been said before. As disturbing as the subject matter maybe for marketeers, the author appears to have an ax to grind?

Okay, so first off, I haven't read the book. But the idea that branding has taken over and is now a more powerful factor than quality or R & D is something I might be willing to grant the author.

But the question is, what should/can be done about it? A few intellectual people griping won't add up to anything more than a few intellectual people griping.

Branding has a functional role in ensuring that quality is reasonably consistent and that someone's name is behind a product. If Nike doesn't work on their R&D, another product by Puma will take their market share. And what would the author prefer? Anonymously made cars? Don't get me wrong, I don't love living in an advertising-overladen world, but brands have a function, and if they've been stretched beyond that, people's skepticism will push them back to a reasonable level. If Porsche starts making a deodorant, people simply won't buy it.

And Lucas Conley is none too happy about it as he warns us in OBD. Less R and D is being spent on improving a product. Why spend the do-re-mi when you can just change the shape,say, of the bottle it comes in, making it cooler but not better.Exploit emotion. The brain thinks 3,000 times faster with an emotional charge than a logical one. Go to an Apple store and you'll see his point. Or quoting Daniel Gilbert, "Experiences don't hang around long enough to disappoint you. What you have left(after a visit) are wonderful memories."(Or look at the testing done showing that people love Pepsi, in a blind taste test but when it is mano a mano(can to can), the visual of the Coke can actually lights up a part of our brains.) But the book really excels when he talks about what sounds like a vast conspiracy. Smells emanating from the shelves of grocery stores? Yes, put there to get you worked up. And smells for kids on put on the shelf consistent with a child's height. And P and G has organizations that give free samples to regular, next door folks in exchange for them hitting you up on the value of pampers or the sparkle to be found only in a certain toothpaste.Like a sci-fi movie. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must drive home in the Ultimate Driving Machine, fire up the Viking Range, get out the Gordon Ramsey cookbook, and get ready for the Fourth.

This was a great book. It was short (only 200 pages), but the type was small and the margins were reasonable. It's an investigative piece. The author is not a marketing expert or a writer trying to promote a marketing firm or whatever. This is a simple book that explores the status of marketing today. It questions whether the US culture has become obsessed with brands rather than quality products and new improved products.

The author says at some point that he was thoroughly amused by the extreme examples of branding he saw. And he believes the world is cheapened when EVERYONE sees it with a marketer's eye. I agree. But this book is good because it points out that branding is used AND ABUSED as a tool to sell goods and services today. A lot more use and a lot less abuse would be good!

This book informs us that successful marketers today create loyal customers who are lazy minded and don't think much before they buy. They just stick to the brand that they have learned to trust and believe in. Once a company creates a successful brand, then they milk it for all it's worth.

This book has an introduction and 9 chapters. Examine the Search Inside material provided by Amazon to see the chapter titles. I thought the book was written well and well outlined. 5 stars!

I had to chuckle at the title of this book "Obsessive Branding Disorder." This sounds like the latest mental disease to make the rounds of television talk shows, but the author is pointing up a marketing "disease" in business. In the absence of an original idea of worth, in a world awash with me-too products, marketing tries desperately to grab a few milliseconds of our attention to influence our buying decisions. Does it work?

In the case of youths, certainly it does. For someone my age (who had to sew her own wardrobe for school), the idea that the "wrong" shoes, jacket, jeans would lead to social ostracism in high school (as opposed to honestly getting there by being a nerd) is something nightmarish to me. But marketeers springboard off that desperate herding instinct of kids not to be different (so as not to be singled out) and to belong by engineering marketing efforts using blogging, Youtube and word of mouth. Since word of mouth is one of the cheapest and most powerful means of generating sales, marketing efforts have been concentrating on harnessing the power of multitudes of advocates. Even though word of mouth is difficult to control marketeers have been trying to seed the population and generate buzz by free samples, small payments and other inducements. That's just one type of branding strategy.

The author gives example after example of how brand placement, a new strategy in marketing, is used by companies in place of innovation and the risky business of introducing a new product. He also discusses the extremes of brand loyalty (theft and mugging over popular brands of clothing) to branding campaigns for entire cities, to promote tourism. He discusses product placement "creep", where product logos appear on stadiums, in films and other unexpected places, in order to seep into the unconscious and sway your opinion.

There is no doubt that marketing "noise" (the din of similar products competing for attention in this media-saturated world) is a huge problem for marketing. Any surface upon which your eye dwells for more than a second is a place to put an ad (example, the tray table in airplane seats and the handle of a gas pump.) The author exhorts us to avoid being herded into brand loyalties that offer no real benefit or differential by being aware of marketing ploys, by avoiding "loyalty beyond reason" and by fighting what is in many cases, an illusion. This is a short but excellent book to make you aware of tricks being played on you to extract your money from your pocket unwittingly for diminishing value, for paying a premium for absolutely nothing, not a promise of superior quality or performance or any benefit beyond what a similar product could provide to you. Excellent, fascinating reading. I really recommend you read this.

One might wonder how long a book having to do with online advertising strategy will last, considering the rapid pace of change in technology and online rules, but Joe Plummer, Steve Rappaport, Taddy Hall and Robert Barocci focus on strategies that are not particularly vulnerable to time or tech changes. They take online advertising in the direction of other sophisticated mass media advertising, including targeting specific markets precisely, and using multiple channels and other audience-oriented tactics. With this book's information and abundant real-life examples, marketing and brand managers can create winning plays. getAbstract thinks they will want this valuable tool on their desks so they can build their brands online and do it right.

This book is clearly useful, but assumes that you at least have a dedicated marketing person and budget, more often a whole marketing department that manages actual campaigns. Assuming your company is of that size, then if you don't have much experience in online, or in managing campaigns in general, this is a great jumpstart. It can also be a handy reference to give the boss so he understands this "new thing" you're trying to do with online marketing, and why he/she should trust you to spend some money.

The book is highly credible, even though I wouldn't take the time to look up any of the referenced information myself. The information looks to validate assumptions with objective information, not just "this is cool, you should try it." It's not going to necessarily change anything about my online initiatives except the way I justify certain kinds of spending. It's also nice to know I'm not far from the mark where I have drawn my own previous conclusions about the online media.

This is one of the most useful and effective books I've acquired to advance our advertising strategy. I made an effort to log on here to write a review because I was extremely happy with the purchase. Not only is the info in the book useful, but the numerous studies and examples referenced in the book have also been extremely useful in presenting our business case for the strategy this book helped us create. I highly recommend it.

As for recommendation, I have purchased several copies which I have given to agencies I work with. Aside from covering facets of online, the surprise was a series of "futures" by a variety of specialists. Well-done.

When I first received the book and skimmed it very quickly, I was initially disappointed. Too much text, lack of "punchlines", and seemed to cover only small number of facets of online advertising.

After reading the book carefully, though, I was impressed. Very detailed coverage of many topics, excellent citations and references to actual studies, and many cases that are discussed in detail.

The book would be an excellent textbook for a course on online advertising. It is not a "how-to" book, with lists of to-do items. Everything is substantiated by pointing to a related (academic or professional) research study. Many discussions reveal things that are not obvious even to seasoned professionals.

In short: Buy the book if you plan to invest the time to actually read the book, and you are interested in understanding in-depth many aspects of online advertising. If you just need a book that can be read quickly and you simply want to follow blindly its instructions, search for something else.

This is must reading for the serious marketing strategist. It's a prescient look at how companies will have to interact with customers in order to break through communication clutter and sustain growth. I plan to use it as a regular reference for strategic planning. The section on customer care is an important addition to the current thinking about marketing communications. I like that it lays out a disciplined process for creating, implementing and measuring effective programs that provide lasting value, not just tactical applications. The last chapter of checklists alone is worth the price of the book.

There are things in this book that you can't get elsewhere...at least I've never been able to find them. At our company, we've tried for years to successfully integrate our direct marketing and sales teams. We also want to lengthen the lifetime of our customers. The authors have been doing this for years and it shows in their case studies. If you can learn what's in this book and pull it off in your organization, you'll join the less than 2% minority of companies who have achieved this level of marketing excellence.

Good to see individuals in the marketing/advertising field who truly understand the complexity of people and organizations. Consistent with the most up-to-date approaches in the field of psychology (specifically psychotherapy research), the authors of this new book are quite persuasive in showing readers the enormous value in tailoring marketing approaches to the individual needs of different organizations. Moreover, they use statistics in a quite user-friendly way and they also offer a great and quite readable variety of case material to support their views. An engaging, persuasive, and innovative look at contemporary marketing. Well worth a look; you'll find yourself hooked.

Roman nails it. He preaches the golden rule - as applied to marketing. He shows how to use permission and precision timing to win at marketing. Even better, while he has a fortune 500 client list, the strategies he recommends are not just for the big guys. In fact they are easier for small companies or even individual salesman to use.

There are 3 keys to your success: Execution, Execution, Execution. Roman and Hornstein deliver - with precision - on the who, what, where, when and how of each. A must read. John Wanamaker would give it 'two thumbs up'

I recommended this book to a friend of mines and she bought it, no complaints as soon as you recieve this book into your hands your eyes will emmidiately will be dragged into the reading pages of vicky lewis thompson, the novel is excellent!!!!
YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK , IS A MUST READING MATERIAL!!!!!!!!
with hot steemy passion and sweet chocolate rappers this is a must read!!!

It may sound cliche but sooo very true. If you haven't read Mr. Valentine then you are missing out! Ms. Thompson sure knows how to write a hero you could melt for. ;-D Of course, Ms. Kelly keeps the heat turned high. I absolutely adore books that let you revisit past characters and places. I certainly can't wait for more. So...BRING ON MICK!

I have always loved Vicki Lewis Thompson and it was great to read one of my favorite of her stories. Leslie Kelly is fantastic and I've read every one of her books. This novella was an appetizer and left me wanting more. Sophie is my favorite of Leslie's heroines and I'd love to see more of her, she's just too sassy to be contained in a novella. It was also great to see more of the world Leslie created in last October's Temptation "Trick Me Treat Me".

Both stories, Mr. Valentine and Thrill Me were a fun combination to read, but Leslie Kelly's continuing story line made it even more enjoyable. I love the chance to catch up on the characters introduced in earlier works, and Ms. Kelly's done a great job with her follow up to Trick Me, Treat Me (also a great read with a laugh-out-loud story line!) But then who can resist a hunky lawman and a not-so-sweet church lady with a secret life on the side?

Ms. Kelly delivers another fresh story without falling into tired cliches or contrived conflicts, so buy Reading Between the Lines and curl up for an enjoyable night of pleasure! (Waiting impatiently for Mick's story coming in August with her single title debut, Killing Time.)

Mr. Valentine is absolutely adorable. Vivki Lewis Thompson is always a winner and this short story is no exception. Fun, sexy, (did I say sexy ) and fast paced. Thrill Me, leslie Kelly's story is soooo good, I wanted it to be it's own full length book. Sophie is hysterical. She's smart, bold, and bitingly witty. As with all of Ms. Kelly's heroes, Daniel oozes sex appeal onto the pages. By the time these two get together, I needed a cold shower. I love Leslie Kelly boooks and always read anything with her name on it. Vicki Lewis Thompson is an extra great treat!

It was all "razzle dazzle" style, but some good simple ways to market when YOU are the product. I work as a professional entertainer, so I am always looking for good books on how to market ME and my services.
I highly recommend it!

Great practical aspects for every marketer.Be fresh or a pro.After the knowledge about diferent theoritical aspects of marketing and even if you have some experience in practical field ,this book is a great help to fine tune you.This book gives you a wholesome idea how a marketer should be.

Read it to fine tune your marketing and personal skills

The unique marketing ideas and concepts shared in this book are real winners! I can't wait to put many of these great ideas into action.

This is a gem of a book. It covers alot of material (maybe too much) and yet it is a relatively small book. I liked the book for its comprehensive coverage and links to entrepreneurship as a personal mission... as well as marketing.

The authors are Canadian and I'd like to say that their nationality interfered with the topics or slant of the book... but it didn't. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that this Swiss-banking immigrant (Bender) and this successful radio broadcaster (Torok) in Canada really had their feet on the ground. They offered lots of practical marketing and strategic advice.

I would suggest that there are two major parts to this book. The first 1/6 of the book describes their concept of delivering value, tieing your products/services to personal values, and your vision/mission statements, etc. I thought this was truly great and apparently some of it flows from Peter Urs Bender's other book: Leadership from Within. I see that it is favorably reviewed here at Amazon and I will order it right away (forthwith in Canadian?).

The remaining 5/6's of the book is an encyclopedic account of marketing techniques that you can (and should) apply for your business. The target market for this book is a firm of 1 to 30 employees... a small firm. This book would also do well for an individual working for a big company, as it tells you how to market yourself to become more valuable.

There's a ton of good ideas here. You won't go wanting of things to implement. There are new ideas that you won't see elsewhere.

For example, they speak about the need to write articles to establish your expertise. They then go on to list many different kinds of articles you can write. Under this section, one sub-topic was Tips Sheets. There they listed about 10 different kinds of tip sheets you could write. I knew about writing articles and tip sheets, but they provided excellent lead ideas to get me going. There were many other such new things in their book that greatly extended the topics I was already familiar with.

Because it was encyclopedic in coverage, I was worried that it would repeat alot of what I already knew. But, instead I learned a lot of new ideas that I can implement. Overall, I highly recommend this book for any small business owner, or marketing chief... or any individual who wants to shine and promote himself within a corporation.

Now if we could just figure out some way to get these good business thinkers out of the cold socialist northern territories! I found the book in a Vancouver bookstore and have never seen it in the U.S.

John Dunbar

This book is an excellent one-stop source for developing your own unique "brand." It covers the obvious and not-so-obvious things to consider as you differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

As a consultant for the past ten years, I found this book to be a wonderful affirmation for the things that I am doing well and a gentle nudge to consider/do specific actions in promoting my business. I read this book right before I began a comprehensive review of our marketing strategies and the timing was absolutely perfect. Just one tip proves itself WELL worth the cost of the book as well as the time invested to read it.

A lively, friendly journey through all the practical stages of advertising. Mr. Cohen is a gifted writer; you feel as if his arm is around your shoulder helping you through the advertising maze, transforming you from passive reader to active participant. The examples and presentations are so interesting you can't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm. Mr. Cohen writes in a charismatic style that reflects his experience in the business. When you finish the book you realize that you have been advised by the best authority on the subject. This book will be pertinent and useful for many years to come. Bravo, Mr. Cohen.

It is excellent and well done. It addresses most of the objections we hear in advertising sales on a day to day basis.
Eric Rhoads, Publisher, RADIO INK magazine

This book is written in a easy to read style geared towards the
Euentrepenuer. However, IT'S A MUST FOR ANYONE INVOLVED OR WANTS TO LEARN MARKETING/ADVERTISING/MEDIA! This intelligent information is easy to understand for the beginner. It's a wealth of information for anyone desiring to make money in marketing any product.

It's very well written, with a conversational up-tempo style, with nuts-and-bolts content. I'm going to recommend it to my students next semester. It's readable and refreshing advice from a man who knows what he's talking about."

When I read this book, it was like deja vu all over again. The book presents it's material in a very real world context and exposes some campaigns for the folly that they turn out to be. As soneone who is in the bradcasting business, this is a must read