The Rouser Manifesto 2019
Rather than featuring a book in this post, I have selected a paper written by the team at the Swedish marketing firm Rouser. The Rouser Manifesto takes a big-picture perspective on marketing effectiveness, calling out the problematic trend of focusing solely on short-term return on marketing investment (ROMI) while eroding brand equity.
Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future
by Dorie Clark
This book is about making a career change. It starts with understanding your transferable skills, identifying how you are different as a competitive advantage, then establishing a narrative to make sense of your transition.
Continue reading “Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future”
Story Mythos: A Movie Guide to Better Business Stories
by Shane Meeker
“People are inspired and moved by stories…Story is about human emotions… Stories de-commodify your brand/product.” The premise of this book is that the same principles used by Hollywood filmmakers can be used to develop powerful brand stories. The author is the company historian and corporate storyteller at Procter & Gamble.
“What are your most powerful company stories, and how are you using them to inspire your people? How do you explain your purpose through different stories? What stories best demonstrate your company beliefs? How are you documenting and protecting the stories that matter? … How can you use a story to demonstrate a company’s culture?”
Continue reading “Story Mythos: A Movie Guide to Better Business Stories”
Don’t Sell Me, Tell Me: How to use storytelling to connect with the hearts and wallets of a hungry audience
by Greg Koorhan
Greg Koorhan’s main message is to “stop sounding like everyone else and tell your own, unique story.”
“A study by the Emory Institute in Atlanta… found that just thinking about an action triggers the same emotional and sensory area of the brain that performing the action does… So by telling a story associated with you or your business, you can trigger the emotions that make your customer feel, even for a brief moment, as if they’ve experienced the same benefit… Assuming it’s a good experience, don’t you think they’ll want more?”
“When looking at data, the language areas of the brain light up, but not the emotional and sensory areas. These areas are triggered only by stories. This means that your story can engage your audience in ways data can’t… When data and stories are used together, audiences are moved both emotionally and intellectually.”
“Your Story IS Your Brand… Your brand is actually tied closely to your values. And by nurturing your values, you develop a theme. And out of your theme grows your story… Start with your values, then your theme, character archetype and emotional tone. Once you’ve got the elements of your story in place, your entire marketing and advertising platform can grow out of it.”
Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters
by Linda J. Popky
Grounded in fundamentals and guided by strategic objectives, Linda Popky puts the hype around social media and big data in perspective. “It’s time to move the discussion away from today’s latest hot marketing tools and tactics to what really counts: convincing customers to trust you with their business—not just once, but time and time again.” Continue reading “Marketing Above the Noise”
The Brand Challenge: Adapting Branding to Sectorial Imperatives
Edited by Kartikeya Kompella
The Brand Challenge consists of four general branding topics followed 11 sector-specific chapters, namely: luxury, retail, business-to-business (B2B), media, financial services, non-profits, fashion, hotels, cities, technology, and football (soccer). Each chapter is written by a different author. Continue reading “The Brand Challenge”
Fans Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World
by Vernon W. Hill II with Bob Andelman
Vernon W. Hill II founded Commerce Bank in 1973. In 2007, the bank “was sold to Toronto-based TD Bank for $8.5 billion, producing a 30-year, 23 percent annual shareholder return. Everyone profited, including shareholders and team members.” In 2010, he co-founded Metro Bank, bringing the same service culture to British banking. In Fans Not Customers he reveals the secret sauce of his business model. This book is about branding, differentiation, corporate culture, and organic growth, but the dominant theme is providing exceptional customer service. Continue reading “Fans Not Customers”
The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR
by Al Ries and Laura Ries
The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR is about the role of PR versus the role of advertising in brand marketing. The thesis is that PR is needed to launch a brand and establish its identity; advertising is for maintaining an existing brand’s position. The reason is that advertising has no credibility, so it can only remind people of what they already believe. Continue reading “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR”
In Search of the Obvious: The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess
by Jack Trout
Jack Trout (1935-2017) had been a marketing professional for over 40 years. This book is about how the marketing profession has gotten off course, and the importance of timeless fundamentals, simplicity, and common sense.
Trout is critical of Madison Avenue. “To me it’s creativity run amok…The fact is that creativity was always a misnomer. An agency isn’t creating something. The company or product or service already exists. What they are doing is figuring out what is the best way to sell it. That, simply stated, means to take that logical, differentiating argument and dramatize it.” Continue reading “In Search of the Obvious”
Winning the Profit Game – Smarter Pricing, Smarter Branding
by Robert G. Docters, Michael R. Reopel, Jeanne-Mey Sun and Stephen M. Tanny
Winning the Profit Game reveals the key to success: pricing which is integrated with brand management, cost management, and product development. Whatever the goal, such as market penetration, customer retention, or increasing margins, “the strategy should be reflected in the price.” Continue reading “Winning the Profit Game – Smarter Pricing, Smarter Branding”
The Key Point 