andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

The Green Banana Papers: Marketing Secrets for Technology Entrepreneurs


The Green Banana Papers: Marketing Secrets for Technology Entrepreneurs
by Chris Coleman

Written primarily for CEOs of technology startups, the concepts in this book are more widely applicable in business-to-business marketing (B2B). Chris Coleman founded the technology marketing firm Folio Z in 1986 and sold it in 2000.

“Marketing is everything you do to influence a positive buying decision—both now and a hundred years from now.”

My favorite line from the book is: “Never imitate you competitors. They don’t know what they’re doing either.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Creativity

The Deviant’s Advantage


The Deviant’s Advantage: How to Use Fringe Ideas to Create Mass Markets
by Watts Wacker and Ryan Mathews

“Deviance is the source of all true innovation, growth, and indeed our collective survival. Deviance is defined by time, place, and circumstances.”

“Without deviance there would be no art, no scientific breakthroughs, no technological advances… Physical evolution is perhaps the perfect example of deviance in action. Without mutation—essentially deviance from an established DNA pattern—nature would remain static.”

“Don’t let the words deviant and deviance scare you. They’re being used in their purest definition—something or someone operating in a defined measure away from the norm.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Writing

Copywriting Is…


Copywriting Is… 30-or-So Thoughts on Thinking Like a Copywriter
by Andrew Boulton  

Andrew Boulton is an advertising copywriter, lecturer, and columnist from the U.K. He is clearly a man of letters, but apparently not a numbers guy: this book has neither chapter numbers nor page numbers. I counted 36 chapters and 220 pages in which Boulton reflects on the creative practice of copywriting. Here are some highlights.

“We are in the business of purposeful attention—getting noticed, of course, but then doing something meaningful with that attention…The very nature of the job is to be, not the loudest voice, but the most compelling—to say something conventional and familiar in a way that feels extraordinary and unavoidable.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation


Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation
by Emmanuel Probst 

“Assemblage is a French word that refers to the art and science of blending different eaux-de-vies (brandies) before bottling cognac. It is the craft of the maître de chai (also known as the master blender or cellar master) to select brandies from dozens of samples and craft a unique cognac… Assemblage is also a metaphor for building successful brands.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Broken Windows, Broken Business


Broken Windows, Broken Business: How the Smallest Remedies Reap the Biggest Rewards
by Michael Levine

Broken windows theory came up in a recent conversation. The person I was speaking with said he read the book, but it quickly became apparent that we were talking about two different books. I was talking about Fixing Broken Windows, a book about crime control which I have previously reviewed. He was talking about Broken Windows, Broken Business, which takes the premise of the crime theory and applies it to business.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works


Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin

Former P&G chairman A.G. Lafley and former dean of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management Roger Martin explain, “in our terms, a strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of five choices: a winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, core capabilities, and management systems.” 

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Brand Naming


Brand Naming: The Complete Guide to Creating a Name for Your Company, Product, or Service
by Rob Meyerson

Which sounds more appetizing: Antarctic toothfish or Chilean seabass? Although they are the same thing, the latter sells much better. Likewise, a brand name can make a positive first impression or set the wrong tone. “‘Tronc to change name back to Tribune Publishing after years of ridicule,’ read one headline in June 2018… A mere 15 months after its announcement, Consignia was returned to sender, replaced by Royal Mail Group.”

Brand naming expert Rob Meyerson shares a process that balances creativity with discipline to avoid such disasters and arrive at “just one deliverable: a strategically optimal, legally available, linguistically viable, client-approved brand name.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Go Luck Yourself: 40 Ways to Stack the Odds in Your Brand’s Favour


Go Luck Yourself: 40 Ways to Stack the Odds in Your Brand’s Favour
by Andy Nairn

“After almost 30 years in advertising, I’ve often been struck by the pivotal role that chance plays… Luck remains a dirty secret because it’s seen to undermine the virtues of hard work, talent, and intelligence that are at the heart of any successful business culture… I believe that luck exists—and also that you can improve it.”

Andy Nairn is co-founder of Lucky Generals, a creative agency in the UK whose clients include Yorkshire Tea and the Co-op. His book consists of 40 bite-sized chapters divided into to four sections:

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