Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Emotional Branding, 16 Nov 2008
There was a time that if you had a product, someone would buy it. You didn't have to worry about reaching your target audience, how the packaging would make people feel, or how the product would make the consumer's life better. People were eager for new products so if you had something to sell people would line up to try almost anything.

Today, we have choices. So many choices. If you go to your local Wal-Mart looking for a toaster, you'll find dozens of different types. Each has a variety of different features that make each product unique. Trying to figure out which is right for you, depends upon your toasting needs.

The same goes for any product or service that you sell. In order to get consumers to choose your company when they go looking to buy, you have to serve their needs. To do so, you have to know your target audience and have a firm understanding about what they want.

Emotional Branding explores the buying patterns, needs, and belief systems of a variety of different demographics: the boomers through to the millennials, various minority populations, women, and the gay community. The book looks at how color, packaging, sound, scent, etc can be used to produce certain feelings. Put together properly, this information can help craft products and their associated advertising campaigns to suit the appropriate target audience.





Very nice book, refreshing and modern, good for self-study, 10 Feb 2004
This is a very nice book.
It's main advantages: it is simply written, many practical examples, some pictures, very modern.
The previous reviewer, I suppose, do not like the author for some reason, or he didn't understood, that Marc tries to show us some case studies, good and bad examples, like good MBA course. Rather than develop methodologies, formulas, etc.
This is very practical book. I am glad that it is written by designer in a simple but elegant way.
The author always try to give you suggestions on where to find futher information (books, websites) on each topic. It is the only book, where I found practical advices on practical design questions. Such as color, form, sound, etc. Again, the author also provides us with references to other sources which focus on these topics.
Very good book.

uses the aura of "emotional intelligence" to promote banding, 26 May 2002
This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991): extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding.

So why did I purchase this book? Well, I wanted to look at the EQ side of branding and it made sense to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996.

The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets.

In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one.

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Emotional Branding, 16 Nov 2008
There was a time that if you had a product, someone would buy it. You didn't have to worry about reaching your target audience, how the packaging would make people feel, or how the product would make the consumer's life better. People were eager for new products so if you had something to sell people would line up to try almost anything.

Today, we have choices. So many choices. If you go to your local Wal-Mart looking for a toaster, you'll find dozens of different types. Each has a variety of different features that make each product unique. Trying to figure out which is right for you, depends upon your toasting needs.

The same goes for any product or service that you sell. In order to get consumers to choose your company when they go looking to buy, you have to serve their needs. To do so, you have to know your target audience and have a firm understanding about what they want.

Emotional Branding explores the buying patterns, needs, and belief systems of a variety of different demographics: the boomers through to the millennials, various minority populations, women, and the gay community. The book looks at how color, packaging, sound, scent, etc can be used to produce certain feelings. Put together properly, this information can help craft products and their associated advertising campaigns to suit the appropriate target audience.





Very nice book, refreshing and modern, good for self-study, 10 Feb 2004
This is a very nice book.
It's main advantages: it is simply written, many practical examples, some pictures, very modern.
The previous reviewer, I suppose, do not like the author for some reason, or he didn't understood, that Marc tries to show us some case studies, good and bad examples, like good MBA course. Rather than develop methodologies, formulas, etc.
This is very practical book. I am glad that it is written by designer in a simple but elegant way.
The author always try to give you suggestions on where to find futher information (books, websites) on each topic. It is the only book, where I found practical advices on practical design questions. Such as color, form, sound, etc. Again, the author also provides us with references to other sources which focus on these topics.
Very good book.

uses the aura of "emotional intelligence" to promote banding, 26 May 2002
This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991): extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding.

So why did I purchase this book? Well, I wanted to look at the EQ side of branding and it made sense to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996.

The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets.

In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one.

How to manage consumers' perceptions of real or fake offerings, 26 Oct 2007

This is the latest in a series of several books (notably The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage and Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization) in which James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine focus on what Peter Drucker once identified as one of the greatest challenges any business faces: How to get and then keep profitable customers? Their thesis in this latest volume is that marketers need to address the problem of managing "the perceptions of real or fake held by the consumer's of [an] enterprise's output - because people increasingly make purchase decisions based on how real or fake they perceive offerings. These perceptions flow directly from how well any particular offering conforms to a customer's self-image."

In this volume, Gilmore and Pine examine "the authenticity of economic offerings, not the authenticity of individuals in personal relationships, something people also greatly desire but the subject of many other tomes." They cite two exemplars in particular - Disney and Starbucks - because no company "has more affected our collective view of what is real and what is not" than has Disney. As for Starbucks, no other company "more explicitly manages its perception of authenticity, making direct appeals to authenticity in every way" Gilmore and Pine define this new discipline.

Here are some of the specific issues they address with rigor and eloquence:

1. The appeal of "real"
2. The drivers of the new consumer sensibility
3. Three axioms of authenticity
4. Five genres of authenticity
5. Two "time-honored standards" of authenticity
6. Ten elements of authenticity
7. How to be what you say you are
8. How to continue to be "true to self"
9. The nature, extent, and interaction of five key "real/fake polarities"
10. How to sustain the authenticity of what is offered

Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) are provided a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program by which to address and resolve these and other issues. Of course, even if Gilmore and Pine were in residence, actively involved in the design and implementation of such a program, assistance, it cannot succeed unless the given offering is and remains inherently authentic, That is, it fully meets (if not exceeds) the given consumer's perceptions of the benefits claimed for it.

Marketing in the Experience Economy, 16 Oct 2007
"When we say a thing or an event is real," wrote Pulitzer-winning novelist Carol Shields, "we honor it. But when a thing is made up - regardless of how true and just it seems - we turn up our noses." In an increasingly manufactured world, though, how can you give customers the genuine article? That's the question James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II answer in this comprehensive, polished and entertaining analysis of authenticity. Wandering through such diverse fields as existential philosophy, architectural criticism and even relativistic physics, the authors carefully gather the ingredients of authenticity. The diverse brew they concoct, though in places turbid, is eminently drinkable. We recommend this clever and provocative exploration of authenticity that will continue to ferment in your mind and affect your strategy long after its crisp finish.

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Emotional Branding, 16 Nov 2008
There was a time that if you had a product, someone would buy it. You didn't have to worry about reaching your target audience, how the packaging would make people feel, or how the product would make the consumer's life better. People were eager for new products so if you had something to sell people would line up to try almost anything.

Today, we have choices. So many choices. If you go to your local Wal-Mart looking for a toaster, you'll find dozens of different types. Each has a variety of different features that make each product unique. Trying to figure out which is right for you, depends upon your toasting needs.

The same goes for any product or service that you sell. In order to get consumers to choose your company when they go looking to buy, you have to serve their needs. To do so, you have to know your target audience and have a firm understanding about what they want.

Emotional Branding explores the buying patterns, needs, and belief systems of a variety of different demographics: the boomers through to the millennials, various minority populations, women, and the gay community. The book looks at how color, packaging, sound, scent, etc can be used to produce certain feelings. Put together properly, this information can help craft products and their associated advertising campaigns to suit the appropriate target audience.





Very nice book, refreshing and modern, good for self-study, 10 Feb 2004
This is a very nice book.
It's main advantages: it is simply written, many practical examples, some pictures, very modern.
The previous reviewer, I suppose, do not like the author for some reason, or he didn't understood, that Marc tries to show us some case studies, good and bad examples, like good MBA course. Rather than develop methodologies, formulas, etc.
This is very practical book. I am glad that it is written by designer in a simple but elegant way.
The author always try to give you suggestions on where to find futher information (books, websites) on each topic. It is the only book, where I found practical advices on practical design questions. Such as color, form, sound, etc. Again, the author also provides us with references to other sources which focus on these topics.
Very good book.

uses the aura of "emotional intelligence" to promote banding, 26 May 2002
This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991): extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding.

So why did I purchase this book? Well, I wanted to look at the EQ side of branding and it made sense to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996.

The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets.

In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one.

How to manage consumers' perceptions of real or fake offerings, 26 Oct 2007

This is the latest in a series of several books (notably The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage and Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization) in which James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine focus on what Peter Drucker once identified as one of the greatest challenges any business faces: How to get and then keep profitable customers? Their thesis in this latest volume is that marketers need to address the problem of managing "the perceptions of real or fake held by the consumer's of [an] enterprise's output - because people increasingly make purchase decisions based on how real or fake they perceive offerings. These perceptions flow directly from how well any particular offering conforms to a customer's self-image."

In this volume, Gilmore and Pine examine "the authenticity of economic offerings, not the authenticity of individuals in personal relationships, something people also greatly desire but the subject of many other tomes." They cite two exemplars in particular - Disney and Starbucks - because no company "has more affected our collective view of what is real and what is not" than has Disney. As for Starbucks, no other company "more explicitly manages its perception of authenticity, making direct appeals to authenticity in every way" Gilmore and Pine define this new discipline.

Here are some of the specific issues they address with rigor and eloquence:

1. The appeal of "real"
2. The drivers of the new consumer sensibility
3. Three axioms of authenticity
4. Five genres of authenticity
5. Two "time-honored standards" of authenticity
6. Ten elements of authenticity
7. How to be what you say you are
8. How to continue to be "true to self"
9. The nature, extent, and interaction of five key "real/fake polarities"
10. How to sustain the authenticity of what is offered

Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) are provided a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program by which to address and resolve these and other issues. Of course, even if Gilmore and Pine were in residence, actively involved in the design and implementation of such a program, assistance, it cannot succeed unless the given offering is and remains inherently authentic, That is, it fully meets (if not exceeds) the given consumer's perceptions of the benefits claimed for it.

Marketing in the Experience Economy, 16 Oct 2007
"When we say a thing or an event is real," wrote Pulitzer-winning novelist Carol Shields, "we honor it. But when a thing is made up - regardless of how true and just it seems - we turn up our noses." In an increasingly manufactured world, though, how can you give customers the genuine article? That's the question James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II answer in this comprehensive, polished and entertaining analysis of authenticity. Wandering through such diverse fields as existential philosophy, architectural criticism and even relativistic physics, the authors carefully gather the ingredients of authenticity. The diverse brew they concoct, though in places turbid, is eminently drinkable. We recommend this clever and provocative exploration of authenticity that will continue to ferment in your mind and affect your strategy long after its crisp finish.

To bad for the Sirco case, 24 Aug 2007
The Sirco brand is a prominant exemple of new-marketing-branding-and-so-on... in this book. To bad the brand has been taken out of the market recently ...
:-)

How to develop a brand that is "a cluster of strategic cultural ideas", 17 Jun 2007

As John Grant explains in his Introduction, these are the four key ideas he examines in this book:

1. "A brand is nothing abstract, like some mysterious essence - it is simply the sum of ideas associated with it."

2. "Over time, the brand becomes like a molecule. Built up of successive and connected ideas."

3. "The way to manage brands is coherence, not consistency."

4. "Brands, like stories, are supposed to have a point."

Throughout his narrative, Grant examines each of these ideas with exceptional rigor and eloquence. In Section I, he shares his theory of brand innovation and suggests how to develop a "tight" strategy that will make a brand coherent. In Section II, he shifts his attention to 32 main types of cultural ideas (e.g. communities, habits, crazes) that brands can add to their "molecule." Finally, in Section III, Grant explains how to organize projects and develop new brand ideas as well as new ideas for existing brands.

Here is a representative selection of brief quotations from Grant's book that offer, I hope, some indication of the thrust and flavor of his thinking:

(1) "I have a different definition of a brand to offer:

A BRAND IS A (CLUSTER OF) STRATEGIC) CULTURAL IDEAS

I will explore the two (bracketed) other parts of this definition in the following sections. In this section I just want to explore the basis of this definition that:

A BRAND (has something to do with) CULTURAL IDEAS." (Page 27)

(2) "When the brand experience is richly cultural - as with Apple, BBC, Starbucks, Amazon, easyJet - and the means of amplifying that idea and attracting people to it are also cultural, then it is more apparent that brand creation and brand building become very similar, and should be continuous." (Page 53)

(3) "When people have studied viral marketing they have often focused on how an idea crosses over from niche to mainstream. One problem I have with the theory of viral marketing is that it relies too heavily on the classical marketing notion of messaging. My own take on `craze brands' is that, while word of mouth can play a role, two other factors offer a more complete description of the cultural process: imitation [and] reflexivity: the self-fulfilling prophecy effect of reporting by the media." (Page 177)

(4) "Consumerism at its most basic is the idea that ordinary people can live like kings...One catch is that once a generation has had a luxury for any time, it becomes normal. Yesterday's luxuries were car ownership, jet travel, eating in restaurants (these three being the mainstay of James Bond stories, a postwar austerity escapist daydream). Today's luxuries include gourmet food, high fashion, having servants. And there is a constant scramble by affordable `luxury brands' to stay special. Brands like Burberry have shown how fast you can go from `toff' to `chav' (i.e. from upper class to lower class) if you are not careful (and mostly it is out of your hands anyway)." (Page 203)

I specially appreciate Grant's pragmatism. After selecting a given "what," he devotes the bulk of his attention to explaining "how." For example, the suggestions for using the material in his book that are provided on Pages 272-287. First, set a strategic framework. Then analyze your own brand molecule and those of your competitors, "reframe" by trying out cultural ideas used in other markets, and then develop the ideas into detailed options that could deliver the strategy selected. If brands are as Grant asserts "clusters of strategic cultural ideas," and I agree, marketers especially should view themselves a cultural anthropologists whose primary responsibility is to formulate and then implement a brand strategy that is fluid, creative, and entrepreneurial. Extending the molecule metaphor, they must constantly add new ideas to keep the brand current, fresh, and fascinating. "The other vital component is a sense of focus and direction. Brand building is supposed to have a point, and your molecule should be more than just a ragbag of ideas; they should all be in the service of an overriding (and commercial) logic." Quite true.

That said, I presume to include in this review what I have suggested in countless others previously: Those who seek to create or increase demand for what they offer must be prepared to answer three simple questions, with the third being (by far) the most difficult to answer:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Why should I care?

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Theodore Levitt's The Marketing Imagination, Marty Neumeier The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition and Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Seth Godin's Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas as well as The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time edited by Chris Murray.

Inspiring and cleverly observed, 26 Nov 2006
Unlike many marketing text books, which seem to live in a dry, theoretical world of Benefits, Reasons to Believe and Brand Equity Pyramids, this book comes from the real world. Full of examples, clever observation and even humour and humanity, I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone involved in brand marketing, advertising and communications.

Read this book!, 16 Jul 2006
If you are working in marketing but can see that all of the old ways of doing things are not working but can not quite see what the solution is then this book will answer most of your questions.

If you are a student or are just starting out then by reading and understanding the arguments raised here you will find that things start to make sense to you that others don't seem to grasp. There's a bus load of marketing books out there but if you only read three it should be the three written by this author!!

This book is very aware that theory and practice can often remain very separate. Though it does talk about some quite high minded stuff it also does everything it can to actually help you learn which ideas are the right ideas and then help you come up with them for yourself. Enjoy.

still reading it but fantastic so far, 05 Jul 2006
This book landed on my desk at work at just the right time. For anyone who's open to challenge on branding and how it works should definitely read this. I'm still ploughing through it just now but so far, so good.

Definitely worth buying. Hope you find it as stimulating as I do.

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Emotional Branding, 16 Nov 2008
There was a time that if you had a product, someone would buy it. You didn't have to worry about reaching your target audience, how the packaging would make people feel, or how the product would make the consumer's life better. People were eager for new products so if you had something to sell people would line up to try almost anything.

Today, we have choices. So many choices. If you go to your local Wal-Mart looking for a toaster, you'll find dozens of different types. Each has a variety of different features that make each product unique. Trying to figure out which is right for you, depends upon your toasting needs.

The same goes for any product or service that you sell. In order to get consumers to choose your company when they go looking to buy, you have to serve their needs. To do so, you have to know your target audience and have a firm understanding about what they want.

Emotional Branding explores the buying patterns, needs, and belief systems of a variety of different demographics: the boomers through to the millennials, various minority populations, women, and the gay community. The book looks at how color, packaging, sound, scent, etc can be used to produce certain feelings. Put together properly, this information can help craft products and their associated advertising campaigns to suit the appropriate target audience.





Very nice book, refreshing and modern, good for self-study, 10 Feb 2004
This is a very nice book.
It's main advantages: it is simply written, many practical examples, some pictures, very modern.
The previous reviewer, I suppose, do not like the author for some reason, or he didn't understood, that Marc tries to show us some case studies, good and bad examples, like good MBA course. Rather than develop methodologies, formulas, etc.
This is very practical book. I am glad that it is written by designer in a simple but elegant way.
The author always try to give you suggestions on where to find futher information (books, websites) on each topic. It is the only book, where I found practical advices on practical design questions. Such as color, form, sound, etc. Again, the author also provides us with references to other sources which focus on these topics.
Very good book.

uses the aura of "emotional intelligence" to promote banding, 26 May 2002
This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991): extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding.

So why did I purchase this book? Well, I wanted to look at the EQ side of branding and it made sense to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996.

The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets.

In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one.

How to manage consumers' perceptions of real or fake offerings, 26 Oct 2007

This is the latest in a series of several books (notably The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage and Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization) in which James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine focus on what Peter Drucker once identified as one of the greatest challenges any business faces: How to get and then keep profitable customers? Their thesis in this latest volume is that marketers need to address the problem of managing "the perceptions of real or fake held by the consumer's of [an] enterprise's output - because people increasingly make purchase decisions based on how real or fake they perceive offerings. These perceptions flow directly from how well any particular offering conforms to a customer's self-image."

In this volume, Gilmore and Pine examine "the authenticity of economic offerings, not the authenticity of individuals in personal relationships, something people also greatly desire but the subject of many other tomes." They cite two exemplars in particular - Disney and Starbucks - because no company "has more affected our collective view of what is real and what is not" than has Disney. As for Starbucks, no other company "more explicitly manages its perception of authenticity, making direct appeals to authenticity in every way" Gilmore and Pine define this new discipline.

Here are some of the specific issues they address with rigor and eloquence:

1. The appeal of "real"
2. The drivers of the new consumer sensibility
3. Three axioms of authenticity
4. Five genres of authenticity
5. Two "time-honored standards" of authenticity
6. Ten elements of authenticity
7. How to be what you say you are
8. How to continue to be "true to self"
9. The nature, extent, and interaction of five key "real/fake polarities"
10. How to sustain the authenticity of what is offered

Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) are provided a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program by which to address and resolve these and other issues. Of course, even if Gilmore and Pine were in residence, actively involved in the design and implementation of such a program, assistance, it cannot succeed unless the given offering is and remains inherently authentic, That is, it fully meets (if not exceeds) the given consumer's perceptions of the benefits claimed for it.

Marketing in the Experience Economy, 16 Oct 2007
"When we say a thing or an event is real," wrote Pulitzer-winning novelist Carol Shields, "we honor it. But when a thing is made up - regardless of how true and just it seems - we turn up our noses." In an increasingly manufactured world, though, how can you give customers the genuine article? That's the question James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II answer in this comprehensive, polished and entertaining analysis of authenticity. Wandering through such diverse fields as existential philosophy, architectural criticism and even relativistic physics, the authors carefully gather the ingredients of authenticity. The diverse brew they concoct, though in places turbid, is eminently drinkable. We recommend this clever and provocative exploration of authenticity that will continue to ferment in your mind and affect your strategy long after its crisp finish.

To bad for the Sirco case, 24 Aug 2007
The Sirco brand is a prominant exemple of new-marketing-branding-and-so-on... in this book. To bad the brand has been taken out of the market recently ...
:-)

How to develop a brand that is "a cluster of strategic cultural ideas", 17 Jun 2007

As John Grant explains in his Introduction, these are the four key ideas he examines in this book:

1. "A brand is nothing abstract, like some mysterious essence - it is simply the sum of ideas associated with it."

2. "Over time, the brand becomes like a molecule. Built up of successive and connected ideas."

3. "The way to manage brands is coherence, not consistency."

4. "Brands, like stories, are supposed to have a point."

Throughout his narrative, Grant examines each of these ideas with exceptional rigor and eloquence. In Section I, he shares his theory of brand innovation and suggests how to develop a "tight" strategy that will make a brand coherent. In Section II, he shifts his attention to 32 main types of cultural ideas (e.g. communities, habits, crazes) that brands can add to their "molecule." Finally, in Section III, Grant explains how to organize projects and develop new brand ideas as well as new ideas for existing brands.

Here is a representative selection of brief quotations from Grant's book that offer, I hope, some indication of the thrust and flavor of his thinking:

(1) "I have a different definition of a brand to offer:

A BRAND IS A (CLUSTER OF) STRATEGIC) CULTURAL IDEAS

I will explore the two (bracketed) other parts of this definition in the following sections. In this section I just want to explore the basis of this definition that:

A BRAND (has something to do with) CULTURAL IDEAS." (Page 27)

(2) "When the brand experience is richly cultural - as with Apple, BBC, Starbucks, Amazon, easyJet - and the means of amplifying that idea and attracting people to it are also cultural, then it is more apparent that brand creation and brand building become very similar, and should be continuous." (Page 53)

(3) "When people have studied viral marketing they have often focused on how an idea crosses over from niche to mainstream. One problem I have with the theory of viral marketing is that it relies too heavily on the classical marketing notion of messaging. My own take on `craze brands' is that, while word of mouth can play a role, two other factors offer a more complete description of the cultural process: imitation [and] reflexivity: the self-fulfilling prophecy effect of reporting by the media." (Page 177)

(4) "Consumerism at its most basic is the idea that ordinary people can live like kings...One catch is that once a generation has had a luxury for any time, it becomes normal. Yesterday's luxuries were car ownership, jet travel, eating in restaurants (these three being the mainstay of James Bond stories, a postwar austerity escapist daydream). Today's luxuries include gourmet food, high fashion, having servants. And there is a constant scramble by affordable `luxury brands' to stay special. Brands like Burberry have shown how fast you can go from `toff' to `chav' (i.e. from upper class to lower class) if you are not careful (and mostly it is out of your hands anyway)." (Page 203)

I specially appreciate Grant's pragmatism. After selecting a given "what," he devotes the bulk of his attention to explaining "how." For example, the suggestions for using the material in his book that are provided on Pages 272-287. First, set a strategic framework. Then analyze your own brand molecule and those of your competitors, "reframe" by trying out cultural ideas used in other markets, and then develop the ideas into detailed options that could deliver the strategy selected. If brands are as Grant asserts "clusters of strategic cultural ideas," and I agree, marketers especially should view themselves a cultural anthropologists whose primary responsibility is to formulate and then implement a brand strategy that is fluid, creative, and entrepreneurial. Extending the molecule metaphor, they must constantly add new ideas to keep the brand current, fresh, and fascinating. "The other vital component is a sense of focus and direction. Brand building is supposed to have a point, and your molecule should be more than just a ragbag of ideas; they should all be in the service of an overriding (and commercial) logic." Quite true.

That said, I presume to include in this review what I have suggested in countless others previously: Those who seek to create or increase demand for what they offer must be prepared to answer three simple questions, with the third being (by far) the most difficult to answer:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Why should I care?

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Theodore Levitt's The Marketing Imagination, Marty Neumeier The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition and Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Seth Godin's Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas as well as The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time edited by Chris Murray.

Inspiring and cleverly observed, 26 Nov 2006
Unlike many marketing text books, which seem to live in a dry, theoretical world of Benefits, Reasons to Believe and Brand Equity Pyramids, this book comes from the real world. Full of examples, clever observation and even humour and humanity, I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone involved in brand marketing, advertising and communications.

Read this book!, 16 Jul 2006
If you are working in marketing but can see that all of the old ways of doing things are not working but can not quite see what the solution is then this book will answer most of your questions.

If you are a student or are just starting out then by reading and understanding the arguments raised here you will find that things start to make sense to you that others don't seem to grasp. There's a bus load of marketing books out there but if you only read three it should be the three written by this author!!

This book is very aware that theory and practice can often remain very separate. Though it does talk about some quite high minded stuff it also does everything it can to actually help you learn which ideas are the right ideas and then help you come up with them for yourself. Enjoy.

still reading it but fantastic so far, 05 Jul 2006
This book landed on my desk at work at just the right time. For anyone who's open to challenge on branding and how it works should definitely read this. I'm still ploughing through it just now but so far, so good.

Definitely worth buying. Hope you find it as stimulating as I do.

Feed your head and provoke your thoughts, 26 Jan 2008
Loved it! I bought this book a while ago and hoped that somehow osmotically its contents would seep into my brain from the table beside my desk (along with a few others). I finally started dipping into it over the Christmas break and found it a compelling, chapter at a time, take a few notes here and there, read. It has given a good fillip to my new year client conversations, lots to chat with them in a constructive and challenging way about how people behave and how they respond to the communications we set before them. I shall be going back to it.

You're not an individual, 23 Nov 2007
Classical economics is founded on the myth of rational man - homo economicus - who makes rational decisions based on a logical cost benefit analysis of every situation.

This is CLEARLY complete rubbish and Mark delights in demonstrating the fact.

What we do is hugely influenced by the actions of others - the Herd - and Mark gives loads of delightful examples of this - as well a compelling account of the anthropological, psychological and neurological foundation of this behaviour.

Hmm - that makes it sound very serious - it is in a way but it's also fun and funny.

Read, enjoy, and never use a urinal without thinking of Mark again.

Patchy, 18 Oct 2007
There is some interesting stuff in here, but the whole is hamstrung by a lack of clarity in the argument and in the style. It is mainly observation, rather than implication - and I, for one, feel that we need books that are tasked with applying their theories rather than collating examples that suggest a hypothesis.
That said, the central idea is pretty indisputable - but then, has it EVER been seriously disputed and the writing on the Dove brand is interesting stuff.


Get this book NOW !, 21 Sep 2007
I read about HERD a few months ago ... and I immediately went out and and bought it. I must admit, I almost gave up after the first chapter or so ( a bit long and dry), but thank God I hung in there for WOW does it become fascinating after that !
If you are interested in marketing, business and publicity, get this book !

Elinor Barbier
www.labondgirl.com / www.iridologiefrance.com




An intellectual treasure hunt..., 17 Jul 2007
Before I begin to write this review, I must confess two things; firstly, that I work in advertising (and this book has been highly touted by that community) and that naturally I'm a bit distrustful of books that are recommended to me by the wider audience - I tend to like less populist works.

Disclaimer out of the way, I think I can say, without hesitation, that it doesn't matter which industry you work in; this book is relevatory. Everyone should read it.

At the heart of the debate is Mark's belief that we are, at heart (in his words) 'a super-social ape'. We exist to converse, to chat, to gossip. Whole social movements can be explained by utilising this core theory.

Take his thinking on depression - it is when the individual isolates himself from the herd that this condition is most evident, a social malfunction which is also present in apes.

Having defined the 'I' vs 'Us' debate, Mark moves on to discuss the implications of Herd Marketing - how marketeers have sometimes framed their thinking wrongly, and why seemingly spot on techniques have failed.

I rarely read books emotionally, but Mark's chapter on 'Just Believing' had me punching the air. On the surface, it sounds like a straightforward concept, but the amount of thinking and examples to get to that point was extraordinary. Being interesting and standing for something is someone anyone could say, but such was the thinking already written that you can't help agreeing, regardless of any skepticism you may have beforehand.

Finally, if this review says anything, it's to note that the quality of this book is such that I've been very slowly reading it, dipping in and out, like a good meal. Reading it all at once would mean you'd miss out on many of the ancedotes and examples.

So buy it. And savour it.

Must Have, 27 Aug 2008
This text is a must have for students studying Market Research, well laid out and easy to read. One of the few text books I go back to again and again.

I purchased mine for studying the MRS Diploma, and I found it useful for most, if not all, of the units.

From a Marketing Student, 22 Aug 2006
This textbook is written in such a straightforward manner with examples and cases - that marketing research now seems interesting! It has helped me with my degree course and was essential for my CIM exam. I would certainly recommend it to others.

Really handy..., 13 Jun 2005
Used this book for research and revision as part of my business degree. It's really well laid out and used good examples. Also its not too big, unlike most textbooks, which is handy if you need to carry it around with you.

A pleasure to read, 12 May 2004
This book contains everything you need to know to pass the Marketing Research module of the CIM Professional Diploma. Although the subject matter may seem dry at first, this book is really well written. There are lots of interesting case studies and the layout makes it easy to read. An essential textbook - you might even enjoy it!

EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING, 09 Nov 2008
This that rarest of books, one that educates and informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit and wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge and extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student and the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.

A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes, 26 Jul 2008
It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover and in just a few days, and Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, and that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge and copious research, but also his own insights and observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, as in this case. Anyone already working in an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, and the marketing and procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.

Much more than a history, 14 Jul 2008
This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour and flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revel in reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.

Refreshing the parts..., 13 Jul 2008
You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups and a bunch of chimps sells all the tea in China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners and observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky and thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail and an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industry in the late 20th century and early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi and Saatchi through the 1970s and 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strand in the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders and their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy and humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the world in creative flair and proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted and unworkable government intervention.

Emotional Branding, 16 Nov 2008
There was a time that if you had a product, someone would buy it. You didn't have to worry about reaching your target audience, how the packaging would make people feel, or how the product would make the consumer's life better. People were eager for new products so if you had something to sell people would line up to try almost anything.

Today, we have choices. So many choices. If you go to your local Wal-Mart looking for a toaster, you'll find dozens of different types. Each has a variety of different features that make each product unique. Trying to figure out which is right for you, depends upon your toasting needs.

The same goes for any product or service that you sell. In order to get consumers to choose your company when they go looking to buy, you have to serve their needs. To do so, you have to know your target audience and have a firm understanding about what they want.

Emotional Branding explores the buying patterns, needs, and belief systems of a variety of different demographics: the boomers through to the millennials, various minority populations, women, and the gay community. The book looks at how color, packaging, sound, scent, etc can be used to produce certain feelings. Put together properly, this information can help craft products and their associated advertising campaigns to suit the appropriate target audience.





Very nice book, refreshing and modern, good for self-study, 10 Feb 2004
This is a very nice book.
It's main advantages: it is simply written, many practical examples, some pictures, very modern.
The previous reviewer, I suppose, do not like the author for some reason, or he didn't understood, that Marc tries to show us some case studies, good and bad examples, like good MBA course. Rather than develop methodologies, formulas, etc.
This is very practical book. I am glad that it is written by designer in a simple but elegant way.
The author always try to give you suggestions on where to find futher information (books, websites) on each topic. It is the only book, where I found practical advices on practical design questions. Such as color, form, sound, etc. Again, the author also provides us with references to other sources which focus on these topics.
Very good book.

uses the aura of "emotional intelligence" to promote banding, 26 May 2002
This book is an example of an old concept in marketing, which can be found in Aaker's banding "bible" entitled "Managing Brand Equity" (1991): extending the brand "emotional intelligence" to branding.

So why did I purchase this book? Well, I wanted to look at the EQ side of branding and it made sense to know what others had written on the topic. After reading Aaker's book I understand I fell in a trap called "brand extension". This works as follows: if you want to launch a new product, look for an existing brand which is available and which you can extend to cover your new product. In this case, the "product" probably is Marc Gobé's brand creation firm and we all know that emotional intelligence is a label that sells well since Goleman put it on the map in 1996.

The problem is that many products sold under the label "emotional intelligence" aren't much related with that, and certainly do not help to raise your EQ. For me this is the case for this book. While it contains some useful messages around making sure your product is loved, that customers like the experience of using it (it should be engaging, fulfilling the customer's desire) and that you have to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the book then shows how there is an emotional link between several marketing aspects and the customer. Unfortunately, that wasn't really "new" to me, and what's worse, there isn't much "how to" in this book. In other words, while it may help to raise the awareness of some readers that the emotional aspect is important, that's all it does: it doesn't give you the tools to deal with this. I suppose Marc Gobé prefers you'd contact his branding agency rather than sharing some of its secrets.

In short, even if Aaker's book I mentioned in the introduction of this review is over 10 years old, it remains much more useful than "modern" books like this one.

How to manage consumers' perceptions of real or fake offerings, 26 Oct 2007

This is the latest in a series of several books (notably The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage and Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization) in which James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine focus on what Peter Drucker once identified as one of the greatest challenges any business faces: How to get and then keep profitable customers? Their thesis in this latest volume is that marketers need to address the problem of managing "the perceptions of real or fake held by the consumer's of [an] enterprise's output - because people increasingly make purchase decisions based on how real or fake they perceive offerings. These perceptions flow directly from how well any particular offering conforms to a customer's self-image."

In this volume, Gilmore and Pine examine "the authenticity of economic offerings, not the authenticity of individuals in personal relationships, something people also greatly desire but the subject of many other tomes." They cite two exemplars in particular - Disney and Starbucks - because no company "has more affected our collective view of what is real and what is not" than has Disney. As for Starbucks, no other company "more explicitly manages its perception of authenticity, making direct appeals to authenticity in every way" Gilmore and Pine define this new discipline.

Here are some of the specific issues they address with rigor and eloquence:

1. The appeal of "real"
2. The drivers of the new consumer sensibility
3. Three axioms of authenticity
4. Five genres of authenticity
5. Two "time-honored standards" of authenticity
6. Ten elements of authenticity
7. How to be what you say you are
8. How to continue to be "true to self"
9. The nature, extent, and interaction of five key "real/fake polarities"
10. How to sustain the authenticity of what is offered

Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) are provided a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program by which to address and resolve these and other issues. Of course, even if Gilmore and Pine were in residence, actively involved in the design and implementation of such a program, assistance, it cannot succeed unless the given offering is and remains inherently authentic, That is, it fully meets (if not exceeds) the given consumer's perceptions of the benefits claimed for it.

Marketing in the Experience Economy, 16 Oct 2007
"When we say a thing or an event is real," wrote Pulitzer-winning novelist Carol Shields, "we honor it. But when a thing is made up - regardless of how true and just it seems - we turn up our noses." In an increasingly manufactured world, though, how can you give customers the genuine article? That's the question James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II answer in this comprehensive, polished and entertaining analysis of authenticity. Wandering through such diverse fields as existential philosophy, architectural criticism and even relativistic physics, the authors carefully gather the ingredients of authenticity. The diverse brew they concoct, though in places turbid, is eminently drinkable. We recommend this clever and provocative exploration of authenticity that will continue to ferment in your mind and affect your strategy long after its crisp finish.

To bad for the Sirco case, 24 Aug 2007
The Sirco brand is a prominant exemple of new-marketing-branding-and-so-on... in this book. To bad the brand has been taken out of the market recently ...
:-)

How to develop a brand that is "a cluster of strategic cultural ideas", 17 Jun 2007

As John Grant explains in his Introduction, these are the four key ideas he examines in this book:

1. "A brand is nothing abstract, like some mysterious essence - it is simply the sum of ideas associated with it."

2. "Over time, the brand becomes like a molecule. Built up of successive and connected ideas."

3. "The way to manage brands is coherence, not consistency."

4. "Brands, like stories, are supposed to have a point."

Throughout his narrative, Grant examines each of these ideas with exceptional rigor and eloquence. In Section I, he shares his theory of brand innovation and suggests how to develop a "tight" strategy that will make a brand coherent. In Section II, he shifts his attention to 32 main types of cultural ideas (e.g. communities, habits, crazes) that brands can add to their "molecule." Finally, in Section III, Grant explains how to organize projects and develop new brand ideas as well as new ideas for existing brands.

Here is a representative selection of brief quotations from Grant's book that offer, I hope, some indication of the thrust and flavor of his thinking:

(1) "I have a different definition of a brand to offer:

A BRAND IS A (CLUSTER OF) STRATEGIC) CULTURAL IDEAS

I will explore the two (bracketed) other parts of this definition in the following sections. In this section I just want to explore the basis of this definition that:

A BRAND (has something to do with) CULTURAL IDEAS." (Page 27)

(2) "When the brand experience is richly cultural - as with Apple, BBC, Starbucks, Amazon, easyJet - and the means of amplifying that idea and attracting people to it are also cultural, then it is more apparent that brand creation and brand building become very similar, and should be continuous." (Page 53)

(3) "When people have studied viral marketing they have often focused on how an idea crosses over from niche to mainstream. One problem I have with the theory of viral marketing is that it relies too heavily on the classical marketing notion of messaging. My own take on `craze brands' is that, while word of mouth can play a role, two other factors offer a more complete description of the cultural process: imitation [and] reflexivity: the self-fulfilling prophecy effect of reporting by the media." (Page 177)

(4) "Consumerism at its most basic is the idea that ordinary people can live like kings...One catch is that once a generation has had a luxury for any time, it becomes normal. Yesterday's luxuries were car ownership, jet travel, eating in restaurants (these three being the mainstay of James Bond stories, a postwar austerity escapist daydream). Today's luxuries include gourmet food, high fashion, having servants. And there is a constant scramble by affordable `luxury brands' to stay special. Brands like Burberry have shown how fast you can go from `toff' to `chav' (i.e. from upper class to lower class) if you are not careful (and mostly it is out of your hands anyway)." (Page 203)

I specially appreciate Grant's pragmatism. After selecting a given "what," he devotes the bulk of his attention to explaining "how." For example, the suggestions for using the material in his book that are provided on Pages 272-287. First, set a strategic framework. Then analyze your own brand molecule and those of your competitors, "reframe" by trying out cultural ideas used in other markets, and then develop the ideas into detailed options that could deliver the strategy selected. If brands are as Grant asserts "clusters of strategic cultural ideas," and I agree, marketers especially should view themselves a cultural anthropologists whose primary responsibility is to formulate and then implement a brand strategy that is fluid, creative, and entrepreneurial. Extending the molecule metaphor, they must constantly add new ideas to keep the brand current, fresh, and fascinating. "The other vital component is a sense of focus and direction. Brand building is supposed to have a point, and your molecule should be more than just a ragbag of ideas; they should all be in the service of an overriding (and commercial) logic." Quite true.

That said, I presume to include in this review what I have suggested in countless others previously: Those who seek to create or increase demand for what they offer must be prepared to answer three simple questions, with the third being (by far) the most difficult to answer:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Why should I care?

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Theodore Levitt's The Marketing Imagination, Marty Neumeier The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition and Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Seth Godin's Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas as well as The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time edited by Chris Murray.

Inspiring and cleverly observed, 26 Nov 2006
Unlike many marketing text books, which seem to live in a dry, theoretical world of Benefits, Reasons to Believe and Brand Equity Pyramids, this book comes from the real world. Full of examples, clever observation and even humour and humanity, I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone involved in brand marketing, advertising and communications.

Read this book!, 16 Jul 2006
If you are working in marketing but can see that all of the old ways of doing things are not working but can not quite see what the solution is then this book will answer most of your questions.

If you are a student or are just starting out then by reading and understanding the arguments raised here you will find that things start to make sense to you that others don't seem to grasp. There's a bus load of marketing books out there but if you only read three it should be the three written by this author!!

This book is very aware that theory and practice can often remain very separate. Though it does talk about some quite high minded stuff it also does everything it can to actually help you learn which ideas are the right ideas and then help you come up with them for yourself. Enjoy.

still reading it but fantastic so far, 05 Jul 2006
This book landed on my desk at work at just the right time. For anyone who's open to challenge on branding and how it works should definitely read this. I'm still ploughing through it just now but so far, so good.

Definitely worth buying. Hope you find it as stimulating as I do.

Feed your head and provoke your thoughts, 26 Jan 2008
Loved it! I bought this book a while ago and hoped that somehow osmotically its contents would seep into my brain from the table beside my desk (along with a few others). I finally started dipping into it over the Christmas break and found it a compelling, chapter at a time, take a few notes here and there, read. It has given a good fillip to my new year client conversations, lots to chat with them in a constructive and challenging way about how people behave and how they respond to the communications we set before them. I shall be going back to it.

You're not an individual, 23 Nov 2007
Classical economics is founded on the myth of rational man - homo economicus - who makes rational decisions based on a logical cost benefit analysis of every situation.

This is CLEARLY complete rubbish and Mark delights in demonstrating the fact.

What we do is hugely influenced by the actions of others - the Herd - and Mark gives loads of delightful examples of this - as well a compelling account of the anthropological, psychological and neurological foundation of this behaviour.

Hmm - that makes it sound very serious - it is in a way but it's also fun and funny.

Read, enjoy, and never use a urinal without thinking of Mark again.

Patchy, 18 Oct 2007
There is some interesting stuff in here, but the whole is hamstrung by a lack of clarity in the argument and in the style. It is mainly observation, rather than implication - and I, for one, feel that we need books that are tasked with applying their theories rather than collating examples that suggest a hypothesis.
That said, the central idea is pretty indisputable - but then, has it EVER been seriously disputed and the writing on the Dove brand is interesting stuff.


Get this book NOW !, 21 Sep 2007
I read about HERD a few months ago ... and I immediately went out and and bought it. I must admit, I almost gave up after the first chapter or so ( a bit long and dry), but thank God I hung in there for WOW does it become fascinating after that !
If you are interested in marketing, business and publicity, get this book !

Elinor Barbier
www.labondgirl.com / www.iridologiefrance.com




An intellectual treasure hunt..., 17 Jul 2007
Before I begin to write this review, I must confess two things; firstly, that I work in advertising (and this book has been highly touted by that community) and that naturally I'm a bit distrustful of books that are recommended to me by the wider audience - I tend to like less populist works.

Disclaimer out of the way, I think I can say, without hesitation, that it doesn't matter which industry you work in; this book is relevatory. Everyone should read it.

At the heart of the debate is Mark's belief that we are, at heart (in his words) 'a super-social ape'. We exist to converse, to chat, to gossip. Whole social movements can be explained by utilising this core theory.

Take his thinking on depression - it is when the individual isolates himself from the herd that this condition is most evident, a social malfunction which is also present in apes.

Having defined the 'I' vs 'Us' debate, Mark moves on to discuss the implications of Herd Marketing - how marketeers have sometimes framed their thinking wrongly, and why seemingly spot on techniques have failed.

I rarely read books emotionally, but Mark's chapter on 'Just Believing' had me punching the air. On the surface, it sounds like a straightforward concept, but the amount of thinking and examples to get to that point was extraordinary. Being interesting and standing for something is someone anyone could say, but such was the thinking already written that you can't help agreeing, regardless of any skepticism you may have beforehand.

Finally, if this review says anything, it's to note that the quality of this book is such that I've been very slowly reading it, dipping in and out, like a good meal. Reading it all at once would mean you'd miss out on many of the ancedotes and examples.

So buy it. And savour it.

A must read for any account planner!, 29 Sep 2006
Great insights on branding, lots of fun and the classic shameless, down-to- earth Roberts'writting style. A must read! Antonio Nunez,Partner and Strategic Director, SCPF Advertising,Spain