Advertising Books

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 927 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.

For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.

Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Doubleday Business Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $9.87

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Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A fascinating journey into the hidden psychological influences that derail our decision-making, Sway will change the way you think about the way you think.

Why is it so difficult to sell a plummeting stock or end a doomed relationship? Why do we listen to advice just because it came from someone “important”? Why are we more likely to fall in love when there’s danger involved? In Sway, renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, answer all these questions and more.

Drawing on cutting-edge research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior, Sway reveals dynamic forces that influence every aspect of our personal and business lives, including loss aversion (our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid perceived losses), the diagnosis bias (our inability to reevaluate our initial diagnosis of a person or situation), and the “chameleon effect” (our tendency to take on characteristics that have been arbitrarily assigned to us).

Sway introduces us to the Harvard Business School professor who got his students to pay $204 for a $20 bill, the head of airline safety whose disregard for his years of training led to the transformation of an entire industry, and the football coach who turned conventional strategy on its head to lead his team to victory. We also learn the curse of the NBA draft, discover why interviews are a terrible way to gauge future job performance, and go inside a session with the Supreme Court to see how the world’s most powerful justices avoid the dangers of group dynamics.

Every once in a while, a book comes along that not only challenges our views of the world but changes the way we think. In Sway, Ori and Rom Brafman not only uncover rational explanations for a wide variety of irrational behaviors but also point readers toward ways to avoid succumbing to their pull.

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 By: Free Press Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $15.18

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Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Small changes can make a big difference in your powers of persuasion

What one word can you start using today to increase your persuasiveness by more than fifty percent?

Which item of stationery can dramatically increase people's responses to your requests?

How can you win over your rivals by inconveniencing them?

Why does knowing that so many dentists are named Dennis improve your persuasive prowess?

Every day we face the challenge of persuading others to do what we want. But what makes people say yes to our requests? Persuasion is not only an art, it is also a science, and researchers who study it have uncovered a series of hidden rules for moving people in your direction. Based on more than sixty years of research into the psychology of persuasion, Yes! reveals fifty simple but remarkably effective strategies that will make you much more persuasive at work and in your personal life, too.

Cowritten by the world's most quoted expert on influence, Professor Robert Cialdini, Yes! presents dozens of surprising discoveries from the science of persuasion in short, enjoyable, and insightful chapters that you can apply immediately to become a more effective persuader. Why did a sign pointing out the problem of vandalism in the Petrified Forest National Park actually increase the theft of pieces of petrified wood? Why did sales of jam multiply tenfold when consumers were offered many fewer flavors? Why did people prefer a Mercedes immediately after giving reasons why they prefer a BMW? What simple message on cards left in hotel rooms greatly increased the number of people who behaved in environmentally friendly ways?

Often counterintuitive, the findings presented in Yes! will steer you away from common pitfalls while empowering you with little known but proven wisdom.

Whether you are in advertising, marketing, management, on sales, or just curious about how to be more influential in everyday life, Yes! shows how making small, scientifically proven changes to your approach can have a dramatic effect on your persuasive powers.

Mind Capture: How You Can Stand Out in the Age of Advertising Deficit Disorder

Tony Rubleski

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Morgan James Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $13.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Tony has done it again! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I am a long time follower of Tony Rubleski and his real-world marketing strategies. I've been anxiously awaiting the publication of this newest title - Mind Capture: How You Can Stand Out In the Age of Advertising Deficit Disorder. I couldn't get my hands on the review copy fast enough...with highlighter and post-its in hand...to look for new ideas on how I can help my clients (primarily travel/tourism/entertainment markets) get noticed in this fast paced world of ours. Tony's easy-to-follow marketing ideas are perfect for those just getting started in promotion. His practices are also reminders to those of us who have been making a living at it for years that it doesn't have to be rocket science to work. We often over think the processes and Tony's book helps us come back to the simplicity of it all. No matter your business, every single employee contributes to marketing and PR, whether it's in their title or not. This book reinforces that. I recommend that CEOs buy multiple copies and distribute them with the paychecks on Friday. It's a bonus your employees will greatly appreciate -- and one that you ultimately will benefit from. KUDOS Tony...job well done (again)!!!

Editorial Review:

FINALLY! A New Business Book That's Not Boring And Long Overdue. In mind capture you'll discover: *Ways to quickly investigate, cross pollinate and then detonate ideas into your marketing and sales efforts for maximum profits *Proven ways to crank up sales immediately and make your marketing sizzle *Simple strategies to save you time and money from becoming a marketing victim *Actual exhibits of successful marketing and publicity techniques in action *Why the shift from sales pitch to great content is critical to your success *How to quickly stand out in the age of media chaos and advertising noise to capture attention, repeat business and referrals Each generation a bold, unique, disruptor emerges to shake up the scene and status quo with a unique perspective on business. If you're looking to positively impact your sales, market, and industry you've found the perfect book.

Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords)

Perry Marshall, Bryan Todd

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Entrepreneur Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $14.06

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 73 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

5-star reviews were written by author's friends 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book too general. Talks a lot about tips for running your business in general. That's not what I need. I was looking for Google tips exclusively.
If you read the wording of all those 5-star reviews, they are a joke. Not written by actual buyers, most likely the author's friends.

Hit The Nail On The Head 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords by Perry Marshall is exactly what the title says. Several e-commerces opt to do online marketing through Adwords but know little about how to run their campaign, thus costing them a fortune. With this book, you will learn the algorithms of Google, how Adwords works and more importantly you will learn how to save yourself frustration and money by properly running your account. Overall, you will be making one big step in the right direction in terms of your business and its overall success. Definite thumbs up!

Editorial Review:

Never before in the history of advertising has it been possible to spend five bucks, write a couple of ads and get instant access to more than 100 million people in 10 minutes. But that's exactly what Google AdWords does. It's an awesome concept-but you can lose a bundle if you don't know how it works.

Learn how to:

• Build an AdWords campaign from scratch
• Identify keywords that entice people to click on your ads
• Get the lowest bid prices on your keywords
• Defeat click fraud and other scams
• Use search engine optimization techniques
• Turn clicks into customers

Plus get FREE e-mail updates on Google's ever-changing system.

Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master

Paul W. Farris, Neil T. Bendle, Phillip E. Pfeifer, David J. Reibstein

Amazon Price: $26.39 List Price: $39.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wharton School Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $22.39

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Is it Really About Metrics..But There's More To it Than That 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I think this book is an important tool in terms of measuring marketing and trying to ensure that you have the opportunity to understand your marketing outreach.

I also liked the newly released book, "Value Acceleration" by Mitchell Gooze and Ralph Mroz and think it should serve as a companion to this book in terms of truly identifying how marketing and sales can successfully work together and in terms of lean process, keeping the global competitive edge way beyond metrics.Value Acceleration: The Secrets to Building an Unbeatable Competitive Advantage

Carry This Book with You 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

If a marketer really wants to be a good business person, then they should carry this book with them. I dislike hearing recent graduates say "Buy One Get One Free" when asked for promotion ideas. If you understand the financial consequences of that type of promotion then it's OK to suggest it. But the point is this book helps you think about the many types of measurements. At one point in my career I had three Product Managers work for me. This book would have been one that I insisted they read.

OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion

Lucas Conley

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: PublicAffairs Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $11.49

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Popular Culture

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The world is more branded than ever before: Americans encounter anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 ads a day. Increasingly, brands vie for our attention from insidious angles that target our emotional responses (scent, taste, sound, and touch). In an ever-faster, more competitive global landscape fueled both by the rise of cheaper, foreign brands and by so-called house-brands (the eponymous brands of Wal-Mart, Target, and the like), American companies are in a mad dash to keep up. Branding, or identity-making, has begun to replace the research and development of yore.

From the fertile crescent of branding (Cincinnati), to the laboratories of sensory specialists (musicologists and "noses"), Lucas Conley takes us on a long-overdue journey through the strange culture that is our own. As hilarious as it is frightening, Conley's investigation into the phenomenon of rampant commercialism (often backed by little substance), offers an illuminating portrait of an age of obsession.

Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands

Alina Wheeler

Amazon Price: $29.70 List Price: $45.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 63 new & used starting at $24.83

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Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This innovative approach -- blending practicality and creativity -- is now in full-color!

From translating the vision of a CEO and conducting research, through designing a sustainable identity program and building online branding tools, Designing Brand Identity helps companies create stronger brands by offering real substance. With an easy-to-follow style, step-by-step considerations, and a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand identity, the book offers the tools you need, whether a brand manager, marketer, or designer, when creating or managing a brand. This edition includes a wealth of full-color examples and updated case studies for world-class brands such as BP, Unilever, Citi, Tazo Tea, and Mini Cooper.

Alina Wheeler (Philadelphia, PA) applies her strategic imagination to help build brands, create new identities, and design brand-identity programs for Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurial ventures, foundations, and cities.

Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing

Harry Beckwith

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Total reviews: 135 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The transformation from a manufacturing-based economy to one that's all about service has been well documented. Today it's estimated that nearly 75 percent of Americans work in the service sector. Instead of producing tangibles--automobiles, clothes, and tools--more and more of us are in the business of providing intangibles--health care, entertainment, tourism, legal services, and so on. However, according to Harry Beckwith, most of these intangibles are still being marketed like products were 20 years ago.

In Selling the Invisible, Beckwith argues that what consumers are primarily interested in today are not features, but relationships. Even companies who think that they sell only tangible products should rethink their approach to product development and marketing and sales. For example, when a customer buys a Saturn automobile, what they're really buying is not the car, but the way that Saturn does business. Beckwith provides an excellent forum for thinking differently about the nature of services and how they can be effectively marketed. If you're at all involved in marketing or sales, then Selling the Invisible is definitely worth a look.

The SPIN Selling Fieldbook

Neil Rackham

Amazon Price: $15.74 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 112 new & used starting at $2.30

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Strategies and tools that guarantee big-ticket sales!

Neil Rackham's national bestseller SPIN Selling revolutionized high-end selling. Now, The SPIN Selling Fieldbook shows you how to actually put into practice the proven tools and techniques outlined in that cutting-edge guide. After a review of the SPIN method of selling, Neil Rackham zeroes in on the critical SPIN® questioning behaviors. He shows you how to apply the tools and techniques to your own selling situation, using practical, skill-building exercises incorporated into each chapter. Addressing the sales of services as well as capital goods, the Fieldbook provides you with a hands-on implementation guide for applying SPIN in a wide range of businesses from localized companies to large multinationals. Real-life case studies of sales forces at leading-edge companies such as Motorola, Johnson & Johnson, and AT&T help you explore additional techniques that go beyond the basics to boost sales with even the toughest customers and clients.