Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
bestmarketingdegrees.org/best-books-on-marketing
It’s never too late to make professional development a part of your everyday life and
there is no better way to do that than to catch up on your reading (either e-reading or a
good old fashioned physical book). What follows are some of the best books ever written
about marketing and if we were putting together a comprehensive reading list for both
recent business school graduates and business veterans wanting to understand the
mindset of some of the youngest, brightest voices in the field, these books, many of
which are classics, would be on that list.Here’s how we did it. We ranked Inc.’s, Ad Age,
Forbes and Wall Street Journal lists of best marketing books and averaged out their
place on the list to come up with a top 50. Whether you agree with our assessment or
not, there can be no disputing the fact that these are some of the best written and
informative business books out there, and available.
SPONSORED
48. The Long Tail: Why the future of business is selling less
of more by Chris Anderson
(Hachette Books; Revised edition, July 8, 2008)
While the 20th century was dominated by hit products, the 21st century will be
dominated by niche products, according to Chris Anderson’s groundbreaking explanation
of web-based purchasing habits. As useful as this book is, you can get the gist of it from
his original article in Wired magazine.The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and
economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits”
(mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge
number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially
online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all
containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other
bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically
attractive as mainstream fare. Interesting theory. Fascinating book by a terrific writer.
47. Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords: How to Access 100
Million People in 10 Minutes by Perry Marshall and Bryan
Todd
(Entrepreneur Press, November 29, 2006)
This is an instruction manual for Internet marketing success. Perry, who is regarded by
many people, as THE AdWords expert, knows that if you want to succeed brilliantly in
online marketing, you need to know a whole lot more than just how to gain Google’s trust
and get cheap, targeted clicks on AdWords ads.The book covers a wide range of closely
related topics, including how to identify your USP, how to build an unforgettable
personality, how to put personality and pizazz into your email marketing, search engine
optimization, remarketing, and so on. There’s a fascinating chapter – Chapter 16 – on
how to use social media indirectly – especially Facebook – to do your market research
and produce a treasure trove of insights about what your customers really want. These
tactics could also be used by affiliates looking for ideas for “money pages” – pages that
generate revenue because they hit the spot exactly, targeting problems that are crying
out to be solved right now.
46. The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen
(Crown Business, May 2002)
A classic book that every marketer should read. Before word of mouth marketing
became a profession unto itself, Rosen figured out why certain brands get attention and
how they do it. In The Anatomy of Buzz, former marketing VP Emanuel Rosen pinpoints
the products and services that benefit the most from buzz-a universe that embraces
everything from high-tech equipment to books, various consumer and entertainment
products to legal and other support services-and offers specific strategies for creating
and sustaining effective word-of-mouth campaigns.Drawing from interviews with more
than 150 executives, marketing leaders, and researchers who have successfully built
buzz for major brands, Rosen describes the ins and outs of attracting the attention of
influential first users and “big-mouth” movers and shakers. He also discusses proven
techniques for stimulating customer-to-customer selling-including how companies can
spread the word to new territories by taking advantage of customer hubs and networks
on the Internet and elsewhere.
This book is not for the timid. Shirky is more academic than fluff, and this book dives
deep into technology and social media with beautiful and high-brow writing. So well
written and researched. It is a gem.Welcome to the new future of involvement. Forming
groups is easier than it has ever been: unpaid volunteers can build an encyclopedia
together in their spare time, mistreated customers can join forces to get their revenge on
airlines and high street banks, and one man with a laptop can raise an army to help
recover a stolen phone. The results of this new world of easy collaboration can be both
good (young people defying an oppressive government with a guerrilla ice-cream eating
protest) and bad (girls sharing advice for staying dangerously skinny) but it’s here and,
as Clay Shirky shows, it’s affecting everybody. For the first time, we have the tools to
make group action truly a reality.
When was the last time that you read a business book and laughed out loud? Yes, this
book is that funny, but it’s also one of the best books out there on what makes an ad
great, and how to push yourself to create a great one as well. Written by a copywriter,
this book demonstrates the power of words and the power of spending the time to find
the right words.Hey Whipple, Squeeze This has inspired a generation of ad students,
copywriters, and young creatives to make their mark in the industry. But students need
new guidance to ply their craft now in the digital world. This new fourth edition explains
how to bring brand stories into interactive, dynamic places online, in addition to
traditional television, radio, print, and outdoor ads.
Jeffrey Gitomer, the sales guru and author of the bestselling The Sales Bible, has
produced another terrific book that addresses sales with a lively combination of humor
and professionalism to help salespeople get their feet in many more doors. For those
who are running into dead ends, stale leads, price objections, and unreturned phone
calls, Gitomer has created The Little Red Book of Selling to show them how to get past
the usual obstacles and sell their products and services with new zest and vigor.Don’t be
fooled by the title. This simple, fun and short book is full of how to better position, market
and sell both yourself and the products and services that you represent. In fact, anything
by Gitomer is well-worth your time. This just happens to be one that is worth re-reading
each and every year.
33. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
(Back Bay Books, January 7, 2002)
A wise individual once said that Gladwell has a knack for writing books that business
leaders feel stupid for not having on their bookshelves. Pretty poignant and true. The
Tipping Point is great because it helps marketers better understand the inflection point
that happens when a product is ho-hum and how it then takes off like a rocket. It’s not
really science so much as cultural, but it’s fascinating.The tipping point is that magic
moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads
like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a
small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product,
or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Gladwell explores
and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way
people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
This book adeptly address today’s business challenges, as explained by web analytics
thought leader Avinash Kaushik. Web Analytics 2.0 presents a new framework that will
permanently change how you think about analytics. It provides specific
recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques
correctly, solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel
campaigns, achieving optimal success by leveraging experimentation, and employing
tactics for truly listening to your customers.The book will help your organization become
more data driven while you become a super analysis ninja! Kaushik, by the way, is the
digital marketing evangelist at Google. In fact, the notion of Sex With Data from CTRL
ALT Delete was heavily inspired by Kaushik’s work/thinking. Most marketers eyes glaze
over when they hear the word ‘analytics,’ but thankfully Kaushik is here to help make it
fascinating and important.
This book can change how you write copy, from ads to emails and sales pages. It’s
written by Michael Masterson (Ford) & John Forde. Michael is the chief growth strategist
for Agora, Inc. Rumors in the industry say that Agora makes as much as $600 million per
year, maybe more, selling newsletters and coaching. One sales video, “The End of
America” is said to have earned over $250 million dollars for a division of Agora called
StansberryResearch.When word came out that he was writing a book about his writing
process ad writers everywhere must have tripped over themselves to buy a copy. Inside
you will learn the difference between writing sales copy to warm leads and perfect
strangers.
28. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
(Bottom Line Books, January 1, 2004)
If ever there was a holy grail of marketing passed down from father to son, it would be
this book. Eugene Schwartz is arguably the world’s greatest copywriter/marketer to ever
live.You want to know how good it is? It’s available for free online, yet people STILL pay
as much as $400 for a used print version. Inside you’ll learn how to make average copy,
great. For example, chapter 4 is titled “38 Ways You Can Strengthen Your Headline
Once You Have Your Basic Idea.”
Basics for the Digital Marketer today. In this guide, join Christopher Penn, Vice President
of Strategy at Blue Sky Factory and professor of Internet Marketing at the University of
San Francisco, as he covers the 4Ps, SWOT, Strategy, ROI, funnels, and many other
basics in a tight, compact format that will help bring you or a colleague up to speed very
quickly in the basics of marketing.This book contains just about everything you need to
get someone started on marketing basics, while not being overly dense (and thus
productivity-dampening). Each concept has a series of exercises that will let you test
your knowledge and apply it to the business situations you’re facing at your company.
21. Words that Sell: More than 6000 Entries to Help You
Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas by Richard
Bayan
(McGraw-Hill; 2 edition, April 5, 2006)
This is not a book you read, it’s a book you use. And use.And use again.Inside this book
you’ll find hundreds of words and phrases to help you start your emails, sales letters, or
Adwords ads. As well as hundreds of other words and phrases that help with other
points in your ad copy.It’s just as useful, or even more useful than a thesaurus or
dictionary. It reads like one also. It’s the perfect companion for anyone who has ever
looked at a blank page and not known where to start.
An international bestseller, revised and updated for 2009, this second edition gem of a
book contains more than 25 interviews and case histories, two completely new chapters,
introduces a new typology of 12 different kinds of Challengers, has extensive updates of
the main chapters, a range of new exercises, supplies weblinks to view interviews online
and offers supplementary downloadable information.Author Adam Morgan is a partner in
eatbigfish (www.eatbigfish.com), an international brand and marketing consultancy
specializing in Challenger brand strategy, behavior, and culture. Previously an executive
with TBWA\Chiat\Day, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, he has worked
with clients like IKEA, Unilever, Virgin, and Apple. He and his partners together run The
Challenger Project, the evolving research into how Challenger brands think and behave,
on which their thinking, writing, and speaking is based.
16. From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl
Harbor: Front-Line Dispatches from the Advertising War by
Jerry Della Femina
(Simon & Schuster; 1 edition, July 20, 2010)
A classic. Ok, if you like “Mad Men” these musings are vividly reminiscent of the goings-
on at Sterling Cooper—the late nights, the three-martini lunches, the sex on couches,
and, of course, the actual work of plugging products—this is the story of what Madison
Avenue was really like in the ’60s. A worldwide bestseller when first published in 1970,
this frank, irreverent, and hilarious memoir is a one-of-a-kind marketing book for the
ages.Just check out this quote from the back cover: “I refuse to apologize for telling the
truth about advertising, and if it offended some people, that’s just too bad. If I had
wanted to be loved by those people I would have joined the Peace Corps.”
Through research data and case studies, this book details how marketers can gain a
competitive advantage with proven strategies, including how to:• Embrace “Hybrid
Marketing” to squeeze more value from “Fossil Fuel Marketing” (i.e., paid media) • Build
“renewable energy sources” (owned email, mobile, and social audiences) that provide
long-term competitive advantage • Create your own Proprietary Audience Development
strategy • Market with the Red Velvet Touch: Serve the individual, honor their
preferences, deliver relevant content, surprise them with access, and delight them with
your company’s humanity • Test and evolve your efforts on an ongoing basis
This book was written for business owners, not IT geeks. Anybody can understand it.All
the useless information about “the history of the Internet” and other similar topics were
left out. This is a clutter-free step-by-step tutorial that shows you exactly what you need
to do to become successful online.
This book takes a holistic approach to Internet
marketing. Covering everything from Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media
Marketing (SMM), Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and
Website Design; this book shows you all the available tools and tactics and helps you
figure out which ones will work best for your business. This is the most comprehensive
guide to Internet marketing you’ll ever read.
9. Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online
Results by Bryan Eisenberg
(Thomas Nelson, October 31, 2006)
Call to Action includes the information businesses need to know to achieve dramatic
results from online efforts. Are you planning for top performance? Are you accurately
evaluating that performance? Are you setting the best benchmarks for measuring
success? How well are you communicating your value proposition? Are you structured
for change? Can you achieve the momentum you need to get the results you want? If
you have the desire and commitment to create phenomenal online results, then this
book is your call to action.Within these pages, New York Times best-selling authors
Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg walk you through the five phases that comprise web site
development, from the critical planning phase, through developing structure, momentum,
and communication, to articulating value. Along the way, they offer advice and practical
applications culled from their years of experience “in the trenches.”
Filled with best practices and practical solutions, this book demystifies the business of
social media. It’s an invaluable tool to anyone trying to sell social media strategy in a
“traditional” business environment. Use this book to bring true business discipline to your
social media program and align with your organization’s goals.Top branding and
marketing expert Olivier Blanchard brings together new best practices for strategy,
planning, execution, measurement, analysis, and optimization. You will learn how to
define the financial and nonfinancial business impacts you are aiming for–and achieve
them. Social Media ROI delivers practical solutions for everything from structuring
programs to attracting followers, defining metrics to managing crises. Whether you are in
a startup or a global enterprise, this book will help you gain more value from every dime
you invest in social media.
The holy grail of marketing. If you take any marketing course, you will surely be referred
to it. It covers the basics, and it’s an essential tool for anyone interested in the subject. It
will dedicate specific chapters to each of the four traditional Ps of marketing (product,
price, promotion and place), analyze consumer markets and buyer behavior, will give
you tips on how to deal with the competition, discuss segmentation, etc. It is a lot of
information, and some readers will complain that the topics are not explored in depth.
The text will, however, give you a general, if a bit superficial, overview of marketing as a
whole.Kotler developed new concepts in marketing including atmospherics,
demarketing, megamarketing, turbomarketing and synchromarketing. He believes that
marketing theory needs to go beyond price theory and incorporate the dynamics of
innovation, distribution and promotion systems into analyzing, explaining and predicting
economic outcomes.
6. Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for
Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad
Levinson
(Houghton Mifflin; fourth edition, May 22, 2007)
A timeless classic that everyone should own, no matter what business you’re in. Thirty-
one years ago, in 1983, Jay Conrad Levinson took marketing out of the world of Mad
Men and huge corporations into the hands of entrepreneurs and small businesses. The
book explains why it’s no longer necessary to spend a great deal of money to gain
visibility, as long as you’re willing to get creative. Amazingly, the book got it “spot on”
way before anybody was talking about “going viral.”When Guerrilla Marketing was first
published Levinson revolutionized marketing strategies for the small-business owner
with his take-no-prisoners approach to finding clients. Based on hundreds of solid ideas
that really work, Levinson’s philosophy gave way to a new way of learning about market
share and how to gain it.
Want your marketing efforts to succeed? Try being helpful. YOUtility provides real-
world examples of companies that have moved beyond selling to provide real value —
and built a fiercely loyal audience along the way.Youtility is marketing upside down.
Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by
customers. Youtility is massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long-
term trust and kinship between your company and your customers. The difference
between helping and selling is just two letters. But those are the most important letters in
modern business. Youtility shows you why, and how.
4. Converge: Transforming Business at the Intersection of
Marketing and Technology by Bob Lord and Ray Velez
(Wiley, April 29, 2013)
Marketing and technology have been two separate worlds, speaking different languages,
using different processes, and valuing different kinds of talent. For businesses to
succeed today, this has to change. Marketing and IT must “converge,” the authors say, in
order to create rich, technologically enabled digital experiences that engage, delight, and
serve the consumer. It’s easier said than done, but the reality is stark: the lines between
creativity, technology, and media are rapidly blurring, revolutionizing marketing and
business strategy and empowering the consumer. It’s a convergence that’s filled with
opportunity and fraught with challenge—and one your organization can’t afford to
ignore.Authored by the CEO and CTO of Razorfish, one of the world’s largest digital
marketing agencies, Converge shares their firsthand experience working closely with
global brands—including Unilever’s AXE brand, Staples, and Mercedes-Benz USA—to
solve business problems at the collision point between media, technology, and
marketing. With an in-depth look at cloud computing, data- and API-enabled creativity,
ubiquitous computing, and more, Converge presents a road map to success. It explores
why and how this convergence is happening and explains how to restructure your
organization to thrive in an age of constant disruption.
3. The 22 Immutable Laws of Advertising: Violate Them at
Your Own Risk! by Al Ries and Jack Trout
(HarperBusiness; first paperback edition edition, April 27, 1994)
This book is the exact opposite of Ca$hvertising, which is full of tricks and tactics. In this
book the prolific Al Ries and Jack Trout lay the foundations of marketing for those in the
business. If ever there was a rule book for marketers, this would be it. Plus, they not only
teach the lesson but provide real-world case studies where big brands used these
fundamental laws successfully. It’s also an extremely thin book as far as business books
go. You could read it in a weekend.As Ries and Trout note, you can build an impressive
airplane, but it will never leave the ground if you ignore the laws of physics, especially
gravity. Why then, they ask, shouldn’t there also be laws of marketing that must be
followed to launch and maintain winning brands? In The 22 Immutable Laws of
Marketing, Ries and Trout offer a collection of 22 innovative rules for understanding and
succeeding in the international marketplace. From the Law of Leadership, to The Law of
the Category, to The Law of the Mind, these valuable insights stand the test of time and
present a clear path to successful products. Violate them at your own risk.
What would a list like this be without a nod to one of the most well-known Mad Men of
our time? David Ogilvy had a passion for advertising. He believed that it was a noble
pursuit and a profession that should be taken seriously. This book is an example of how
to think like an advertising executive whose sole purpose it is to help brands sell more.
Sometimes, in our digital times, it’s fun to read books like this and re-think all of the
analytics and optimization talk we have and get back to the advertising as a form of
art. In his years as an advertising executive and copywriter, Ogilvy created some of the
world’s most successful and iconic marketing campaigns, including the legendary Man in
the Hathaway Shirt, plus notable efforts for Schwepps, Rolls Royce, and the island of
Puerto Rico among many others.
Ok, let’s begin with this: Positioning was named by Advertising Age the best marketing
book of all time. Whether you agree with that or not, this is one of the “must have” books
if you’re in marketing. It covers a ton of space on the topic of how to brand products and
services and how to place them both in market and in the mind’s eye of the consumer.
This should be the first book that anyone reads when they enter a Marketing 101
course.Ries and Trout describe how positioning is used as a communication tool to
reach target customers in a crowded marketplace. Jack Trout published an article on
positioning in 1969, and regular use of the term dates back to 1972 when Ries and Trout
published a series of articles in Advertising Age called “The Positioning Era.” It wasn’t
long after that when Madison Avenue advertising executives began to develop
positioning slogans for their clients and positioning became a key aspect of marketing
communications.