Marketing

Though for the moment list seems short, it will get filled rather quickly as there are many books on Sales & Marketing in my library that are worth reading. I just didn't get around to writing a short appreciation for them yet.

  • Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers

    Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers

    by Robert Scoble, Shel Israel

    5 stars

    A Blogging "Classic"

    If blogging would have it’s classics then “Naked Conversations” would certainly amongst them. The main themes of the is also about putting a human face on business and gaining higher credibility along the way. Though it’s about business blogging, it can also apply to personal blogging. You will also read about the rules of engagement on the blogsphere and the implications they might have for your business. It basically boils down to to being authentic, passionate, opinionated and removing roadblocks to the free flowing conversation. Business implications cover privacy issues, information security, self censoring, fear and much more. All in all, it’s a great way to jump-start your blogging knowledge.

    View on AmazonClick to View on Amazon
     
  • Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands

    Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands

    by Marty Neumeier

    4 stars

    Essentials of Differentiation

    One way to summarize this book is to say that it’s the “Essence of Blue Ocean Strategy with a dash of Brand Simple”. Whereas “Blue Ocean Strategy” explores multiple business cases in various industries, Zag concentrates on one example: their wine bar. The differentiation ideas are similar in both books though more detailed in “Blue Ocean Strategy”. Now I’m no a branding expert but the book did give me the feeling that I was participating in the branding of this wine bar. I had the feeling of understanding what good branding was about though I’m sure that in reality it’s always a bit more complicated. The books ideas are presented in a clear and concise way, which means that the author knows what he’s talking about. It’s also a quick and easy read as the format is small and the type big.

    View on AmazonClick to View on Amazon
     
  • BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed

    BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed

    by Allen P. Adamson

    5 stars

    Less Is More

    This book focuses on one concept: brand stickiness. And like most things, though what you are doing might be rocket science, to get the brand to stick you need to be able to explain it clearly in a few memorable words. Brand Simple is about reducing what you are doing to it’s essence. If you can’t do that then according to the author you are not sufficiently focused as a brand and you won’t be able to get the stickiness you want. The author uses many examples of well known brand names to get his point across. I’m no marketer but this book struck a chord with me nonetheless as I tend to think that, as with many things in life, “Less is More”.

    View on AmazonClick to View on Amazon
     
  • Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

    Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

    by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne

    5 stars

    Rare Common Sense

    This is the first book I’ve read about branding and differentiation. The author is full of common sense but the weird thing as that this type of common sense is not so common in business. Obviously this is not a step by step guide to building a great business. There is no such thing. What you do get is a nice framework to position your idea and see how you compare within your extended competitive landscape. Applying this framework to your own idea might require more intuition than you think (otherwise creating the next best thing would be too simple) but the author uses many case studies as examples of how to use the framework. Of course, he has the benefit of hindsight but that’s no reason to dismiss the ideas. Great book and fun to read.

    View on AmazonClick to View on Amazon