800-CEO-READ New Releases

Accelerants

by Michael A. Boylan

(Portfolio, 240 Pages)

"Many sales processes don't work anymore--period. But companies don't know exactly what's not working, or why, or what needs fixing. What's worse, many companies are in denial that their processes are broken and will not support what they need to do going forward."

Today it's tougher than ever for sales, marketing, and business development organizations to keep improving their revenue and profits. Potential clients want to see salespeople less and less, real decision makers hide behind skilled gatekeepers, and even when you actually reach them, they have impossibly short attention spans. Sales and closing cycles get longer, margins get thinner, and customers keep raising the bar – demanding more value, cheaper prices, and better service.

Michael Boylan's Accelerants offers a powerful solution to these impediments to growth. Giving business leaders the tools to diagnose what is hindering revenue growth, Boylan first identifies twelve constraints that apply consistent downward pressure on companies, making them less efficient, effective, and profitable. He then prescribes the Accelerant Principles—twelve field-proven tools Boylan has perfected over twenty years that can help any organization overcome, minimize, or dissolve the constraints to business growth.

Together, the Accelerant principles offer a cohesive framework that can help any business:

With ideas that are relevant, timely, and applicable, Accelerants provides a program that will foster empowerment, cohesion, and clarity of purpose within any sales, marketing, or business development organization.

Creating Customer Evangelists

by Ben McConnell, Jackie Huba

(Dearborn Trade Pub, 224 Pages)

For the first time in paperback, a revised edition of the book that launched the term "customer evangelism." Updated with new statistics and figures, this landmark book has shown countless companies how to harness the power of evangelism marketing and increase customer loyalty, sales, and profitability.

When customers are truly thrilled about their experience with a product or service, they become outspoken "evangelists" for a company. Savvy marketing professionals know that this group of satisfied believers can be leveraged as a potent marketing tool to increase their customer universe.

Authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba know how to take a company's best customers and turn them into influential, loyal, and enthusiastic evangelists. Creating Customer Evangelists shows how to develop evangelism marketing strategies and programs that will create communities of influencers who can expand and drive sales for a company.

By deepening customer relationships, successful companies create customer communities that generate grassroots support and value for their products and services. Creating Customer Evangelists can convert good customers into exceptional ones who willingly spread the word.

Updated material for this edition includes:

• New research about the effectiveness of word of mouth
• Updated case studies
• How blogs, podcasts and other social media affect the six tenets of evangelism
• Preface about the growth of customer evangelism, fueling a "word of mouth marketing" industry

Made to Stick

by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

(Random House Inc, 288 Pages)

Mark Twain once observed, "A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on." His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas "stick."

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the "Velcro Theory of Memory," and creating "curiosity gaps."

In this indispensable guide, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds–from the infamous "kidney theft ring" hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony–draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. It's a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures)–the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of "the Mother Teresa Effect"; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas–and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.

Words That Work

by Frank Luntz

(Hyperion Books, 0 Pages)

The nation's premier communications expert shares his wisdom on how the words we choose can change the course of business, of politics, and of life in this country

In Words That Work, Luntz offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the tactical use of words and phrases affects what we buy, who we vote for, and even what we believe in. With chapters like "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" and "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century," he examines how choosing the right words is essential.

Nobody is in a better position to explain than Frank Luntz: He has used his knowledge of words to help more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies grow. He�ll tell us why Rupert Murdoch�s six-billion-dollar decision to buy DirectTV was smart because satellite was more cutting edge than "digital cable," and why pharmaceutical companies transitioned their message from "treatment" to "prevention" and "wellness."

If you ever wanted to learn how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket or talk your way into a raise, this book's for you.

Turning Silver into Gold

by Mary S. Furlong

(Wharton School Pub, 0 Pages)

Seasoned digital-marketing strategist Furlong explores the breadth and depth of the baby-boomer market.

Boomers make up 25% of the population, own 77% of the country's financial assets and are looking at greater discretionary income as they go about retiring the word "retire." They are now marching well into middle age and their marketplace desires are morphing, explains Furlong in this broad and thoughtful book. The author sees them as representing hundreds of market segments: Boomers have concerns and interests including health, investing, entertainment and travel, sexuality, entrepreneurship and technology, religion and spirituality and a vast array of philanthropic and social commitments. The title's silver may mean hair color, but the gold represents wisdom as well as wealth, "and how they will transform their financial worth into good works." Still, Furlong has profit-oriented business advice to tender, giving dozens of examples of how the boomers' interests can be met, particularly by Internet-savvy businesspeople, from software that helps sharpen memory to dealing with loneliness to safe sex to civic engagement.

Punk Marketing

by Richard Laermer, Mark Simmons

(Harpercollins, 272 Pages)

The marketing revolution is here, so get on the right side of the barricade and become a part of it! Let's thank Mr. and Mrs. Consumer and their little Consumerlings who have seized power from the corporations and are now firmly in control.

In Punk Marketing, Laermer and Simmons take an irreverent, penetrating look at the seismic change in the relationship between the people who sell stuff—products, services, entertainment—and those who purchase it. They demonstrate that to survive in business, a revolutionary approach is needed—one they have branded “Punk Marketing�—and it's one we all need to understand, for the traditional divisions among commerce, content, and consumers are continuing to blur ever more rapidly.

Never dull, sometimes controversial, but always a helluva lot of fun, Punk Marketing presents a manifesto for any businessperson needing to engage consumers—or any consumer seeking to understand and employ their newfound power. And here's the good news: It's based on principles that have existed forever. In an age of digital video recorders, “branded� entertainment, cell-phone TV, multiplayer online games, and never-ending social networking, a coherent approach to marketing has never been more vital. With Punk Marketing, there's a built-in plan to equip you with tools to make all this change work out just fine, thanks.

Punk Marketing is the first shot—soon to be heard 'round the world—of a long-awaited and breathless uprising that businesses want, deserve, and desperately need.

Marketing That Works

by Howard Morgan, Len Lodish, Shellye Archambeau

(Pearson P T R, 256 Pages)

Focus your marketing on what really works—and make the most of every marketing investment!

Every dime you spend on marketing needs to work harder, smarter, faster. Every dime must differentiate your company based on your most valuable competencies. Every dime must protect you against competitors and commoditization. Every dime must drive higher profits this quarter, and help sustain profitability far into the future.

Are your marketing investments doing all that? If not, get Marketing That Works—and read it today.

You’ll learn how to substitute agility, flexibility, and great relationships for the resources you don’t have...and bring entrepreneurial savvy to everything from advertising and PR to distribution and sales management.

Above all, you’ll learn what really works, based on the experiences of hundreds of today’s most successful companies. No more guesswork: this book will help you set winning priorities, execute on them, and reap the rewards.

• Differentiate yourself more effectively, protect yourself against competition, and drive higher margins
• Bring entrepreneurial power to distribution, sales management, PR, promotion, advertising, and more
• For marketers in every kind of company, from startup to global enterprise

Leading for Growth

by Raymond P. Davis; Alan Shrader

(Jossey-Bass, 224 Pages)

Book Description
How any business leader can create an atmosphere of competitiveness for exceptional growth

When Ray Davis took over the local 40-person South Umpqua Bank in 1994, many people in the industry poked fun at his insistence that employees answer the phone with a cheery "World's Greatest Bank." Eleven years, $7 billion in assets, and 128 branches (or " bank stores" in Umpqua lingo) later, the moniker seems quite apt. Other banks scratched their heads when Davis sent his tellers to Ritz-Carlton to learn customer service and were intrigued when he hired a cutting-edge design firm to completely re-think retail layout. Now, with a top design award under their belt, a name change (there never was a North Umpqua bank), and a completely new definition of the banking business, Umpqua has become the darling of the entrepreneurial press and a growth powerhouse. The New York Times calls Umpqua "Starbucks with tellers."

Ray Davis (Portland, OR), named by U.S. Banker as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial industry in 2005, is President and CEO of Umpqua Holdings Corporation. Alan Shrader (Moraga, CA) is an experienced writer and editor of business books.

Your Gut Is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head

by Kevin Clancy

(John Wiley & Sons Inc, 304 Pages)

Book Description

How to make marketing scientific, accountable, and effective

Marketing has traditionally been gut-driven, undisciplined, and often unaccountable. Marketing executives rarely had to defend their expenditures and results. But those times are changing. In Your Gut Is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head, marketing consultants Clancy and Krieg explain how to implement disciplined, accountable marketing that achieves results. Similar to Six Sigma in its methodologies, disciplined, accountable marketing will revolutionize the industry as we know it. The authors explain what disciplined marketing looks like in every crucial type of marketing decision, from positioning to distribution, and provide case histories that clearly show how disciplined marketing beats gut-level thinking and planning every time.

Kevin Clancy (Boston, MA) is Chairman and CEO of Copernicus Marketing Consulting, a leading research and consulting organization with an international clientele. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Boston University. Peter Krieg (Boston, MA) is Executive Vice President of Copernicus.

Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here

by David Verklin, Bernice Kanner

(Wiley, 240 Pages)

Book Description

A media and advertising CEO explains how his world shapes ours

The TV program coming into our living rooms isn't free. It's a simple Faustian bargain consumers have made but one with enormous implications. It means that David Verklin, CEO of one of the world's largest ad-buying companies, and his clients-the world's largest advertisers-control what TV programs get aired, what magazines get published, and how Google and Yahoo stay in (very healthy) business. In Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here, Verklin and Kanner expose the inner workings of the media, marketing, and advertising industries. Readers will learn why their favorite shows get cancelled, why Oprah gives away cars, and how money, people, politics, and new technologies are transforming TV, the Internet, radio, magazines, and other media Americans consume every day.

David Verklin (New York, NY) is CEO of Carat Americas, the world's largest independent media buying operation. He frequently speaks to executives in marketing, media, and management. Bernice Kanner (d. 2006) was a marketing expert and author for 13 years of New York magazine's "On Madison Avenue" column.

Coolhunting

by Peter Gloor, Scott Cooper

(Amacom Books, 240 Pages)

What do the iPod, MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube all have in common? They're fresh, they're hot, and most importantly--they're cool. But while many companies embark on the eternal quest for the next big thing, very few know how to actually find it. Coolhunting will take you into the very heart of the search and show you how to find trendsetters, spot innovations, and turn brilliant ideas into hot new trends. Major companies like Starbucks and Procter & Gamble have already discovered the power of coolhunting. Now, you can learn how to:

• Tap into the principles of cool and identify the trends that are truly cutting-edge
• cultivate the skills and techniques of highly effective coolhunters
• pinpoint developing trends using smartbadges

An invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes, Coolhunting will show you how to stay ahead of the curve and on the cutting edge of where your customers want to be taken.

Chasing Cool

by Gene Pressman, Noah Kerner

(Pocket Books, 235 Pages)

Cool isn't just a state of mind, a celebrity fad, or an American obsession -- it's a business. In boardrooms across America, product managers are examining vodka bottles and candy bars, tissue boxes and hamburgers, wondering how do we make this thing cool? How do we make this gadget into the iPod of our industry? How do we do what Nike did? How do we get what Target got? How do we infuse this product with that very desirable, nearly unattainable it factor?

In this wide-ranging exploration the authors Noah Kerner, a celebrated marketing maverick, and Gene Pressman, legendary creative visionary and former co-CEO of Barneys New York, have uncovered surprising and universal patterns and trends. They systematically parse the successes and failures of the last few decades -- in music and fashion, magazines and food, spirits and hip-hop culture. Their discoveries are pulled together in this definitive book on the commerce of cool.

Nike and Target endure as relevant brands not because of a shortsighted and gimmicky campaign. A dash of bling and a viral website don't amass long-term value. Brands are effectively developed when companies take substantial risk -- and face the possibility of real failure -- in order to open up the opportunity for real success.

Chasing Cool includes interviews with more than seventy of today's most respected innovators from Tom Ford and Russell Simmons to Ian Schrager and Christina Aguilera. And through this accomplished assemblage, Pressman and Kerner dig beneath the surface and reveal how emphasizing long-lasting relevance trumps a fleeting preoccupation with what's hot and what's not. In a multidimensional, entertaining, and eminently readable book that redefines how to appeal to today's savvy consumer, Kerner and Pressman explore the lessons to be learned by America's ongoing search for the ever-changing concept of cool. Readers will learn how to apply these lessons to their own businesses and creative projects in order to stand out in today's cluttered marketplace.

Truth

by Lynn B. Upshaw

(Amacom Books, 272 Pages)

Consumers today are better informed, better armed to resist marketers, and more skeptical than ever. With thousands of messages bombarding them every day, buyers just want brands they can believe in from companies they can trust. In Truth, marketing expert Lynn Upshaw offers a systematic approach for building customer loyalty and increasing market share. Using real-world examples and engaging stories, he shows companies how they can capitalize on a new kind of competitive advantage and learn to:

• promote more persuasively
• achieve greater returns through integrity in marketing
• replace their pricing strategy with a more convincing value promise
• build stronger customer partnerships
• seize the lead share of credibility in a hypercompetive marketplace.

A revolutionary book that redefines what it means to market, Truth will show companies how to strengthen and build their businesses in a world filled with would-be buyers who are more inclined to doubt than to buy.

Karma Queens, Geek Gods, and Innerpreneurs

by Ron Rentel

(McGraw-Hill, 256 Pages)

What really makes consumers tick?

It's a question every marketer, innovator, entrepreneur, or trend-watcher strives to answer-especially in an age when certain types of consumers are increasingly instrumental in shaping national and even global buying habits.

Karma Queens, Geek Gods and Innerpreneurs is your hands-on guide to getting inside the minds of the people who are setting the trends in art, music, technology, fashion, health, and every kind of consumer product and service. Based on thousands of hours of consumer research conducted by Consumer Eyes, a prominent New York-based marketing firm, this book uncovers nine influential consumer types and reveals how to connect with them, market to them, and create the products that will not only win them over, but their entire social networks as well!

Consumer Eyes founder Ron Rentel takes an entertaining yet serious look at today's most emblematic consumers, analyzing everything from the products they buy, to the activities they enjoy, to the behaviors and attitudes they exhibit. You'll meet such real-life characters as:

• Karma Queens-women of a certain age who combine a desire to be in harmony with the universe with an appreciation of material pleasures
• Parentocrats-who act out of love to assure their kids security and happiness, yet often deny them the classical joys of childhood
• Denim Dads-for whom family involvement means more than climbing the corporate ladder
• Innerpreneurs-chief managers of their own “brand,” they find their inspiration within themselves

  By using C-Types-rich, three-dimensional consumer portraits combining quantifiable data with expressions of personality-Rentel identifies and illuminates the consumers who set the trends. He not only helps you understand Karma Queens, Geek Gods and other consumer types on a deeper level in order to reach them more effectively in your marketing and advertising, he also offers fresh insight into managing your brand and your business.

  

Authenticity

by James Gilmore, B. Joseph Pine

(Harvard Business School Press, 288 Pages)

***800-CEO-READ offers substantial discounts on bulk orders. Simply call 800-236-7323 for extra savings***

Contrived. Disingenuous. Phony. Inauthentic. Do your customers use any of these words to describe what you sell or how you sell it? If so, welcome to the club. Inundated by fakes and sophisticated counterfeits, people increasingly see the world in terms of real or fake. They would rather buy something real from someone genuine, rather than something fake from some phony. When deciding to buy, consumers judge an offering's (and a company's) authenticity as much as if not more than price, quality, and availability.

In Authenticity, James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II argue that, to trounce rivals, companies must grasp, manage, and excel at rendering authenticity. Through examples from a wide array of industries as well as government, non-profit, education, and religious sectors, the authors show how to manage customers perception of authenticity by:

• Recognizing how businesses fake it
• Appealing to the five different genres of authenticity
• Charting how to be true to self and what you say you are
• Crafting and implementing business strategies for rendering authenticity

The first to explore what authenticity really means for businesses and how companies can approach it both thoughtfully and thoroughly, this book is a must-read for any organization seeking to fulfill consumers intensifying demand for the real deal.

Authenticity

by James Gilmore, B. Joseph Pine

(Harvard Business School Press, 288 Pages)

***800-CEO-READ offers substantial discounts on bulk orders. Simply call 800-236-7323 for extra savings***

Contrived. Disingenuous. Phony. Inauthentic. Do your customers use any of these words to describe what you sell or how you sell it? If so, welcome to the club. Inundated by fakes and sophisticated counterfeits, people increasingly see the world in terms of real or fake. They would rather buy something real from someone genuine, rather than something fake from some phony. When deciding to buy, consumers judge an offering's (and a company's) authenticity as much as if not more than price, quality, and availability.

In Authenticity, James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II argue that, to trounce rivals, companies must grasp, manage, and excel at rendering authenticity. Through examples from a wide array of industries as well as government, non-profit, education, and religious sectors, the authors show how to manage customers perception of authenticity by:

• Recognizing how businesses fake it
• Appealing to the five different genres of authenticity
• Charting how to be true to self and what you say you are
• Crafting and implementing business strategies for rendering authenticity

The first to explore what authenticity really means for businesses and how companies can approach it both thoughtfully and thoroughly, this book is a must-read for any organization seeking to fulfill consumers intensifying demand for the real deal.

Meatball Sundae

by Seth Godin

(Portfolio, 224 Pages)

Book Description
"Gotta get me some of that New Marketing. Bring me blogs, e-mail, YouTube videos, MySpace pages, Google AdWords . . . I don’t care, as long as it’s shiny and new."

Wait. According to bestselling author Seth Godin, all these tactics are like the toppings at an ice cream parlor. If you start with ice cream, adding cherries and hot fudge and whipped cream will make it taste great. But if you start with a bowl of meatballs...yuck!

As traditional marketing fades away, the new tools seem irresistible. But they don’t work as well for boring brands ("meatballs") that might still be profitable but don't attract word of mouth, such as Cheerios, Ford trucks, Barbie dolls, or Budweiser. When Anheuser-Busch spends $40 million on an online network called BudTV, that's a meatball sundae. It leads to no new Bud drinkers, just a bad case of indigestion.

"Meatball Sundae" is the definitive guide to the fourteen trends no marketer can afford to ignore. It explains what to do about the increasing power of stories, not facts; about shorter and shorter attention spans; and about the new math that says five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don’t.

The winners aren’t just annoying start-ups run by three teenagers who never had a real job. You’ll also meet older companies that have adapted brilliantly, such as Blendtec, a thirty-year-old blender maker. It now produces "Will it blend?" videos that demolish golf balls, Coke cans, iPhones, and much more. For a few hundred dollars, Blendtec reached more than ten million eager viewers on YouTube.

Godin doesn’t pretend that it’s easy to get your products, marketing messages, and internal systems in sync. But he’ll convince you that it’s worth the effort.

Media Rules!

by Dan Solomon, Brian Reich

(John Wiley & Sons Inc, 230 Pages)

Book Description
A revolutionary approach to building business success through modern media.

When it comes to communicating with their target audience, businesses have more than enough tools to get the job done-blogs, podcasts, social networks, search advertising, and much more. Yet the rapid rate of innovation is increasing the fragmentation of audiences, leaving fewer opportunities to reach them, and requiring more careful planning. Media Rules! will help business leaders and entrepreneurs obtain the core skills needed to better understand this dynamic world. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book will provide in-depth insights into the realities of marketing using innovative media technologies and strategies. It will also show readers how to create a new game plan that takes these new media opportunities into consideration, and present real ways to implement the ideas outlined within these pages-by including interviews with business innovators who are using new techniques to successfully overcome a variety of modern business challenges.

Brian Reich (Boston, MA) is Director of New Media for Cone, Inc, a brand strategy and communications agency. Dan Solomon (Alexandria, VA) is CEO of Virilion, a full-service interactive agency.

Stopwatch Marketing

by John Rosen, Annamaria Turano

(Portfolio, 256 Pages)

Branded Male

by Chromatic, Mark Tungate

(Kogan Page Ltd, 228 Pages)

Personality Not Included

by Rohit Bhargava

(McGraw-Hill, 256 Pages)

Foreword by Guy Kawasaki

The age of the faceless corporation is over. In the new business era of the twenty first century, great brands and products must evoke a dynamic personality in order to attract passionate customers. Although many organizations hide their personality behind layers of packaged messaging and advertising, social media guru and influencer Rohit Bhargava counters that philosophy and illustrates how successful businesses have redefined themselves in the new customer universe.

Personality Not Included is a powerhouse resource packed with bold new insights that show you how to shed the lifeless armor of your business and rediscover the soul of your brand. Sharing stories from the ethos of the world's weirdest city, to how Manga has taken the comic book industry by storm, to showcasing brands like Intel, Boeing, ING, and Dyson, Bhargava shows you why personality matters from the inside out.

In Part One, you'll be introduced to the key components to building a personality and learn how to:

2011

by Richard Laermer

(McGraw-Hill, 256 Pages)

In this fast and furious time machine of a book, Richard Laermer shows you how to use-and in some cases abuse-the trends of the next decade (or two) that really matter. As an author with a functional crystal ball, a veteran marketing innovator, and media master, Laermer foresees a fabulous future-if you start planning for it today.

Sometimes you see a business evolve and think, “I wish I'd thought of that.” With his trademark razor-sharp style, Laermer reveals the most functional forecasting secrets of professional trendspotters. Divided into nine categories, with more than 72 “short-short” chapters and dozens of outrageous sidebars, this captivating book shows you the ways to:

-Read the signs

-Influence the trends

-Embrace new and reject stodgy

-Anticipate change

-Ask experts the right questions

-Seek out visionaries and snub fakers

-Separate the trends from fads

-Use technology-for everything

-Cash in on being ahead of the competition!

2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade is packed with eye-popping predictions (and realities) on how you'll live, work, play, buy, sell, talk, text, laugh, and more. You'll discover how miniscule attention spans will increase a need for velocity...how to work while you're sleeping...how to wash off mediocrity...and why today's communication devices will become obsolete. With 2011you'll learn how to participate in change instead of trailing it.

Laermer calls trends as he sees 'em-from what's dead to what's sensational to what's novel and what's next. If you're looking for surprising observations, shocking statistics, sublime insights, and wholesome food for thought--read this book.

The Brand Promise

by Duane Knapp

(McGraw-Hill, 288 Pages)

Book Description

Brand expert, popular speaker, and Fortune 500 advisor Duane Knapp presents The BrandPromise®, his secret formula for becoming a Genuine Brand. Making the right promise, keeping it, and fulfilling your BrandPromise commitment will transform your business or organization into a “one-of-a-kind” brand that customers, employees, and shareholders will trust and support for years to come.

“A brand's promise is the new currency for success,” says Knapp, who teaches from personal experience, having built or advised hundreds of successful brands worldwide. Duane Knapp's Promise philosophy has been highly acclaimed and extensively referenced and quoted in hundreds of publications and books.

The BrandPromise applies to every type of organization, from associations, philanthropic enterprises (charities and non-profits), and personal brands (celebrities, athletes and executives), to professional service firms (doctors), entrepreneurs, small businesses, and member-centric businesses (credit unions and co-ops). Knapp provides insights from a wide range of executives and leaders with in-depth analyses of many Genuine Brands, including Ketel One, Costco, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Destination Marketing Association International, SAFE Credit Union, Annika Sorenstam, Callison Architecture, RK Dixon, Bartell Hotels, and Tourism Vancouver.

The BrandPromise book reveals the secrets that all kinds of organizations including associations, philanthropic enterprises (charities and non-profits), and personal brands (celebrities, athletes and executives), to professional service firms, such as doctors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and member-centric businesses such as credit unions and co-ops.

Marketing Metaphoria

by Gerald Zaltman, Lindsay H. Zaltman

(Harvard Business School Pr, 256 Pages)

Why do advertising campaigns and new products often fail? Why do consumers feel that companies don't understand their needs? Because marketers themselves don't think deeply about consumers' innermost thoughts and feelings. Marketing Metaphoria is a groundbreaking book that reveals how to overcome this "depth deficit" and find the universal drivers of human behavior so vital to a firm's success.

Marketing Metaphoria reveals the powerful unconscious viewing lenses--called "deep metaphors"-- that shape what people think, hear, say, and do.

Drawing on thousands of one-on-one interviews in more than thirty countries, Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman describe how some of the world's most successful companies as well as small firms, not-for-profits, and social enterprises have successfully leveraged deep metaphors to solve a wide variety of marketing problems. Marketing Metaphoria should convince you that everything consumers think and do is influenced at unconscious levels--and it will give you access to those deeper levels of thinking.

Powerlines

by Steve Cone

(Bloomberg Press, 288 Pages)

Product Description

Powerlines, the exceptional slogans that people remember long after the campaign ends, stand out from the barrage of marketing messages consumers face each day. A product, service, company, candidate, or an organization with a powerline outshines the competition every time.

Steve Cone, author of 'Steal These Ideas!,' reveals the secrets to contemporary marketing's biggest mystery: how to conjure the phrase that will make a product irresistable and memorable. This book restores the lost art of creating killer slogans to its proper place: front and center in every campaign.

Drawing on examples of great and not-so-great lines from marketing, politics, and popular culture, Cone provides an irreverant, intelligent, and insightful primer on a singularly important aspect of brand building.

Buying In

by Rob Walker

(Random House Inc, 256 Pages)

Book Description

An Intrepid Business Journalist's Counterintuitive Look at the Convergence of Marketing and Culture in Contemporary Life.

Using fascinating profiles of companies and products old and new, including Red Bull, the iPod, Timberland, and American Apparel, New York Times "Consumed" columnist Rob Walker demonstrates that modern consumers are likely to embrace marketing and use brands to craft and express their political, cultural, and even artistic identities. Combine this with marketers' new ability to blur the line between advertising, entertainment, and public space, and you have dramatically altered the relationship between consumer and consumed.

Tuned In

by David Meerman Scott, Craig Stull, Phil Myers

(John Wiley & Sons Inc, 240 Pages)

A proven framework for creating products and services that resonate.

Tuned In argues that the key to business success lies in understanding and connecting with what consumers and markets want most. Being tuned in to the needs of buyers, whether those needs are expressed outwardly or not, is the ultimate secret to creating and marketing products and services that people want to buy. For anyone who markets a product, service, or ideas in any business, industry, or organization, Tuned In delivers a simple six-step process for discovering real and deep insights into any market: finding unsolved problems, understanding buyer personas, quantifying impact, creating breakthrough experiences, articulating powerful ideas, and establishing sustainable connections.

Tuned In shows readers how to stop guessing what consumers need and stop wasting time and money building, marketing, and selling solutions that the market doesn't value. This insightful book shows readers how to connect with their market in order to create products and services that truly resonate with people.

The Age Curve

by Kenneth W. Gronbach

(Amacom Books, 288 Pages)

For years, marketers have held on to unwavering beliefs that have dictated how they market to their consumers. But the hard truth is that the changes we see in marketing and business are based on one undeniable factor--the size of the generations we are selling to. As each generation ages, what they buy and how much they buy will change. Each product and service has a "best customer" that sustains a business. As these customers grow up, the smartest marketers will stay ahead of them--and their money. In The Age Curve, marketing guru Kenneth Gronbach shows executives and entrepreneurs how to anticipate this wave of predictable demand and ride it to success. Using impeccable research, Gronbach reveals how our largest generations, the Baby Boomers and Generation Y, are redefining how we market and how businesses can anticipate their needs more effectively. Complete with entertaining examples of companies like Apple who have perfected their strategies for building a loyal customer base, as well as those who haven't (Levi Strauss and Honda Motorcycle), this book will show readers: how to determine their best customers * how successful companies are earning the loyalty of Generation Y and cultivating allegiance to their products for years to come * why Generation X is a much less valuable market than any of us have been led to believe * and much more Both shocking and compelling, The Age Curve will change the way companies look at their customers and how they market to them.

Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000

by Pete Blackshaw

(Doubleday, 208 Pages)

Book Description

In today’s Internet-driven world, customers have more power than ever. Through what interactive marketing expert Pete Blackshaw calls "consumer-generated media"—blogs, social networking pages, message boards, product review sites—even a single disgruntled customer can broadcast his complaints to an audience of millions. Blackshaw shows managers, marketers, and business leaders how to establish and maintain credibility for their brand by being authentic, listening and responding to customers, and forming relationships built on openness, transparency, and trust.

Filled with stories based on his experience working with Fortune 500 brands such as Toyota, Dell, Nike, Sony, General Motors, Unilever, Nestlé, Southwest Airlines, and Bank of America, Blackshaw offers a clear strategy to sustain a competitive advantage by creating enduring, loyal relationships with today’s consumer.

Mind Capture

by Tony Rubleski

(Morgan James Publishing, 196 Pages)

Product Description

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.

About the Author

Tony Rubleski is currently the president of Mind Capture Group, based in Spring Lake, Michigan. He focuses on referral, retention and repeat marketing strategies for a wide range of industries including real estate, insurance, telecom, casinos, retail, direct sales, banking to a wide range of entrepreneurs and sales teams. A highly sought after speaker and agent of change, his live seminars and keynote talks continue to receive rave reviews from meeting planners coast to coast.

BrandDigital

by Allen P. Adamson

(Palgrave Macmillan, 256 Pages)

In his best-selling book, BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed, Allen Adamson explained, in a straightforward manner, how powerful brands are built. Adopting the same engaging style in BrandDigital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World, he explains that in the fast accelerating digital marketplace the basic principles of building a powerful brand have not changed (as some may think) but, rather, have been magnified. He clearly demonstrates that in an environment where everything is visible, audible, and sharable, brand professionals have an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about their customers than ever before, making it possible to deliver experiences that reinforce customer relationships – and brand equity – more successfully than ever before.

Based on over 100 interviews with top branding executives on both the corporate side and the agency side of the table, Adamson makes his point by using case studies from companies including Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Nikon, Ameriprise, Burger King, PepsiCo, and General Mills. Citing lessons learned from these professionals, he provides example after example of why, in the digital arena, it’s never been more important to gain significant insights about consumers, to establish a simple and compelling brand promise based on these insights, and to make good on the brand promise through interactions that are as memorable as they are credible. He puts into proper context all the talk about Google, YouTube, Second Life, social networks, and blogs, and makes clear their role in the branding process. Chock full of stories from the frontlines of branding, Adamson puts into plain words how the best companies are taking advantage of digital technology and the behavior it generates to build more powerful bonds with their customers, and stronger, more positive associations with their brands.

For more information, please visit www.branddigital.com.