Advertising « 800 CEO Read

October 4, 2006

A Favorite in Paperback

Filed under: Advertising,Big Ideas — Todd Sattersten @ 4:41 pm

Last fall, my must-read was Then We Set We Set His Hair on Fire by Phil Dusenberry. I loved it. Tom liked it. And Jack liked it.

My sense is that it did not do great. It shows how titling and cover art can make a big difference (ie All Marketers Are Liars – great book, title scared people away).

Yesterday, Portfolio released a new paperback version of Then We Set… with a new title – One Great Insight Is Worth a Thousand Good Ideas.

I think it is a great move and I like the new cover.


Hardcover	Paperback

Comments Off

August 31, 2006

Business Books: Fall 2006 Preview

Filed under: Advertising,Big Ideas,Customer Service,Design,General Business,General Management,Global Business,History and Biographies,Leadership,Lists,New Releases,Personal Development,Strategy — Todd Sattersten @ 10:45 am

I am starting to get asked what the big books for the fall are, so I thought I should get a list up here. As always, there is something for everyone.

September

A Leader’s Legacy by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (Jossey-Bass) – This is a follow-on to the best-seller The Leadership Challenge; alot of people like Kouzes and Posner’s take on leadership.
Hoopla by Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Powerhouse) – Powerhouse has been doing the Lovemarks/Kevin Roberts books and I have been looking forward to seeing what they do with another ad agency.
Success Built to Last: Creating A Life That Matters by Jerry Porras et al. (Wharton School Publishing) – Built to Last author Porras this time asks what people rather than companies need to do to find success.
Bangalore Tiger: How Indian Tech Upstart WIPRO is Rewriting the Rules of Global Competition by Steve Hamm (McGraw-Hill) – The senior writer goes inside this Indian phenom to find out what has brought all the success.

October

Mavericks at Work: Why The Most Original Minds In Business Win by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre (William Morrow) – Bill and Polly created business conversation in the 90′s at writing Fast Company magazine. If you have missed that passion and energy, you’ll love the book.
Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina (Portfolio) – This is going to be a big book. The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard tells her rise to the top and what happened when she got there.
L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon by Leon Gorman (Harvard Business School Press) – Word has it that HBSP has been bugging the folks at L.L. Bean for years to do a book; it finally here and expect to see lots of cross-promotion in other L.L. Bean communications.
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston (Yale) – This title shows how companies can use green issues as a competitive weapon.
The Starfish and The Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom (Portfolio) – What do Alcoholics Anonymous, Napster, and al Queda all have in common? No one runs them. I love this book and highly recommend you check it out.
Setting the Table: The Power of Hospitality in Restaurants, Business, and Life by Danny Meyer (HarperCollins) – Meyer knows something about delivering service. His restaurants occupy four of the top twenty spots on Zagat’s.
Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How The NFL Became the Most Successful Sports Franchise in History by Mark Yost (Kaplan, Nov.) – This is about the business of football in all its glory.

Comments Off

August 8, 2006

Lost Essentials – Advertising Secrets of the Written Word

Filed under: Advertising,Marketing — Todd Sattersten @ 11:19 am

I like this book alot. At the time I read it, I was writing copy for some direct mail pieces. Joe Sugarman’s advice was invaluable and still is.

***

Last week, I talked about the amazing copy in Nike’s advertising.

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joseph Sugarman shows you how to write great advertisting copy. Joe knows what he is talking about. BluBlocker sunglasses were his creation. He sold a couple million pairs through magazine ads and infomericials.

There are alot of reasons I like the book. He is a great storyteller. Each chapter starts with a story about a product he was trying to sell and he proceeds to use that situation to illustrate the point he is trying to get across. The products are a little dated, but I also found that enjoyable. You’ll read about the Pocket CB, Consumers Hero, and Magic Stat. He once sold his $240,000 personal airplane through a magazine ad.

The biggest reason I recommend this book is that you will be a better copywriter when you are done. I know for a fact that I am better. The advice is very practical and can be used immediately. Joe lays out 57 points every ad should cover and ends the book with 12 ads that he wrote and his explanation of their success or failure.

The knowledge he presents translates to any written communication where you are trying to persuade someone of something. I used his recommendations to improve a cover letter for a direct mail piece. I think you could apply his stuff to resumes, company memos, or school term papers.

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word costs $39.95 – a bit more than your normal hardcover. Don’t let that stop you. It is an outstanding book.

***

[The Original APF Post]

Comments Off

August 2, 2006

Help your customers become mavens

Filed under: Advertising — Kate @ 2:33 pm

“Most buyers about to shell out big bucks want to know as much as they can about the product and brand theyre buying. These prospects become mavens (Yiddish for experts) in the category. Help them if you want to sell to them.”

— Steve Lance and Jeff Woll

Learn more on how to help your customers become mavens.

Comments Off

April 25, 2006

DHL and The One-Minute Manager

Filed under: Advertising,Marketing,Publishing Industry — Todd Sattersten @ 10:11 am

While eating my oatmeal this morning, I was paging through the May 1st issue of Fortune. About halfway through the magazine there is a DHL ad with an insert. The insert says:

Get Your Free Copy of “The One Minute Manager” When You Take Our One-Minute Survey.

The survey is a prospecting tool that asks you if you are DHL customer, the number of packages you ship, your role in shipping decisions, etc.

I obviously like the tie-in, but I am not sure a 23 year-old book is enough to get over the pain threshold of getting the follow-up sales call.

If you are still interested, you can call 866-475-8636 and give them the survey information over the phone. Be sure to mention the promotion code FT2BOOK.

P.S. Just to be clear: this is not an endorsement of DHL.

Comments Off

March 20, 2006

Business Books in Advertising?

Filed under: Advertising,Global Business — Todd Sattersten @ 1:43 pm

IBM has a new ad campaign with the tagline “What Makes You Special?” They have run a couple of big spreads in The Wall Street Journal over the past couple of weeks. I am sure they have shown up other places. It ran again today.

In the ad, they feature Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat and a quote from the book:

“…the flattening of the world means…we are now connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network, which…could usher in an amazing era of prosperity and innovation.”

I am not sure I have ever seen a business book quoted and featured in advertising for a F500 company.

Comments Off

WSJ's Five Best: Advertising

Filed under: Advertising — Todd Sattersten @ 11:24 am

In the Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal, the editors asked Jerry Della Femina what were his five best books on advertising:

The 100 Greatest Advertisments 1852-1958 by Julian Lewis Watkins (1959)
Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy (1963)
Bill Bernbach’s Book: A History of Advertising That Changed Advertising by Bob Levenson (1987, out of print, ISBN 0394549201)
A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young (1940)
Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves (1961, out of print, ISBN 0394442288)

Comments Off

September 28, 2005

MUST READ: Then We Set His Hair On Fire

Filed under: Advertising,Big Ideas,History and Biographies,Marketing — Todd Sattersten @ 3:10 pm

I only do this once a season.

If you pick up one book this fall, it should be Then We Set His Hair On Fire. I raved about it earlier this month, and still haven’t found anything else that caught my attention like this book. It reminds us of Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance by Lou Gerstner. Spending a career at BBDO, Phil Dusenberry has spent time with all the big brands. He knows the brand stories behind GE, FedEx, and Pepsi. He talks about the power of finding great insights about your company and its products. On top of it all, it has been written in a wonderful narrative.

Here are the 8cr favorites from the book:

Here are some others who have had something to say about the book:

USA Today – Grab a refreshing glimpse of how advertising works
Fortune – He Brought Good Ads to Life
Wall Street Journal – The View from Madison Avenue

Comments Off

« Newer Posts