Commentary
3 Marketing Books Changing The Social Landscape
- by Ekaterina Walter , July 20, 2012
As marketers and business leaders in an ever-changing marketing landscape, we’re constantly looking for resources, knowledge and techniques to help us improve ROI and engage our consumers. Here are three authors with engaging, insightful and business-boosting books to rejuvenate your current strategies.
Jeffrey Hayzlett, Clark Kokich and Sandra Zoratti challenge traditional modes of thinking and doing -- demonstrating a clear path and direction to help marketers and business change, survive and thrive. The authors walk their talk with Jeffrey Hayzlett offering 140 character chapters for easy tweeting. Kokich gave his advice through a fully-interactive app.
Jeffrey Hayzlett’s "Running the Gauntlet" encourages business leaders to take the next step, to look forward and think critically about actions they must take to lead, drive change and grow profits. Hayzlett encourages the reader to develop a “takeover mentality” for their business. He says simple human flaws, like fear, apathy and lack of personal responsibility, can turn a good company into a dead one. Readers follow Hayzlett through a journey with witty, bold and “tweet-able” chapter titles, For example:
"You can teach a pig to kiss, but it usually gets messy and pisses off the pig. Please, please, please fire the right people."
Each chapter heading is 140 characters—a marketing strategy Hayzlett used to promote the book via Twitter. He also used other novel marketing techniques, including Snap Tags at the beginning of each chapter linking to a video that further explains concepts in the chapter. The book is funny, fresh, insightful and done in his inimitable cowboy style.
Clark Kokich, chairman of Razorfish, released a great new read called "Do or Die." True to his passion for the world of digital marketing, "Do or Die" is the world’s first business book published exclusively as a fully-interactive app. Kokich says it's time to quit saying and start doing. Marketing today is a noisy two-way street, where traditional media is often ignored by the very targets to which it’s directed.
"Do or Die" outlines a clear strategy for businesses to survive and thrive in a world of never-ending technological change. He links the often large gap between the CEO and the CMO and shows marketers how to demonstrate value and create campaigns that are relevant. He adds relevant video interviews and case studies from some of the biggest names in marketing, including Carol Kruse of ESPN, Michelle Peluso of Citigroup and Tom Bedecarre of AKQA.
The iPad app is interactive, so readers can view live twitter feeds, Web sites and videos, share chapters via their social media, and view links to any mentioned company’s Twitter feed, Facebook page or website.
In "Precision Marketing," Sandra Zoratti illustrates marketing in today’s consumer-driven world. Consumers are calling the shots. It is no longer a question of what a company is offering, rather, it has shifted to customers feelings and wants. With customers in the driver’s seat, brands and marketers must deliver messaging answering the call, she emphasizes.
With data-driven metrics at the core of messaging tactics, Zoratti guides marketers on the journey to success in a world where consumers are bombarded with 294 billions emails, 2 million blog posts and 532 million Facebook status updates every day. All this noise can leave companies at a disadvantage in differentiating their message and garnering their products the attention they deserve.
Zoratti helps business leaders decipher what customers want in this oversaturated market by guiding them through the Precision Marketing framework that takes their marketing strategies to the next level. This six-step process hones in on the concept of delivering the right message to the right recipient at the right time, via the right channel.
There is no longer a “one size fits all” mode of marketing or communication; today’s tactics have to be relevant and highly customized. Zoratti helps marketing teams ensure their communications are aligned with the preferences and priorities of their target audience.
