The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of
Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising
Century
Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Arthur W. Schultz
Harvard Business Press
Long before brand marketers developed the concept of the unique
selling proposition, Albert Lasker crafted the "reason-why"
approach that we see the fictional Don Draper employ almost every
week. His
vision helped save or launch a number of brands that we still
consider best-of-breed today. According to promotional material for
the book: "As Lasker rose in prominence, he went beyond consumer
products to apply his brilliance to presidential politics,
government service, and professional sports - changing the game
wherever he went and building a vast fortune along the way. But his
intensity had a price - he was felled by mental breakdowns
throughout his life. This book also tells the story of how he
fought back with determination and with support from family and
friends in an age when lack of effective treatment doomed most
mentally ill people."
Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Companies
Get Results
Richard Lepsinger
Jossey-Bass
Author Richard Lepsinger does his best to explain why what
organizations say they want and what they actually accomplish are
often miles apart. Lepsigner, a successful consultant himself,
based the book on both his experiences with a number of clients and
extensive research. Why, he wonders, with all of the attention to
having a well-thought-out and realistic strategy, do so many
organizations fail to pull them off? "This is a question I pondered
for a very long time," he writes. "My work with senior teams made
me curious about why many organizations struggled and were unable
to get things done and deliver results. It seemed obvious there was
a gap between planning and execution. And while much had been
written on the need for leaders to improve their ability to
execute, I could find very little information on what causes this
gap and why it exists in some organizations but not in others. In
addition, specific guidelines for solving this problem were even
more elusive." His book not only offers some guidelines, it also
provides some very black-and-white characteristics of companies
that have found the path to execution.
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every
Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History
David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
Wiley
This one got us chuckling, because while we have mostly enjoyed the
music of the Grateful Dead over the past four decades, we ain't
buying the concept. We are not sure people would STILL wear
tie-dyed T-shirts today if The Dead had not gotten them in the
habit. It's easy to look like a marketing genius when your audience
will generally buy anything you shove in its direction. The authors
note in publicity material that the band rejected the notion of
making most of its income from recordings, but chose instead to
derive the majority of its income from concerts. Not sure that is a
revelation of any kind, since that was the model for any number of
bands that survived the 1960s. And other than interviewing one of
the band's drummers, their research seems mostly limited to reading
what others have written. "We learn that companies cannot force a
mindset on their customers," writes Meerman in an interview on
Amazon.com. And that is a valuable lesson, but it is neither new
nor ground-breaking. And we are pretty sure Jerry Garcia didn't
figure it out first.
Here's How It Works: Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are
Being Creatively Disrupted
Nick Bilton
Crown Business
Bilton has written a "rollicking, upbeat guide to the digital world
- a peek into our near future, where news, storytelling, and even
human identity are transformed," writes Clive Thomson, a
contributing editor for Wired magazine. "It's a fascinating book
from a man who has helped pilot The New York Times into a new age
of online journalism. If you're wondering - or worried - about the
future of media, this is your road map." One of the things we like
about this book is that it follows some of its own rules. Semacodes
that are embedded in both print and e-book versions will take
readers to Bilton's website (link the word website to
www.NickBilton. com), where the reader can access videos that
further drive his point of view and also delve into the research
that was key to shaping the central ideas of the book. The website
also provides links to other related content and the opportunity to
comment on a chapter, allowing the reader to add to the
conversation.