The one-sentence summary

Marketing acts as a bridge between an organization and the outside world, and is central to every company, but it doesn’t have to be wrapped up in complicated jargon that confuses everyone.

WHAT THE BOOK SAYSMARKETING STRIPPED BARE

  • It claims to be an insider’s guide to the secret rules of marketing
  • It covers everything from advertising and PR through to sales, distribution, CRM and electronic media
  • It claims that marketing is central to every company, but it doesn’t have to be wrapped up in complicated jargon so that everyone gets confused

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT

  • Although the content is quite simplistic if taken literally, it is written in a very amusing way so that it shouldn’t offend anyone
  • As such it could be perfect to give as an educational tool to junior clients who think they know it all but don’t
  • It gives you dead easy ways to write marketing plans, examine the promotional mix, and organise research methodology, even if you have never officially been trained in these areas
  • It is full of good quotes to help presentations to clients:

~ Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people do not recognise them

~ Pessimists make poor planners

~ There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about

~ If you call a spade a spade, you won’t last long in the advertising business

~ An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all

~ If at first an idea isn’t totally absurd, there’s no hope for it

~ My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there

WHAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH

    There are no models or diagrams to steal, so you have to use some ingenuity and diligence to extract usable material from it

  • If you take anything too literally from the book, you may be accused of either being cynical, or too simplistic