My Top Beach Books for Advertising Agency Folks

Work These Business Books Into Your Summer Schedule

Posted by Tom Martin on 06.09.09 @ 12:59 PM

Tom Martin

As I prepare for the annual summer beach trip with the family, I thought I'd share some of my favorite beach-reading material. Some of these are new and some are old, but each has given me value far beyond the meager price I paid for the book.

Enjoy the summer and the books. If you don't see your favorite here, please do me a favor and add it to the comments box. If we get enough, maybe I'll do a follow up post with links to those books too.

How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market by Gerald Zaltman of Harvard. I read this book a few years ago and it totally changed how I think about marketing to consumers. Zaltman has developed a technique he calls "metaphor elicitation," which is patented, to mine the unconscious. Truly one of the most interesting and impactful books I've ever read. If you really like that one, you can pick up his most recent, Marketing Metaphoria: What Deep Metaphors Reveal About the Minds of Consumers, which picks up where his first book leaves off. I wasn't as impressed with second book as the first, but still a worthy read.

Next I'd suggest Margaret Mark's The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes, which draws on Jung's concept of archetypes. In the book, you are introduced to such archetypes as the hero, outlaw, lover, sage, magician, creator and innocent, and told that these archetypes cross lifestyle and cultural boundaries. I once used this book to help sell a truly great ad campaign by helping the client see how the work we created really spoke to a deeper need in his customers' lives. So if you want get your inner account-planner geek on, read this one. You can thank me later.

And if you're in the service business, such as a hotel, restaurant, or even a hospital, you absolutely have to read Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again by Lewis Carbone. This book will teach you all about using environmental clues to communicate your marketing and brand message to your customer. His ideas behind humanistic and mechanic clues have been used to drive great brands like the Mayo Clinic and others. It's certainly one of the most well-worn books on my shelf.

And for anyone that has or will ever participate in a new-business pitch to earn their paycheck, I'd highly recommend Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business by the legendary Jon Steel. As someone who has been in charge of biz dev at more than one agency and had my own gig for a while, I can tell you that Jon's book taught me more than a few lessons on how to create and then sell ideas.

And while we're on the subject of new business (let's face it, who isn't focused on that right now) here is another one I've long loved. Conceptual Selling by Heiman and Miller is really for sales teams, especially those that sell to large, complex accounts, but I found that the information was directly relevant to helping me develop key account strategies that led to winning business. They also have seminars you can attend.

I'm really looking forward to reading my friend Chris Brogan's new book, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, when it comes out in August. He co-authored it with Julien Smith and while it isn't out yet, judging by the quality of Chris' blog and just how smart the guy is, I'm guessing this one will be a keeper.

And last but not least, we gotta have at least one current book on social media for this list to be complete. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff is a really good read if you're trying to get up to speed on the whole social-media thing. I'd highly recommend it.

That's it folks. Enjoy the books. But remember, come back and tell me what you thought of them either here or at my personal blog Positive Disruption. And if you have a few favorite books you think I'd like -- do be so kind as to let me know via the comments!

~ ~ ~
Tom Martin is president of Zehnder Communications, with offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. He can be reached at Tom.Martin@z-comm.com. Or follow him at @TomMartin.

18 Comments

By Paul | New York, NY June 10, 2009 08:56:44 am:

You forgot one very good and important book,not just for advertising and marketing executives, but for everyone. Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval's wonderful book, "The Power of Small - Why Little Things Make All The Difference". In this age of super fast communications and actions which pass by within a nanosecond, it takes a look at how small gestures can make a huge difference for all of us. Paul S. Gumbinner, The Gumbinner Company, www.gumbinnercompany.com

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By hmargulies | Saratoga Spring, NY June 10, 2009 09:00:43 am:

Great list, and many I have not heard of. May I add one more?

Daniel H Pink's A Whole New Mind

http://www.danpink.com/wnm.html

After all, the brain the target organ of all branding efforts.

www.twitter.com/hmargulies

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By havitad | FULTON, MD June 10, 2009 09:08:08 am:

Hey Tom - totally agree with you on Groundswell. Particularly for small agency execs who are buried with other responsibilities. You've got to be smart about technology and marketing, and Groundswell gives you a great base-level understanding of how to apply what you already know in this unexplored new medium.

I would also recommend "The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations" by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. In a small agency environment, the more you can empower your organization the stronger you can become. I found this read a helpful one in organizing how we approached things both internally and with clients.

Thanks for the list - look forward to reading more.

Jeff Goldscher
Havit Advertising
@jgoldscher

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By dennis.ryan | CHICAGO, IL June 10, 2009 10:09:40 am:

I too loved Daniel Pink's book but candidly, a lot of the other titles read like translated PowerPoint presentations. With a hardcore list like this, you are a committed man Tom. Have you read Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations"? It's more sociology than anything else and the best summation of the profound changes we deal with today.
And you can't ignore non-fiction. Try Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone"--it's beautifully written and a deeply compelling story.

Dennis Ryan
Element 79
www.collective-thinking.com

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By Bob | Boston, MA June 10, 2009 10:13:49 am:

For pure self-loathing entertainment, try "Soul For Sale" by Jay Williams. Due disclosure: he was my CD for 3 years, but it's still a really fun read. (If by fun you mean, "why in the hell are we in this business.")

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By marcie3 | SAN ANTONIO, TX June 10, 2009 11:03:49 am:

A great reading list! Here's one of my favorites - The Art of Client Service 58 Things Every Advertising & Marketing Professional Should Know by Robert Solomon. It's a quick read that is sharp-witted and engaging, and offers great insight into the all-important client relationship.

I also highly recommend Groundswell!

@marciecasas
www.gdc-co.com/blog

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By Matthew | Cincinnati, OH June 10, 2009 12:42:46 pm:

Tom, thanks for a great list.

For account personnel (or, really, anyone who interacts with the client), I recommend Todd Sebastian's "Tell Your Clients Where to Go!"

Todd has served as both a P&G brand and an agency account leadership VP (Interbrand, dunnhumby), so he knows the topic from both sides of the table. "Tell Your Clients Where to Go!" is sensibly arranged, moving from mindset to skills to practical tips. It's directly and tightly written, so it makes for a quick read with a lot of value. It's ideal for those without a ton of account leadership experience, but is beneficial for all.

Check it out at: http://www.tellyourclientswheretogo.com/

In addition, I just surveyed my network and blog community regarding branding books; to my surprise, 45 titles were recommended (far more than I was expecting). I posted all recommended titles, along with Zagat-style reviews, at my blog, ThatBrandingThing.com, in a post entitled "A Brand-Builder's Bookshelf: Created By You". The direct link is:

http://www.thatbrandingthing.com/2009/05/brand-builders-bookshelf-created-by-you.html

Happy reading!

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By roscoeknows | Hartford, CT June 10, 2009 12:44:35 pm:

For sheer total fiction enjoyment based on reality you should check out "The Holiday Party" written about the media side of the business written by Richard Wanderer a lawyer and a media veteran.

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By Jim | Austin, TX June 10, 2009 12:50:16 pm:

Duck's in the Henhouse by Jon Roska!

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By PHILIP | CAMBRIDGE, MA June 10, 2009 02:13:42 pm:

This is a first for me, but I completely disagree with Tom Martin's entire reading list. Rule number one, do not take any business books on vacation. OK, maybe one. I'm going to second Dennis Ryan's recommendation for Here Comes Everybody, by Clay Shirky. Best book about the effect of social media on communications.

When I finally get away, I want to read the new John Cheever biography and The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubos III. And I'm still trying to finish Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. I also plan to check out The Cutting Stone and The Holiday Party, based on the above comments.

Tom, have a great vacation!

http://twitter.com/philjohnson

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By rcheung | Vancouver, BC June 10, 2009 03:12:56 pm:

Tom's recommendation, Jon Steel's "Perfect Pitch," is a definite must-read for all account people working in the ad biz. In fact, all his books offer great insights. He has another one called "Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning."

Recently, I read "The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising." Ogilvy is such an interesting and influential figure in the ad world that anyone in the ad biz should at least read a book about him. This is one I highly recommend. What's great about this book is that you get to read agency memos written by Ogilvy as well as how big ideas are shaped for many famous campaigns. His words really makes you rethink what the core purpose of advertising is. I think Ogilvy is right in that advertising execs, whether in account or creative, should recognize that the primary goal for advertising is it "should sell stuff" and not so much about winning awards.

Hence his famous quote: "We Sell. Or Else."

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By robertjsolomon | NEW YORK, NY June 10, 2009 03:43:26 pm:

This list is great, but for me, great beach books have to meet three all-important criteria:

1. They need to be portable; no one wants to lug ten pounds of books on a travel-light get-away.
2. They need to be smart; they should be worthy of the return flight, rather than winding up a hotel-room refugee.
3. They need to be funny; I'm at the beach dammit, I'd like to laugh a bit while I'm exiled from the office.

A book that meets all three criteria is mine: The Art of Client Service. Fast reading and funny, it offers sound lessons on building trust wth clients, plus includes a well annotated reading list to supplement what Tom lists above.

If you're curious, make a visit to www.artofclientservice.com, to see if it fits.

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By avitosh | Paris June 10, 2009 07:05:42 pm:

My all time favourite is Obvious Adam, a book freely available as PDF on internet, and was and maybe still is included in the welcome pack for new hires at Ogilvy. Its a small story about a guy in advertising and takes at max an hour to read.

...Avitosh
Fan of advertising.

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By stevenstark | Fairfield, CT June 11, 2009 10:23:19 am:

I agree with Robert Solomon — at least one of your beach reads should be fun. That's why I recommend e, a novel by Matt Beaumont. It's a funny, weird and wonderful peek into the mad world of ad agencies, all told in email exchanges. Here's a bit about it I wrote on Squidoo:http://www.squidoo.com/eanovel
www.stevenstark.net
www.twitter.com/stevenstark

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By Rust | Cincinnati, OH June 11, 2009 10:33:05 am:

If you're in advertising and you haven't read George Orwell's "Keep the Aspidistra Flying," well... just read it. Good book.

Gordon Comstock has 'declared war' on what he sees as an 'overarching dependence' on money by leaving a promising job as a copywriter for an advertising company called New Albion and taking a low-paying job instead, ostensibly so he can write poetry. The 'war' (and the poetry), however, aren't going particularly well...

AAFS Member (Alliance for Ad Free Signatures)

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By Darcey | Portland, OR June 11, 2009 04:59:39 pm:

Thanks for the list. Another new book I just read is "Do You Matter- How great design will make people love your company," written by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery. It is about brand and design and why it's important to listen to the customer; they will tell you what they want to buy! What a concept!

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By JustinBonura | New Orleans, LA June 18, 2009 12:55:50 pm:

marcie3 is right. And so is Robert Solomon. That's the only ad book I'd ever take to the beach.

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By promotion123 | Arana HIills September 29, 2009 01:47:41 am:

Excellent suggestions. I especially enjoyed Margaret Mark's, The Hero and The Outlaw - psychology is the advertiser's best friend!

May I suggest another? One of my recent favorites is 'Free, The Future of Radical Price' by Chris Anderson. While not as groundbreaking as his original book, 'The Long Tail', 'Free' does an fantastic job of cracking open an idea whose time has come (or is soon to be coming).

Douglas Gregory
http://www.promotionproducts.com.au

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