Ad Age wanted to create a definitive reading list for the
marketing and media business, but we didn't know whether the
editorial team could pull it off on our own, so we turned it over
to the wisdom of crowds.
Actually "
The
Wisdom of Crowds
," James
Surowiecki's treatise on the benefits of collective thinking, got
only one vote. But more than 300 people took the time to list their
favorite books, either in comments below our staff picks, on
LinkedIn, or via e-mail. Most ignored our request that they choose
a single book, and instead nominated a handful, so more than 400
books got a nod. Mr. Surowiecki kept some pretty good company among
those who didn't make your top 10. The brilliant William Gibson got
a handful of votes for "
Pattern
Recognition
" but just missed
the list. Other great tomes with multiple mentions, but not enough
to make the cut: Marshall McLuhan's "
The
Medium Is the Message
," "
Ted
Levitt on Marketing
," James Fallows'
"
Breaking
The News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy
" and Michael
Lewis' "
Moneyball:
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
." But in the end,
it was the ad-focused classics that won the day, with Al Ries and
Jack Trout's "Positioning" narrowly defeating "Ogilvy on
Advertising" for the top spot. Mr. Ries snared the No. 3 spot, too,
this time with his daughter, Laura, and "The 22 Immutable Laws of
Branding." And just behind them, "e" by Matt Beaumont, a work of
fiction, albeit one that several people noted closely resembles
reality. "The characters are deliciously right on the money," said
Carol Phillips of Oak Park, Ill. "I knew someone like everyone in
the book. How could it be that all agencies have the same
stereotypes?"So here they are, your top 10 media and marketing
books of all time.
1.
|
"POSITIONING: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND"
Al Ries and Jack Trout
|