Reviews (23)

An excellent book
...

This is an excellent book for academics and practitioners alike. It cuts through the hype that has surrounded Internet-enabled business since its inception - at first by over-enthusiasm and then, after the NASDAQ crash, over-pessimism. But this book is more than just another book about how to deal with the Web - it should be read by managers in any information organisation, since it presents valuable insights into communication.

Gerry McGovern, one of the founders of Nua Internet Surveys, is known to many Internet professionals worldwide for the thoughtfulness, insight, and clarity of writing of his e-newsletter, New Thinking (now available from www.gerrymcgovern.com), and he has teamed up with a professional journalist, Rob Norton, to create this book.

The underlying philosophy of Content Critical is summarized in the opening to Chapter 3: "In business the customer is king. On the Internet, we hear that 'content is king'. But that's like saying from a business perspective that 'product is king.' It's the exact opposite of what 'customer is king' thinking is about. If the customer is king in business then the customer (reader) is king on the Internet. If the reader is king then content serves the reader...A classic fault of writing and publishing is that it puts the ego of the author or editor before the needs of the reader...If the reader doesn't read you, you don't have a business model" (p.45). Few could argue with that. Indeed, a reminder that the Web is subject to the same basic marketing principles as the rest of the world, and an encouragement to develop beyond a production orientation, is to be welcomed by any Web user, be that in the management of content or the hardware that drives it. McGovern and Norton take the basic principles of marketing and communication and apply them with clarity and insight to publishing on the Web.

This book should be read by anyone involved in Web content management, of course, but it should also be required reading for those with responsibilities including internal or external communication (and what academic or executive does not?) It has an accessible style, making the strong analysis and good practical ideas easy to understand and implement. It would be a good textbook in a course on Web content management. On behalf of all users of the Web, this reviewer hopes such courses grow and prosper!

...

Doing it right on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is the world's largest publishing medium, and one of the most important. It is a news source, reference tool, sales venue, meeting point, marketplace, exchange, and entertainment center. It is also an information point and service center. The Web connects millions of organizations to many kinds of clients, customers, members, and publics. The Web is one of the great tools of the information society. It is also our greatest source of information overload.

Web problems commonly develop because individuals and organizations fail to recognize that using the Web to aggregate and distribute information is publishing. Gerry McGovern and Rob Norton have written this useful book to help those who write, edit, or design Web content to publish effectively.

Effective Web publishing involves getting the right content to the right person at the right time. In this useful, well written book, McGovern and Norton explain how to do it.

Content Critical book is a how-to-do-it manual. Written in direct, clear language, the book offers systematic explanation for dozens of useful techniques and principles. It is also a primer in the theory of Web publishing. It explains why the techniques and principles work. It encourages readers to develop a useful philosophy and theory of web design.

Most web sites do not work well and many do not work at all. McGovern and Norton attribute this to the lack of common publishing standards on the Web, where the libertarian attitude toward freedom of content is mistakenly confused with failure to consider legibility, ease of use, and ease of navigation. According to McGovern and Norton, this confusion is made worse by designers who mistake the web for an extension of MTV and programmers who see the Web as a playground for new technologies.

The solution this book offers is a five-stage publishing strategy with usable checklists and serious conceptual tools for analyzing the situation, defining publishing scope, designing information architecture, building a publishing team, and designing appropriate technology.

This book is highly recommended. It belongs in every design library. It should be on the reading list of every course in Web design. Any Web designer who plans to be in business five years from now should read this book. KF

Ken Friedman. Book review. Design Research News, Volume 7, Number 1, Jan 2002 ISSN 1473-3862.

A Great Developer Guide
This is an excellent book that teaches about styles and contents. I find it very helpful for deciding how to provide quality information on my client Web sites. What can be improved about this book is a good discussion on RSS, the tool that get your site contents syndicated and distributed on the Web instantaneously. I also recommend "Free Prize Inside" and "101 Ways to Boost Your Web Traffic, 3rd Edition." These two books address the missing points in the book.

Great ideas, somewhat wordy and repetitive presentation
This book is primarily about web site design, although that may not be very obvious from the title. I wish many more web site authors and publishers would read this sort of book, though.

The overall premise is that the job of producing and running a web site has a lot in common with traditional paper publishing. Central to this idea, and the inspiration for the title, is that whatever the site, people actually visit it to read words. Not to look at pictures. Not to admire layout or coo at dynamic navigation menus. To find and read content. Everything else is at best irrelevant, at worst a distracting nuisance or even a reason to leave the site completely.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, and generally follow with the recommendations that the author makes about how to encourage and profit from this understanding: keep things simple, short, and fresh; understand your readers; make it easy to find stuff; treat editing and publishing as key business functions and so on.

What I find slightly disappointing is that the book itself doesn't entirely embody these values. The style is repetitive and often long-winded. As a well-edited web site or a conference presentation this would pack a much more powerful punch. I felt I understood the essential message quite early in the book, and finished reading it mostly out of duty.

Great resource for web designers¿
At last, content problems no longer have to break the hearts of web designers. Content Critical offers many solutions for making better web sites. Content is so often an after thought (Cut and paste) of web site design, this book clearly states why people are visiting your site (To read) and just how important quality content is. You'll find yourself quoting the easy to understand explanations of XML, search engines, content categorization, navigation design and web site design fundamentals. ... Read more

Book Description

Internet Marketing:Integrating Online and Offline Strategies asserts that while the Internet is a transformational innovation, pure Internet firms do not represent the future of the Internet, as failures in recent history attest. This text builds upon the fact that the future of the Internet lies in the activities of organizations large and small--in all market spaces--that use the Internet to improve service to customers and increase organizational productivity. Many powerful e-marketers predate the Internet, have strong brand identities, and use the Internet wisely to broaden the set of options, across the marketing and logistics mix that they can offer to their customers, suppliers, and partners. The underlying paradigm in the text visualizes the Internet as a significant new channel for communications and transactions that needs to be integrated into enterprise marketing strategies.In this process, businesses are transformed from isolated entities into extended enterprises-organizations whose boundaries have become permeable, admitting both suppliers and customers into many parts of the corporate information repository and requiring their participation in many aspects of daily operations. ... Read more

Book Description

Describes many inexpensive ways inventors can figure out, while protecting all patent rights, what their idea's real value is long before it's necessary to spend money on the patent. Dozens of Internet and other resources are provided with complete instructions for using them to your best advantage. This book is designed as the first book a new inventor should read to figure out what they need to do, where they can get help, and how to avoid the costly pitfalls that every inventor faces. The marketing information provided and the many referrals to other resources will also be valuable to experienced inventors seeking to expedite the costly process of entering an unknown market. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Prepare Yourself for the Real World of Invention
"Will It Sell?" is deap reading for the "idea person" who thought that there was a pot of gold waiting at the end of the "good idea rainbow." James E. White, author, tells you like it is--he doesn't mince words. He digs out every fact and every reason why your inventive idea can "fail," but he hopes that you will be the one-in-one-hundred-inventors whose invention won't fail.. He will be your mentor. When Jim explains a fact and each step to follow, you get the feeling that he is looking over your shoulder, correcting and helping you in your every move. "This is the book." If you think reading it is tough, then don't become an inventor. He'll tell you "how to get there," with every reference on each of the 300 pages. And he shows, like no other author, that if you fail on any one stage, don't even think about averaging-out the stages of invention to Pass. He tells the truth-- "No one said it would be easy." -- Who am I to tell you about "Will It Sell?" -- only the President of the Inventors Association of St. Louis, a large inventors' helping organization founded in 1984, that augmented in 1990 the United Inventors Association of the USA - which has over 3000 members. That's who! BUY THE BOOK - "WILL IT SELL"

For anyone considering bringing their invention to market
Will It Sell? was specifically written for anyone considering bringing their invention to market. A key consideration in marketing a new idea or product is to determine its profitability, especially before investing capital on a patent. James White's practical, "reader friendly" informational manual will provide the non-specialist general reader with inexpensive techniques and practical steps to take in assessing whether or not their invention will be commercially viable. Fundamental issues are clearly addressed such as what a patentable invention is, the step for "idea development" and "product development"; advertising claims, getting professional help, even doing your own patent search. Dozens of Internet resources are provided with instructions for how best to utilize them. If you have an idea or an invention that you want to make money with, begin by a carefully reading of James White's Will It Sell?. ... Read more

Book Description

* Packed with more than forty percent new and updated material, this edition shows business managers, marketing analysts, and data mining specialists how to harness fundamental data mining methods and techniques to solve common types of business problems
* Each chapter covers a new data mining technique, and then shows readers how to apply the technique for improved marketing, sales, and customer support
* The authors build on their reputation for concise, clear, and practical explanations of complex concepts, making this book the perfect introduction to data mining
* More advanced chapters cover such topics as how to prepare data for analysis and how to create the necessary infrastructure for data mining
* Covers core data mining techniques, including decision trees, neural networks, collaborative filtering, association rules, link analysis, clustering, and survival analysis ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Invitation from the Authors
People interested in this book may also be interested in our web site at www.data-miners.com. ... Read more

Book Description

Written by two of the most respected and honored individuals in the field, this definitive casebook of actual real-life public relations situations serves as a reference and guidebook for helping public relations professionals apply effective, cutting-edge public relations theories, principles, and practices to a wide variety of situations --involving all types and sizes of organizations.Features actual, real-life cases on each aspect of public relations --employee relations, media relations, community relations, issues, crises, investor relations, consumer relations and ethics. Some cases end favorable for the organization involved, some end in failure, and others are unresolved. Provides comprehensive introductions to each series of cases. Stresses the importance and necessity of combining all public relations actions with both personal and professional ethics in behavior -- as outlined by the Declaration of Principles of PRSA's Code of Ethics. For any practicing public relations professional. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

the real world
This book should be required for everyone even thinking about entering the field of public relations. The case studies give a very real view of how public relations are in the real world. Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR Wired is also another book that gives a real-life accurate view of PR. I would recommend in particular his Magoo Theory of public realtions.
Public Relations Practices has clear intelligent writing that talks to the reader without talking down to them

Real World Public Relations
If ever a book was written that applied the concepts, theories, and functions of public relations to actual real-life senarios, this is the one. In their Public Relations Practices, Center and Jackson breathed life into theoretical public relations, bringing it into "the real world" with cases in several areas of public relations--media relations, consumer relations, employee relations, investor relations, community relations, crisis management, public and private issues, interests, & concerns, and most importantly, standards, values, & ethics. Two probable prerequisites to this book would be a book on the basic principles and practices of PR and a book on PR campaign strategies. Public Relations Practices is the door through which the reader is invited to enter "the real world" of PR. Anyone, from the student of public relations to the working practitioner with decades of experience, can greatly benefit from the information contained within this text.

The best PR text I have ever read
I read this book in a college public relations class. Now, as an account executive in a public relations firm, I still find it invaluable. This text places special emphasis on the evaluation of public relations, and thus it is a credit to our field. I can't recommend it highly enough. Once you have read some introductory book on PR principles, this is required reading. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A must read for every serious software engineer.
I'm a senior software engineer currently working in
the UK. Some time ago days I searched the internet
to find some information about configuration management
in order to prepare an internal seminar for some
colleagues. I needed something easily explained that
could be used as a base to prepare a seminar for
beginners.
Among other documents I came across the last public draft of
this book. I've read it from cover to cover and I've
to say that is an excellent source of readily usable

information.
The patterns can be used in the same order
they are exposed to solve the most common SCM problems.
So I've used it as the main source of
information for the preparation of the seminar.
All in all is really an excellent book really useful for beginners and experts as well.
I think it will soon become a must read for every serious
software engineer.

Implement a patterns-based SCM process
Following the extremely clear patterns-based view of SCM presented in this book is allowing my organization to greatly improve our SCM processes. The patterns approach has quickly improved the communication of our process- making SCM easily understood by CM people, developers, and managers. This book and the Bays book (Software Release Methodlogy) can be combined to develop a effective, repeatable, improving SCM and release process.
To support other readers' comments (and update my review): Using a pattern language to describe SCM process has been helping people on my teams to take a more proactive role in SCM activities- identifying well thought-out branching scenarios, and how to manage their work areas (and work) to complete parallel development tasks. Impressive how describing parts of the process using several simple behavior patterns simplifies things...

Provides crucial SCM translations
The authors provide useful generic definitions of the critical SCM patterns. They go onto provide direct mappings between specific tool vocabulary and the patterns. This mapping has been instrumental in establishing a common SCM vocabulary in cross division projects. SCM education and planning are greatly streamlined due to this important translation. "Patterns"is an essential dictionary on all SCM adventures.

Essential SCM resource for all experience levels
I'm a fan of patterns because of the succinct way they convey knowledge and practices, so I rushed out to purchase this book. I was not disappointed for a number of reasons. First, it is true to the concept of patterns, and second, it is all practical with no ivory tower preaching.

The patterns given in this book comprise a complete picture of software configuration management, and will allow you to fully understand the scope and complexity of implementing, managing and continuously improving an SCM process. From the following list you'll see that these patterns are end-to-end:
- Mainline and active development line, both of which are designed to manage baselines, as well as to promote stability in the code base.
- Private Workspace, repository, private versioning, and private system build patterns are the essence of SCM as well as reflecting best practices in team-oriented integration and testing while preserving the integrity of the code base.
- Third party codeline is an interesting pattern that I've not encountered, but one that is highly useful when you are working with subcontractors, or have outsourced some development. The patterns for task level commit and task branches are also useful approaches to team-oriented development, whether internal or distributed among subcontractors.
- Codeline policy, smoke and unit test patterns govern the SCM process and prepare for the transition from development to QA. These are core patterns that are directly tied to the development process.
- Release line, release prep codeline, and regression test patterns cover the promotion to QA and release management portions of the development process.

In addition to the patterns, which are the main value of this book, the clearly articulated chapters on pattern language, SCM concepts, and other contextual information further enhance this book, and is yet another reason why anyone interested in SCM should make reading this book a priority. The supporting web site (ASIN B0000AA6G3) contains errata, a downloadable quick reference card, and sample chapters from this book. If you are still undecided visit the site and you'll find sufficient information with which to decide.

Great Book ... Formalizes Gut Instinct
Really, really good book. We were having some trouble on our project, and I needed to convince people to change over to a new way of doing things. However, I couldn't counter the age-old "but we've always done this" attitude. So, using this book, I was able to formalize my arguments, give examples of how what we were doing could get us into trouble, and also gave them a place to refer to for best practices. That certainly helped. People are slowly coming around to making the changes and there is now hope for the project!

I took off one star because there are some quirks with the writing style. For instance, the author will be talking about something that in the end turns out to be the thing /not/ to do and then launches into what to do. This can be a little disorienting. However, this doesn't happen often, and in some cases (if you have to make arguments against something) it might even be helpful.

Get this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

For more than three decades, Philip Kotler has been the authority on marketing for business grad students around the world. (His seven textbooks on various aspects of the topic are available in 18 languages in 58 countries, for example, while his seminal Marketing Management is considered the most widely used volume among all MBAs.) Even with all these publications, and a consultation/seminar practice aligned with firms such as AT&T, IBM, Michelin, Shell, and Merck, Kotler never committed to paper his popular theories concerning the ways in which executives and their managers should approach their real-life marketing programs. Until, that is, Kotler on Marketing. Comprehensive yet clear, this new compendium finally synthesizes Kotler's vast experiences and proven ideas into a single accessible resource. Three meaty initial sections address a series of strategic, tactical, and administrative concerns, ranging from identifying opportunities and building brand equity to utilizing outside intelligence and evaluating performance. A brief fourth part titled "Transformational Marketing" offers Kotler's perspective on "the revolutionary impact on the marketplace and marketing practice of the new technologies ... and new media" including the Internet, fax machines, sales-automation software, cable TV, videoconferencing, and "personal newspapers." --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Kotler on Marketing
Well, As a practicing marketing manager, this book really gave the jolt needed to rediscover marketing. It has been over a decade since I had done my business school, and studied Marketing Management, and as many of my colleagues will agree after that the book has gone into the cellar or lost it with the changes in offices/ companies/ places. Anyway, this is a must read for all practicing managers, and also for all senior executives who interact with Marketing Department.

For practicing marketing managers, this book is a good refresher, and to come out of our routine work schedule, and also to discover some of the concepts of marketing. As a good start the Marketing Audit as suggested in Chapter 10, would be good start, and then try to re-implement the rest of the book like marketing with clear planning in terms of strategic marketing, tactical marketing, administrative marketing and transformational marketing.

For others, who interact with the marketing department, this is a good book for them to better understand - what is marketing?, and why marketing is different from selling. This will also clear some of the issues of the true nature of marketing etc.,

Overall, I would say that is a must book for all people who are customer facing.

Highly Recommended!
Philip Kotler draws on lectures he's given worldwide and textbook basics to craft an informative and refreshing marketing text. Highlighting the primary tools and techniques used by marketing professionals, he encourages companies to adopt a holistic approach that emphasizes customer value over product sales. Since it's cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one, companies should use all of the resources at their disposal - including marketing - in building long-term customer relationships. Beyond the customer-value sermon, Kotler offers a systemic review of fundamental marketing concepts that we [...] heartily recommend to beginners, who quickly will find their copies of this book glowing with highlighter yellow, as well as marketing veterans, who will enjoy and learn from the book's fresh take on familiar topics.

At 50,000 Feet Its Tough to Keep Your Feet On the Ground
Kotler has the reputation as the marketing king - but I dont see it. This book was full of high level garbage and lacked any actionable insight. If you're like me you are in the real world trying to take product to market, figure out how to position (or deposition the competition), how to price effectively, etc. This book does not help with reality. If you want catchy terms and 4 bullet points to impress your friends in meetings, then this is the book for you.

For practical advise, seek another.

Boring & author has no personal business experience
Kotler may have experience as a professor but the book made it clear he does not have personal business experience. Would have been interesting if he could tell personal war stories. I'd rather read a book by one who is a success in business rather than a successful theorist.

Macro World of Marketing--Truly "How To"
Managing changing needs and desires! Kotler summarizes this field which is wide and becoming wider. In cogent, succint style, this book takes the marketing executive, student or executive who has to deal with marketers through where the field has been, where it is today and where it is heading.'

This is well done. Examples from real world are included (not much hypothetical, classroom or research stuff included) with great questions to ask yourself at the end of each chapter to probe deeper into the topic. Additional references are provided for those who wish to utitlize the concept further.

I find Kotler very easy to read and follow. The approach here presented is right on! There is a warehouse of great lines that can propel one's marketing, e.g. "If companies focus only on their costs, they will never grow to greatness. Without a top line, there will be no bottom line." or "The way to beat your competitors is to attack yourself first." "Finally, customers don't want promotion; they want two-way communication."

This is a gem of a book to mine for info or to put into practice. Likely those not familiar at all with the field will gain much from reading, while those engaged will find this work extremely practical, productive, clarifying and motivating. Not only does he point out trends and weaknesses and opportunities, but in most cases, provides real practitioners and examples, plus optional opportunities. ... Read more

Book Description

Market-proven strategies to generate competitive advantage by identifying and always taking care of your best customers

The Seven Keys to Managing Strategic Accounts provides decision makers with a proactive program for profitably managing their largest, most critical customers--their strategic accounts. Drawing on the expertise of S4 Consulting, Inc., a leading-edge provider of strategic account consulting, and Miller Heiman, a global sales training leader serving many Fortune 500companies, this how-to book shows how many of today's market leaders have learned to focus on their most profitable customers, avoiding or overcoming common errors before they become relationship-crippling disasters.

Placing its total focus on the design and implementation of cost-effective strategic account management programs, this hands on book provides:

• A world-class competency model for strategic account managers
• Techniques for developing a program to manage and grow "co-destiny" relationships
• Examples and cases from Honeywell, 3M,and other leading corporations

Reviews (3)

Make sure you have a program that really works¿
In today's marketplace key account (relationship) management is imperative. With the ever changing/increasing demands placed on these accounts it is even more important to develop a focus and a strategic game plan behind them. This book is a must read and a must have on your bookshelf. It's laid out in a friendly manner (the seven keys) and is easy to read. Whether you currently have a strategic account management program in place, are looking at implementing a new program, or are looking how to fine-tune an existing one -- the 7 Keys to Managing Strategic Accounts will help you in the process. Make sure you have a program that really works!

Great Real-World Advice
As an MBA candidate who spends far too much time reading textbooks, I found Seven Keys a welcome change in my business reading. It's readable, well-organized, full of real-world examples, and it lets me quickly know how I can ready an organization for effective strategic account management. These authors clearly have busy people in mind. I read the chapters that were of particular interest and then I read the remainder. Time well-spent.

Jay Readey

MBA Candidate, Yale University School of Management

Common-Sense Guidance Just in Time!
We just launched what we thought was a
strategic account program for our largest
customers last year, but I just learned
from this book that it's actually a key
account program in disguise.

Now we can use the authors' common-sense
guidance to focus on the customers who
truly have strategic potential, align our
entire company behind the initiative instead
of just the sales force, and set up an
account manager development program that
really works. Great job!

David S. Feldmann

Product Manager, Legal & Business Products
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. ... Read more

Book Description

Using real-world case studies throughout, this exploration of contemporary logistics describes the entire supply channel system — from inbound movement of freight through materials management to physical distribution to customers. State-of-the-art in perspective, it highlights topics that affect logistics channels management — including customer service, packaging, inventory management, traffic management and creating “value-added”linkages in the supply chain. The authors provide an overview of logistics, elements of logistics systems including order management and customer service, protective packaging and materials handling, domesticand industrial transportation management, inventory, warehousing and supply management, analyzing, designing, and implementing a logistics system. For individuals interested in contemporary logistics.

Reviews (2)

Excellent Logistics Text
I used this text in a graduate logistics class, and while clearly written and suitable for beginners, it is also excellent for more advanced students. The eighth edition is very current with discussions of topics like JIT, JIT II, and early RFID technology (although much has happened in the last year in RFID, already making the text somewhat dated in that regard.) I found that the case studies were well written and the real world examples cited in the book were well conceived to illustrate the intended points. Learning goals and reviews were useful, and while I did not use all of the reviews, the ones I did use assisted my comprehension of the material.

This book is great for an aspiring logistician or someone already in the workforce as a logistics or supply chain professional. This is definitely one of the best texts I have been exposed to in my graduate business classes, and I firmly believe that it would be equally useful in an upper level undergraduate class as well. I deducted one star not for any shortcoming of the book per se, but because of the outrageous price, which is, of course no fault of the author.

Required reading for the new logistics professional
Anyone working in the logistics and delivery field must read this book and keep it in your library.The book is all-inclusive so you don't need lotsof others.This may help justify the high price. ... Read more

Book Description

20th Anniversary of Infomercials Marked By Tell-All Book of Industry Secrets

Whether you love them or hate them, they’ve become an integral part of our television experience. They’ve told us everything we ever wanted to know about slicing, dicing, slimming, and toning. From BluBlocker sunglasses to the Psychic Friends Network, they’ve managed to capture our interest and our dollars for the last twenty years while introducing us to innovative products and some entertaining personalities . . .

But wait, there’s more!

In Steven Dworman’s new book $12 Billion of Inside Marketing Secrets Discovered Through Direct Response Television Sales, the entrepreneurs behind this truly American phenomenon reveal the successes and failures that made direct response television what it is today.

Written in an interview format, the book presents the personal experiences of twenty-three of the industry’s leaders in their own words. "This invaluable information has never been publicly shared before, " states author Steven Dworman. "But what is truly extraordinary isthe entrepreneurs personal story of starting with nothing and building $100 million dollar and up businesses!" The passion of each of these individuals comes through clearly in the interviews, whether its for the product, the marketing process, or for free enterprise generally. The story of Jay Kordich, whose Juiceman infomercial was the culmination of a very personal 40 year mission to promote the value of juicing, is truly inspiring.

Readers looking for technical information will not be disappointed. Candid conversations reveal each insider's personal successes and failures while passing along tips and tricks of the trade. In a particularly interesting section of his interview, Tony Robbins shares his experience with a specific focus group and breaks down the lessons learned.Although the book primarily focuses on network and cable TV infomercials, Marjorie Poore’s interview outlines the more subtle methods used by public broadcasting for product tie-ins.

The book concludes with an interview with Bill Guthy and Greg Renker of industry heavy-hitter Guthy-Renker. Currently marketing the Proactiv skin care line, Principal Secret, Personal Power and Windsor Pilates, made their garage business into a $1 billion per year concern solely through direct response marketing. The interview includes their strategy for success, and offers their view of the future of direct response television. Author biography: In the burgeoning field of infomercials, Steve Dworman has emerged as the industry expert. In 1991 he began publishing "The Infomercial Marketing Report," a monthly subscription newsletter read in over 20 countries worldwide. He also published with Adweek Magazines, "Adweek’s Direct Response Television Sourcebook." Having produced and run his own direct response television campaigns, Dworman learned all aspects of the industry. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies such as Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, Mattel, Avon, Apple Computer, Microsoft, and many others.

He’s been quoted by over 3,000 news sources including: Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Economist, The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune to name just a few.

He has a key eye for picking products and was responsible for many huge successes in the industry such as Total Gym, which grossed close to $1 billion in sales.

Dworman served on the Board of Directors for Positive Response Television, a public company in the direct response television industry. He also served as President and Founder of DMMO, the Digital Media Marketing Organization with members such as, Eastman Kodak, Technicolor, Warner Home Media, Sony Digital, and JVC amongst many other leading companies.

In 2001 he wrote, directed and acted in a feature film entitled, Divorce: the Musical. The film was featured on CNN, and in a front-page story in The Los Angeles Times.

He is currently consulting within the DRTV industry. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

An Gigantic Marketing Goldmine!
Honestly, I am completely startled and bafled as to why the top players in the direct response television industry so openly reveal their secrets, sales figures, and techniques responsible for their billions of dollars of success.

A smart marketer can easily take these insights and apply them to anything and everything they do-for extraordinary monitary rewards!

If you're a serious marketer, business owner, salesman, or influence maker, this book is a steal at 10 times its cost!

Jay Abraham
Abraham Marketing Group

A MUST for any entrepreneur
WOW! Even if you aren't interested in launching your business in the direction of infomercials, what is to be learned from this book about starting and growing a business, marketing and development is an abosulte BARGAIN at $49.95. Every internet entrepreneur should sit up all night reading this book.
If you have a business or a product or want to start a business or launch a product, read this book before your competition does.

A powerful book
Steve Dworman has truly captured the key elements that have made infomercials a powerful force in our contemporary landscape. Simply reading this book will teach you not only the secrets about producing a successful infomercial but about the time proven principles of marketing in general. I strongly recommend this book.

Stunningly candid and invaluable to every market planner
As direct response continues to dominate consumer sales growth, insight into this highly specialized
field becomes increasingly valuable.

As publisher of one of the industry's most influential news sources, Steve Dworman documented both the folly and the fantastic over 12 roller coaster years. Steve's renowned interviews reveal all the inside information with industry's top producers of many 100 million dollar plus promotions that is stunningly candid and invaluable to anyone either in the industry or considering taking the leap. This insight is simply not available from any other source and is a must read for every market planner in and outside the direct
response industry.

Eric L. Stilson
CEO
Stilson & Stilson Inc.

(HealthRider, BowFlex, Nordic Track, AB Trainer, AB Doer, Pilates, Gyrotonic, NatureSleep, LDS Church

Couldn't put it down
When Steve was publishing his newsletter about the infomercial business, it was must reading for everyone in the industry. This book is the natural extension of that. A real insider's look at how to make money on television. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

Two world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors present the definitive rules of marketing. ... Read more

Reviews (72)

'Violate these rules at your own risk!'
A reader of this book said that 'the first law of successful marketing is to read and understand this book'. I agree with that and say that it is a must-read for everyone working in marketing.

I have been working in this field for almost 5 years and I have realised that marketing people tend to have a wide variety of their own ideas about marketing and how to do it. I know that in this field a lot of the success comes from 'the unsual' and 'the uncommon' strategies, but it also comes from certain rules that have to be respected, because a history of more than 25 years proved that they work.

This book is meant to eliminate myths and misconceptions someone might have about the marketing process. Companies spend millions of dollars on marketing thinking that they are chosing the best way to promote their products. But no matter how extraordinary those programs are, sometimes they fail and bring no benefit to the product or the service they promote. The result destroys the identity of the brands, market share decreases, and so do sales. Companies lose a lot of money.

The two authors have a lot of experience in this field and their theories are based clear examples. If marketing people would adjust their promotional programs according to these rules, companies would be much more successful.

There are 22 rules in total, applicable to every field, rules that will make you understand why things are the way they are. It will also help you analyse past experience and decide what was wrong and right and avoid doing the same mistakes in the future.

It is not an academic book . The language and style are accessible to everybody. The authors give a lot of examples from companies' life that will give you a very clear picture of what is going on the market.

Did you know that it is better for a brand to be first on the market than it is to be better? Did you know that the most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind?

I recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn more about marketing and become a professional in this field. Together with Kotler's "Marketing Management', the '22 Immutable laws ...' should be the marketing people's Bible to be read every day.
I am sure it will improve your activities and help you achieve more success.

The most easy and interesting book about marketing
In general, the book is easy to read, each law is precise and illustrate with many examples that we are familiar with. Therefore anyone who didn¡¦t studying marketing can also understand.
I learned so much from these 22 laws. For instance, it is better to be the first then it is to be better. It is because the first one always becomes generic name of that category and becomes the leading brand. As a result the prospects can easily recall you since yours product or service almost always the first brand into their mind. And that is the author say ¡§Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products¡¨.
If anyone who wants to explore more about marketing, I highly recommend reading this book and I am sure you can gain a lot of insight from it.

A QUICK READ AND A GOOD REFERENCE
The perfect companion volume to The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. However, I found the laws of marketing to overlap somewhat with the laws of branding. But, hey, who ever said the marketing and branding are mutually exclusive sciences? Or sciences at all, for that matter?

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is an excellent refresher course to overall marketing principles in the form of bite-size sections. A quick read and a good reference.

Law 23: There Are No Immutable Laws Of Marketing
If calling any business rule-of-thumb a "law" is a recipe for disaster, claiming it is "immutable" is the proverbial fuse. In "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing", authors Al Ries and Jack Trout liken successful marketing to a set of "How To's" or "Tips & Tricks". Adding to the somewhat sketchy structure, the authors (wrongly) predict the demise of many organizations - now successful - that have disregarded their advice. And too often, laws are created as exceptions to those already established, exculpating the authors from any contrary opinion. This is a law, except when... or, unless you... is unacceptable.

Consider the claim that there exists "ominous signs of softness in Microsoft's strategy" for pursuing market share in major software applications categories external to the operating system. At the time of their writing, Ries and Trout point to Microsoft's failure to wrestle the spreadsheet and word processing markets from leaders Lotus and WordPerfect (an example of the Law of Line Extension). Or, consider that "USA Today is the first national newspaper, but it is unlikely to succeed". Time has indeed been cruel to the prophecies of Ries and Trout.

Criticism aside, many good ideas are presented throughout the text, however, at an average of only 6 pages per chapter, few get the recognition they deserve. The Law of Focus (read: positioning) is good advice whereby a firm should own a particular word or phrase in the mind of a customer. But, it would follow that extending a product line to include different items not captured under the firm's "buzz word" could be detrimental to either the new product or the whole firm. Yet, we see Microsoft as a modern-day example to the contrary (and, of course, Microsoft has no catchy buzz word anyway). Perhaps the authors would consider Microsoft a candidate for the Law of the Category - an example of a firm competing in a market they have solely created. At this point, however, applying immutable laws to the problem seems as difficult as correctly guessing the perfect conclusion to a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel.

For a laugh, the keen reader will notice the four pages of praise that preface the actual content. On five occasions, different individuals make the exact same generic statement, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is the best book on marketing I've ever read". If there was a Law of Repetition, this book would nail it down (but, there isn't). Whether an amazing coincidence or publisher error, this sets the tone for the rest of the book. If you can't nail the details or correctly predict the application of your laws in practice, don't expect your readers to buy into the theory.

Although two of the greatest modern marketing minds, Ries and Trout have written a tale destined only for the lowest-common denominator. Many of their other works, most notably, "Positioning", are far more comprehensive in their attention to detail and ability to effectively persuade. Too many unfulfilled (or simply wrong) prophecies make this book an "immutable" candidate for the half-off shelf at your local bookstore.

Joshua A. Gerlick

Excellent thought-piece coffee table stuff, but some caveats
After 10 years, this still remains a classic work in the marketing field, and perhaps a must-read for anyone in business. And no, unlike many reviewers I do not believe that Ries and Trout have ever managed to redo the glory of this book in their Laws of Branding, Laws of Internet Branding etc.

Don't expect an excruciating marketing treatise with elaborate case studies and What-If scenarios. Expect instead 22 capsules of business wisdom, or "laws" of common sense marketing with some brilliant examples from the real world to prove them. In this, the book excels and is to date the briefest and best argued work I have come across.

However, given the passion with which some reviewers comment about this book I am inclined to offer a caveat -- please don't base your career around it. Although I love thin, in-your-face books such as this (great reading, great examples to bounce off) they also have a fundamental flaw: the fact that they attempt to shove "laws" on to the ever-morphing scaffold of the business of marketing that does not lend itself easily to codification, much less of an "immutable" nature.

It would be a cinch to come up with examples that go against each law in the book if you really wanted.

For instance,

(1) Law of Leadership (better to be first than to be best) can be argued against with the theory of disruptions and how first-mover advantages do not always materialize. Why is WebCrawler not more popular than Google? Because Google is (way) better.

(2) The Law of Sacrifice (that talks about focus, as do a couple of other similar if not redundant laws, including, well, the Law of Focus) would not hold much fizz in the case of many very successful conglomerates, especially in Asian countries. Imagine a company selling everything from oil to fruit juice to IT services, and still being a top brand in a country. Examples abound in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan.

(3) The Law of the Opposite that advocates the definition of your strategy by considering the leader's (also redundant with the Law of the Ladder, which essentially says the same thing) can be argued by giving umpteen examples of companies that shot from being No.2 to being No.1, some times because No.1 filed for Chapter 11. In such cases, emulating the leader could have in fact been detrimental.

Etc.

Anyway, despite redundancies across the laws, and the possiblity of counter-argument against most of them, this is a ripper of a read for the business intent that it was written for, and 10 years after its publication still as charming as it first was.

Highly recommended reading, but keep your discerning senses about you. Noteworthy: Law of Perception (also Law of the Mind), and Law of the Category. ... Read more

Book Description

For 25 years, Entrepreneur magazine has been advising people on how to start their own businesses.Now, Entrepreneur focuses that expertise on the hottest new way to start a business: on eBay!

Make Big Profits on eBay combines Entrepreneur’s expertise in all things business with new strategies for the eBay world.This book isn’t for people who want to make a little extra cash selling old knickknacks.It’s for people like you who are serious about starting their own ultra-successful businesses on eBay.

Make Big Profits on eBay:

• Teaches you how to best take advantage of eBay features like paid listings, keywords, photos, the “About Me” page and more
• Applies cutting-edge, proven strategies for marketing, customer service, money management and business operation specifically for use on eBay
• Lets you in no how PowerSellers got to the top—not just their success stories, but also their secret tips, techniques and mistakes to avoid
• Shows you hidden ways of making money on eBay without selling a thing!

The expert advice will guide you from eBay novice to PowerSeller quickly and easily so you can start your own million-dollar business.

Reviews (1)

Worth the Price Even if you are Just a Buyer
I've purchased things on e-bay but never sold anything there. So I started reading this book with a view to selling some camera and computer items that I had collecting dust. First I decided to read about buying things to see if I agreed.

Not only did I agree, but they pointed out some things that I had never thought about, like searching for things with mis-spelled words in the title that would not show up in a search. Sure enough under "moboard" rather than "motherboard" I found a dual processor motherboard with no bids that would have gone for thirty - forty bucks if they had spelled out motherboard. There were also lots of boards with the search using the misspelled "motherbord."

Sounds like these ladies know what they are talking about. I started listing some items for sale, and while the bids haven't closed yet, so far at least what they said has proved dead on accurate.

As for making e-bay into a business, their comments on how to find a continuing source of supply for what you can sell profitably makes good sense, but I'm not there yet.

Finally the last part of the book is on the gerneral rules of starting any business such as licensing, accounting, taxes, etc. These are a lot like the same rules for starting any business but are tailored slightly with e-bay in mind.

All in all, easily worth the money. ... Read more

Book Description

Essentials of Marketing is a brief version of Basic Marketing, the worldwide market leading Principles text. Basic Marketing and Essentials of Marketing are the first books to develop and present the 4Ps framework (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) which describes the components of the marketing mix and forms the foundation of Marketing. Like Basic Marketing, Essentials of Marketing offers a very thorough integration of the latest marketing themes, topics, and examples woven throughout.

While Essentials of Marketing is a brief text, it is not a cut-and-paste of Basic Marketing.It is written carefully, thoroughly and specifically to be suitable for shorter Marketing courses.Author Bill Perreault shows this same dedication to the supplements package. Where most principles of marketing texts have separate supplement authors, Bill Perreault creates every item in the package. This unique involvement ensures quality, accuracy, and reliability. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very illustrative and good examples!!
I would highly recommend this book for any students (Business or non businss)majors interested in learning more about Marketing. The text starts off with the four essentials functions of marketing which are product,place,price,and promotion. This builds a solid fountain for all higher level business classes! Also this text provides highly organized graphics and examples. ... Read more

Book Description

CEOs are more than frustrated by marketing's inability to deliver results. Has the profession lost its relevance?

Nirmalya Kumar argues that, while the function of marketing has lost ground, the importance of marketing as a mind-set-geared toward customer focus and market orientation-has gained momentum across the entire organization.

This book challenges marketers to change their role from implementers of traditional marketing functions to strategic coordinators of organization-wide initiatives aimed at profitably delivering value to customers. Kumar outlines seven cross-functional and bottom-line oriented initiatives that can put marketing back on the CEO's agenda-and elevate its role in shaping the destiny of the firm.

Nirmalya Kumar is Professor of Marketing at IMD-International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland.

... Read more

Reviews (3)

Marketing is Strategy and Kumar explains why
Professor Nirmalya Kumar explores the world of Marketing from the CEO's perspective, making a strong case in favour of a major role for the marketing director in the developing of the company's strategy.

His message is clear: marketing and strategy are closely related, if not the very same thing, and in today's highly competitive environment no single company could afford to ignore this fact.

Perhaps two of the most important contributions of this book are the use of the "three Vs" approach (Valued customer, Value network and Value proposition) as a means to get answers to the three basic strategic questions: Who, How and What, and the section devoted to the discussion of the concept of strategic segmentation.

I had the privilege of having Professor Kumar during a term of my Sloan Fellowship Masters Programme at the London Business School, in 2003, and we used parts of his then unpublished manuscript to explore some of his revolutionary concepts. Even though nothing can replace having Nirmalya in front of you talking about his experience and incredible knowledge of the Marketing science, by reading this book you will have access to some of his most innovative ideas.

Definitively, a Marketing/Strategy reference book for the years to come

Making Marketing Matter to Your CEO
With increasing pressures on CEOs to deliver profits in the short term and increasing concerns of Board members about financial reporting requirements, the corporate agenda is less and less likely to include marketing issues. Yet in every organization, it is marketing's answers to the who?, what? and how? questions that build the growth engine of the enterprise. Professor Kumar explains why leaders must have their eyes on the marketing ball.

Though Professor Kumar is a marketing academic, his book is useful not just for marketers, but also for CEO's and general managers. He convincingly argues why marketing must be elevated from the tactical responsibility to sell more of our products and services to a strategic influence in the future direction of the organization.

To do this, he suggests that marketing no longer employ the traditional four Ps model of product, promotion, price and place (distribution) but rather a more strategic approach he calls the Three Vs: valued customer (who to serve), value proposition (what to offer) and value network (how to deliver).

With practical suggestions and examples, he details a menu of seven marketing initiatives that will drive growth and innovation in all organizations. The seven transformational initiatives along with some questions from the checklists provided are:

1. From Market Segments to Strategic Segments: Who are our valued customers?; Which customers are unhappy with current offerings in the industry?; Is the target large enough to meet our sales objectives?; What is our value proposition?; Does it fit the needs of customers we are trying to serve?; What benefits are we delivering?; Can we deliver and earn a profit?

2. From Selling Products to Providing Solutions: Do we guarantee customers outcomes and benefits instead of product performance?; Have our sales people developed consulting skills and deep industry knowledge?; Have we developed effective processes to allocate resources to solution projects?

3. From Declining to Growing Distribution Channels: What service outputs will the new channel provide?; How will the relative importance and power of existing channels change?; Which competitors will enter the new channel?; What changes in channel incentives to existing members will competitors try? What new competences do we need to enter the new channel?

4. From Branded Bulldozers to Global Distribution Partners: Have we identified our most valuable clients on a worldwide basis?; Are there single points of contact for global customers?; Have we optimized our supply chain for global efficiency?; Have we harmonized pricing structures?

5. From Brand Acquisitions to Brand Rationalization: Which brands are contributing to our profits?; What needs-based segments exist in each category?; How much sales revenue would we risk by deleting non-core brands?; What is the role of the corporate brand?; How will we articulate our program to stakeholders?

6. From Market-Driven to Market-Driving: Are new ideas routinely imported from the outside?; Do we tolerate failures and have processes in place to learn from failures?; Do we mix people on teams to generate new ideas?; Do we ensure that radical ideas do not lose resources to incremental ideas?

7. From Strategic Business Unit Marketing to Corporate Marketing: How does the organization rate on customer focus in processes, including new product development, order fulfillment, customer relationship management?; Is the organization organized around customers?; Are metrics and rewards related to impact on customers?; Does the organization systematically learn about customers?

Read this important new book to learn how to live up to today's pressing challenges of identifying new markets, keeping prices up and retaining customers.

Making Marketing Matter to the CEO
With increasing pressures on CEOs to deliver profits in the short term and increasing concerns of Board members about financial reporting requirements, the corporate agenda is less and less likely to include marketing issues. Yet in every organization, it is marketing's answers to the who?, what? and how? questions that build the growth engine of the enterprise. Professor Kumar explains why leaders must have their eyes on the marketing ball.

Though Professor Kumar is a marketing academic, his book is useful not just for marketers, but also for CEO's and general managers. He convincingly argues why marketing must be elevated from the tactical responsibility to sell more of our products and services to a strategic influence in the future direction of the organization.

To do this, he suggests that marketing no longer employ the traditional four Ps model of product, promotion, price and place (distribution) but rather a more strategic approach he calls the Three Vs: valued customer (who to serve), value proposition (what to offer) and value network (how to deliver).

With practical suggestions and examples, he details a menu of seven marketing initiatives that will drive growth and innovation in all organizations. The seven transformational initiatives along with some questions from the checklists provided are:

1. From Market Segments to Strategic Segments: Who are our valued customers?; Which customers are unhappy with current offerings in the industry?; Is the target large enough to meet our sales objectives?; What is our value proposition?; Does it fit the needs of customers we are trying to serve?; What benefits are we delivering?; Can we deliver and earn a profit?

2. From Selling Products to Providing Solutions: Do we guarantee customers outcomes and benefits instead of product performance?; Have our sales people developed consulting skills and deep industry knowledge?; Have we developed effective processes to allocate resources to solution projects?

3. From Declining to Growing Distribution Channels: What service outputs will the new channel provide?; How will the relative importance and power of existing channels change?; Which competitors will enter the new channel?; What changes in channel incentives to existing members will competitors try? What new competences do we need to enter the new channel?

4. From Branded Bulldozers to Global Distribution Partners: Have we identified our most valuable clients on a worldwide basis?; Are there single points of contact for global customers?; Have we optimized our supply chain for global efficiency?; Have we harmonized pricing structures?

5. From Brand Acquisitions to Brand Rationalization: Which brands are contributing to our profits?; What needs-based segments exist in each category?; How much sales revenue would we risk by deleting non-core brands?; What is the role of the corporate brand?; How will we articulate our program to stakeholders?

6. From Market-Driven to Market-Driving: Are new ideas routinely imported from the outside?; Do we tolerate failures and have processes in place to learn from failures?; Do we mix people on teams to generate new ideas?; Do we ensure that radical ideas do not lose resources to incremental ideas?

7. From Strategic Business Unit Marketing to Corporate Marketing: How does the organization rate on customer focus in processes, including new product development, order fulfillment, customer relationship management?; Is the organization organized around customers?; Are metrics and rewards related to impact on customers?; Does the organization systematically learn about customers?

Read this important new book to learn how to live up to today's pressing challenges of identifying new markets, keeping prices up and retaining customers. ... Read more

Book Description

In this long-awaited book from the world's premier brand expert and author of the seminal work Building Strong Brands, David Aaker shows managers how to construct a brand portfolio strategy that will support a company's business strategy and create relevance, differentiation, energy, leverage, and clarity. Building on case studies of world-class brands such as Dell, Disney, Microsoft, Sony, Dove, Intel, CitiGroup, and PowerBar, Aaker demonstrates how powerful, cohesive brand strategies have enabled managers to revitalize brands, support business growth, and create discipline in confused, bloated portfolios of master brands, subbrands, endorser brands, co-brands, and brand extensions.

Aaker offers readers step-by-step advice on what to do when confronting scenarios such as the following:

• Brands are underleveraged

• The business strategy is at risk because of inadequate brand platforms

• The business faces a relevance threat caused by emerging subcategories

• The firm's brands are tired and bland

• Strategy is paralyzed by a lack of priority among the brands

• Brands are cluttered and confusing to both customers and employees

• The firm needs to move into the super-premium or value arenas to create margin or sales volume

• Margin pressures require points of differentiation

Renowned brand guru Aaker demonstrates that assuring that each brand in the portfolio has a clear role and actively reinforces and supports the other portfolio brands will profoundly affect the firm's profitability. Brand Portfolio Strategy is required reading not only for brand managers but for all managers with bottom-line responsibility to their shareholders. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Manage your brand portfolio better
David A. Aaker's new book is another great piece on branding from the distinguished author of several classics within brand strategy. The book provides in-depth knowledge about portfolio management and inspires readers to reach further in their own corporations. Guidelines and best practices in one single place. Aaker's book is a must for all brand marketeers.

David Aaker is brilliant
After reading about this book in Investor's Business Daily, The New York Times, and the Financial Times, I just had to see what everybody was raving about. I've concluded that David Aaker is a genuis.

Not As Good As Aaker's Previous (or First) books on Branding
The book is overly filled with newly-invented jargons such as Brand Differentiator, Brand Relevance, Range Brand, Sub-brand with Brand Differentiator, which can make readers overwhelmed with decoding the content.

A responsible writer on Branding should help readers simplify the complex and make it easy for them to know the true picture of branding.

This book is not entirely new. About 20% of the content(I would say more than the author admitted in the Preface) is based on Aaker's old books like Brand Equity, Building Brand Identity, and Brand Leadership. Examples are predictable and have been used before in his old books, mostly including Intel, Marriott, and the like. The cases drawn for this book can be very biased since Intel, Sony, Microsoft, Dove and so forth are world-class,big budget brands. Of course they have the know-how and abundant resources to build successful brands. Aaker should quote some medium or low budget brand cases that turn themselves into successful brands.

As a Vice-Chairman of Prophet, a brand consultancy, readers may worry about Aaker's (not just a Brand/Marketing Professor from Berkeley now!) objectivity in examples selections as well.

Besides, the Clients that Prophet serve are mostly not the world-class brands(except just one or two, like Adidas). This may reduce the credibility of Aaker as a branding expert in the first place since he wrote about the world-class brands, not really building the world-class brands himself or with his colleagues.

There is a tendency for authors to rush out new books these days. In fact, quality does count. For authors who have been preaching the importance of good quality in the branding process, they should walk the talk themselves!

Aaker's Greatest Achievement Thus Far
Aaker has earned and deserves his renown as an expert on branding. Perhaps you have read one or more of his previous books: Managing Brand Equity (1991), Building Strong Brands (1995), Developing Business Strategies (1998), Brand Leadership (with Eric Joachimsthaler, 2000), and Strategic Market Management (2001). In my opinion Brand Portfolio Strategy is Aaaker's most important work thus far. One of the most popular recent buzz words is "portfolio" which, insofar as strategy is concerned, is best understood in terms of diversity which creates or allows for options and opportunities otherwise unavailable. According to Aaker, the brand portfolio strategy "provides the structure and discipline needed to have successful business strategy. A brand portfolio strategy which is confused and incoherent can handicap and sometimes doom a business strategy. One that fosters organizational and market strategies, creates relevant. differentiated and energized brand assets, and leverage es those brand assets, on the other hand, will. support and enable business strategy." The brand portfolio strategy which Aaker advocates, therefore, creates relevance, differentiation, energy, leverage, and clarity.

There is a diagram inside the front and back covers of this book which illustrates precisely what such a strategy involves, and, what the various relationships are between and among its various components. (As I read this book, I found it helpful to refer back to the diagram occasionally as I would to a map throughout a journey. The same diagram also appears on page 17.) I appreciate the fact that Aaker illustrates each of his core concepts by examining various corporations' successes and failures with a brand portfolio strategy, notably Intel, Disney, Microsoft, Citigroup, SONY, Dove, GE Appliances, Dell, and Unilever.

After having read the previous sentence, decision-makers in small-to-midsize companies may conclude that the brand portfolio strategy offers little (if any) value to them. That would be a mistake and I apologize if I inadvertently encourage anyone to reach