Big confession: I haven't actually read the entire book. I got to F and had to stop. And the main reason I ground to a halt is because the book is a victim (or success, depending on your point of view), of its format.
The 'A to Z' is exactly that, with 80 marketing "concepts" listed and described in alphabetical order. Nothing particularly wrong with that in principle, but it does lend itself to being more of a "dip-in/ dip-out" coffee-table book, and effectively scuppers the conscientious book reviewer.
So I remembered the wise words of my good friend Mick - "read books; don't finish them if they are crap" - and risked expulsion from the Book Reviewers in Advertising Group (otherwise known as BRAG), by changing the rules. I should clarify that the book isn't actually crap and, to be fair to the venerable Mr Kotler, I carried on reading in a way in which I now realise the book is best consumed - the aforementioned dip-in/dip-out method.
Being fairer still, I don't really fall into any of the three categories of reader this book is aimed at: managers who have just realised they need to know something about marketing (and can't be arsed to read Marketing for Dummies, weighing in at 300 odd pages compared with Kotler's 200), managers who studied marketing back in the 20th century and realise things have changed, and marketers wrapped up in the daily chaos of marketing events who need a return to clarity.
Kotler doesn't write anything wrong - he is Philip Kotler, after all - but he's hardly inspiring. The snapshots of insight he presents are generally filled with soundbites one would quote instinctively as reminders to clients having little idea of basic marketing communications. Things like, "doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark; you know what you are doing, but nobody else does" and "any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand".
But one thing I do like about his approach is an honest and common-sense attitude to considering issues often woefully overlooked by agencies advising clients. Like when he asks, "Would advertising create more satisfied clients than if the company spent money on making a better product, improving company service, or creating stronger brand experiences?"
If agencies are to thrive in what is becoming an increasingly homogenous industry, they need to understand their success lies more in paying attention to what their clients really worry about, rather than what they believe their clients should worry about.
I found explanations and descriptions in the book that helped clarify my commonsense beliefs and observations into more solid theory.
As a professed 'A to Z', it does come across as being more 'ABC' than 'total road map'. If there was a college of marketing and communications for our industry, copies should be liberally scattered around the junior common room. And in the absence of that, I suggest you have it somewhere near to hand, for that "shit, what on earth I am I going to write about that damned #*?!@?! marketing concept to make my presentation sound like it hasn't been written by a transparently un-informed blagger?"
This book review was first published on Haymarket's Brand Republic website, www.brandrepublic.com.