End of Marketing as We Know It

Rating:
Summary: Good ideas, not enough detail
Review: I feel this book does a good job in explaining the concepts of sound marketing but does not go into enough detail on how they should be used. I do agree with the author about the need to develop a sound strategy when selling or marketing a product. The topic then is often not discussed after that point leaving the reader with more questions than answers. This was the case in the following examples.

The book focuses exclusively on consumer products and does not addresss business to business marketing issues. Business to business marketing requires more focus on developing solutions that this book does not address.

The book addresses topics such as the importance of developing sound strategy, the impact of the Internet, and dimensions but then does not into the detail on how a marketing person should use these tools or develop strategies that will increase sales.

The book uses several examples from Coca Cola that talk about the decisions that were made but little about the needs of the marketplace at that time. This gave the book the feel of an autobiography.

I do think that the author has several good ideas but could have benefited from more depth that would provide more explicit answers on these issues.

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Down
Review: Honestly, I was expecting a lot more out of this book. Zyman does a wonderful job at taking a lot of credit for his accomplishments in the marketing world. Nevertheless, there was not a page in the book that the word "I" wasn't mentioned. I wasn't expecting a personal story on how he conquered the markets with the coke brand. I was looking for new and original ideas that were used to improve my marketing techniques.

Rating:
Summary: The End of Coke As We Know it
Review: I'm ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, Sergio Zyman was the architect of New Coke, one of the biggest marketing failures of all time. On the other, he has great spin on this by describing the debacle as how Coke "increased the attachment of the American public to Coca-Cola and sold lots more as a result." You be the judge.

Coca-cola's market share has stagnated in recent years, culminating in vast and well publicized layoffs. Additionally, one has to be leery of any business book published in the late 90's in the midst of an economic bubble when business types were treated like some sort of cross between rock stars and popular jocks. I was also skeptical of some of the advice he gives in the book, especially when he describes some of the other failures of the Coca-Cola company, including building massive production and distribution facilities in the old Eastern bloc following the fall of Communism, and then realizing that most of the people didn't have any money to buy cokes - duh.

Finally, I put aside as much of my distaste as I could for large, morally bankrupt corporations like Coca-Cola and read the book to learn something. There are great insights about the function of ad agencies in strategy, marketing and even some nuggets of interesting management ideas. However, the real gems of the information could have been condensed to a pamphlet you could read in 20 minutes. Good editors would have hacked through all the anecdotes about how to play major ad agencies against each other. I suspect that the people who need that kind of information could buy Sergio himself.

By the way, don't agree Coca-Cola is morally bankrupt?

Rating:
Summary: A DECLARATION OF WAR (AGAINST THE AD INDUSTRY)?
Review: If you like tame, feel-good books on marketing, stay away from Sergio. This self-proclaimed myth slayer has adequate credentials (Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, McCann Erickson, and even Pepsi) to vindicate his taunting, irreverent take on conventional marketing. Marketing, he preaches, ought to have just one goal in mind: to push the needle on the consumption meter. The world didn't need one more book to tell us that. Yet in spite of the unmistakable traces of a private agenda -to take a swipe at the Ad industry-- it makes a valuable contribution to marketing and advertising literature that is often too dry, too timid, or devoid of passion. Almost erring on the side of intimidation, his arguments are born of frustration with all things shrink-wrapped and spiral-bound: Marketing is not about shooting expensive commercials in Bali but about selling. Not about imperious PowerPoint presentations and award-winning commercials, but about real consumption. Now who can quarrel with that? Ad Agency people, of course! At least the ones who crossed his path.

He takes to task the Madison Avenue types who perpetrate the notion that image is everything, though his mission is to smash the 'black-box' of marketing magic. He peppers his argument with charming analogies: To illustrate a strategy that he calls 'destination planning', he compares marketing to arriving at an airport to catch a flight. To base one's marketing goals on last year's sales, or the size of some predetermined budget is "like telling the ticket agent that you want to go a hundred miles farther than your last trip, or you want any ticket that costs $122."

Very funny, unless you happen to be one of those 'image consultants' masquerading as ad agencies-precisely whom Zyman says shouldn't be strategizing anyway. Which begs the question: Shouldn't the title have been 'The end of Advertising as we know it'? Aha! But that wouldn't have had the same impact would it? Having said that, it's still a great (as in 'disturbing') book for people who resist radical change. In advertising, that is. Having worked in those trenches before, I highly recommend this book. Even if you're not a Sergio-watcher.

Rating:
Summary: A nice introduction
Review: I'm a beginning marketer with a lot riding on my department. This book was an excellent introduction to some very helpful themes in marketing, such as that all of it is all about sales! After reading Zyman's treatise, I feel ready to be effective and not emotional about my tactics. It was easy to read and accessible to the neophyte. I highly recommend it and keep it handy at work. It's a great resource. I was a little distracted by some of the typographical errors that made it to the printed copy. I think the quality of the printing undermined Mr. Zyman's hard work and excellent message.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef
Review: Sergio Zyman rambles on and on. This book is not well researched. There are a few nuggets of value in the book, which are based on Sergio's experiences at Coca-Cola. However, he waxes on about things outside his domain of knowledge without facts to back up his musings.

Overall, this book should have been paired down to an article.

Rating:
Summary: Very convincing... Very convincing indeed
Review: THE END OF MARKETING AS WE KNOW IT. It's a great business book to add to your collection. Firstly - what is it about? Why is Marketing going to die? Well - Sergio Zyman explains (and convinces) that the majority of people in marketing these days believe that the only thing they have to do in order to be successful is to simply be creative. What a joke. That is no business, definetely no part of Sergio's business. Rather, Sergio states that the NEW WAY OF MARKETING will be based 100% on results, and getting people to buy more of your product. Winning an advertising award in your company, or merely, knowing that people in your workplace are saying how creative you are - means nothing. If you don't have a strategy, which is aimed at producing better results than you are currently recording - you really need to pull up your socks and realize; that because of people like you - the end of marketing is approaching... rapidly.

When business' are losing market share, and need to cut back on something - a vast array of business first cut money from their marketing department. THis is completely ludicrous, as the only way to increase market share, is to implement a new, or work on the current, marketing strategy. This book goes beyond what a textbook will teach you about marketing. Throw away those Kotler books, because watch out, this Mexican, who is the former CMO of the Coca-Cola company - convinces that results are the only thing business is about - especially marketing.

I really liked the book. It's not too heavy - thats probably why I liked it. However, one thing I would love to ask Sergio is his views on Marketing being a Science. This is the only thing that should have been expained more in depth. Maybe that can be your next book! He backs this up with nothing much at all other than the fact that you must test, test and test again. And that you have to experiment, measure, analyze, refine, and implement. How does this differ to an art?

But, other than that - I really liked it. Enjoy the read, he is quite a character!! I'm off to read the end of Advertising!

Rating:
Summary: What Any Marketer With A LIttle Common Sense Ought to Know
Review: The point of any marketing campaign is to sell more stuff to more people. It's not about winning awards for creativity, it may or may not make people "feel good", it is not a magic box, and it is not something that can be completely outsourced. That, in a nutshell is the gist of "The End of Marketing as We Know It".

This book is really nothing more than common sense (NOT necessarily common practice!), however, if you have been in the advertising/marketing word very long, chances are this book will be a breath of fresh air. In order to sell more stuff to more people, marketing has to focus on positioning and delivering messages that connect with real people, not the CEO or the folks that hand out advertising awards. It's got to show people what's in it for them, why they should buy your stuff, and why they should buy your stuff again, and again.

If you work in an environment that already thinks and work like this, this book may be a waste of your time. If you work in an environment that is developing campaigns for any purpose other than selling more stuff directly or supporting the sales function and making it effortless, this a book you need to read. If you are looking to hire a marketing consultant or an agency and don't know much about marketing, you need to view marketing as an investment in future sales revenue. This book will help you understand and crystallize that for you.

....

Rating:
Summary: the end of marketing as we know it
Review: i was expecting a lot more from this author ,especially coming from a former c.e.o. of coca cola, and i am sorry to say that i was disappointed. the whole thick book, hardbound at that, talks of just one point ,and that is, "every marketing person has just one goal ...make a sale". that is the whole gist of the book, nothing else. the rest of the book just talks about how advertising agencies are "dumb" and how the author became the greatest c.e.o. that the coca cola company has ever had.

Rating:
Summary: A great "cut to the chase"book, even better in audio version
Review: Most of the previous reviews hit on all my main points of why I love this book, except one: this book is even better when you listen to it in Sergios own words. I think we all know how listening to a good speaker can be both motivating and add power to the delivery of the message. He is an excellent speaker, so I strongly recommend you LISTEN to this book. I also recommend you make everyone in your marketing department listen to this tape. Call a meeting and have them all listen to it together, it will be well worth their time!