Tag: Marketeer

David Meerman Scott – The New Rules of Marketing & PR | Review

Title: The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Author: David Meerman Scott

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 368

Rating: 8/10

 

David Meerman Scott - The New Rules of Marketing & PR

David Meerman Scott – The New Rules of Marketing & PR

 

If you’re working in contemporary marketing then you need to read this book – it’s as simple as that. True, not all of it was necessarily directly related to what I do in my day job, but the concepts that are covered here are important across the board, whether you’re a marketeer or whether you’re a specialist, such as a web developer, within a marketing team. Let me tell you why.

The way that people communicate has changed, and brands are struggling to keep up. In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, Scott starts out with a basis in traditional marketing theory, and then expands upon it to cover the competitive landscape in the modern age. Essentially, this is your bible, and it’ll explain to you how all of the different channels that are now available, due to the rise of the internet, the web and social media, can be worked to their maximum potential to generate revenue and profit for your business.

Sure, it’s been a few years since the book came out, but Scott keeps it regularly updated, and so make sure you snag the latest edition. The reason that it has to be regularly updated is that it was one of the first serious books to hit the market when this new phase of marketing emerged, and Scott has continued to write on the subject at length since its publication. He’s one of the de facto thought leaders in modern marketing, which is what makes this book so remarkable.

Incidentally, if you’re wondering why he publishes with his middle name, it’s because there was an astronaut called David Scott. Being known as David Meerman Scott helps people to find him on search engines. Isn’t that an awesome way of practicing what you preach? Oh, and one other thing to note – this book is praised by Brian Halligan, co-founder of HubSpot, who also penned a book with him called Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. I recommend that book, too – combined, they make a force to be reckoned with.

 

David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott

 

Click here to buy The New Rules of Marketing & PR.


David M. Friedman – Wilde in America | Review

Title: Wilde in America

Author: David M. Friedman

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 322

Rating: 9/10

 

David M. Friedman - Wilde in America

David M. Friedman – Wilde in America

 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review

Okay, I’ll admit that at first I was worried that this was going to be a difficult read – how could it not be, with a title like ‘Wilde in America: Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity‘? But I needn’t have worried – this turned out to be an awesome read, hence the high rating.

The book effectively follows Wilde’s travels across America, where he arrived as a nobody and left as an international superstar, in a journey which the author compares to people like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, who’ve become famous just for being famous, by manipulating the media and being seen as leading socialites.

After all, when Wilde landed in America, he’d sold less than 500 copies of his first (self-published) book of poetry, and while he had been a mover and a shaker in London’s burgeoning social scene, he wasn’t exactly famous. Friedman’s insightful book traces the journey that Wilde made, showcasing along the way what exactly it was that he did and why it worked so much.

 

David M. Friedman

David M. Friedman

 

It does touch upon the tragic circumstances of Wilde’s eventual fall from grace right at the end, but this is more a celebration of the living Wilde than a celebration of his memory. In some ways, it’s almost like a biography, even though it doesn’t focus on the whole of his life – it’s just that Friedman manages to capture Wilde’s personality so perfectly that you feel like you know him by the end of the book.

He also doesn’t believe Wilde’s hype, despite the fact that he’s clearly an admirer of his work, and that helps the reader to build up a clearer picture of what Oscar was actually like – a shrewd marketeer.

 

I suspect this may be a Photoshop

I suspect this may be a Photoshop

 

Click here to buy Wilde in America.