If you are looking for a classic approach to professional marketing that is also accessible and clear, this is it. The author, who is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, is a prolific writer on marketing and business who has developed a line in straightforward practical advice that is also rooted in general theory.
On its classic side, it not only describes the thinking, practice and case examples of such essential basics as strategic planning, segmentation, marketing mix and the various forms of marketing communications, but also such tools as:
* a brief account of the history of marketing and its implications for the contemporary practitioner
* tools such as Boston matrix, swot analysis, product/brand portfolios and life cycles, SMART objectives,
* processes and strategies, such as the 7Ps of the marketing mix, distribution strategies, pricing methods
* the importance of purpose beyond commercial return, and types of purpose (Explorer, challenger, servant, quality, hero, conscience, people)
* templates, such as for a marketing plan, budget, marketing scorecard
* practical guidelines, and checklists, for example on developing a marketing plan; designing and implementing websites; search engine optimisation; social e-marketing guidelines/principles.
* tables of information, such as new B2C markets, life stages, a list of media channels, evaluation and measurement methods, communication planning briefs and creative evaluation, ways to save money, common mistakes
* and fundamental concepts - the place of emotion, the need for integration, the place of experience, the role of the new e-channels
Perhaps I would have liked to see a clearer central chapter on brand, the touch point and customer experience, and the role of the marketer internally in organisation alignment and culture, as part of creating an integrated organisation, but that's my hobby horse.
Overall it's a common sense approach, and the new marketer will go a long way by understanding these methods while the established marketer will be refreshed, reminded and triggered to think: that's something I need to do more of!
