If you are interested in advertising and marketing, these six books definitely should not be missing from your bookshelf!
Every year I decide to time my recommendations for the summer on the marketing secrets blog important and interesting professional books for me, but by the time I gather the courage to write the book recommendations, summer is already over. Now I will make up for the years of delay, hoping that I can create a tradition 🙂
The book recommendation is of course subjective: I recommend to your attention those books that provided a real experience and slightly changed the lighting conditions around me.
Let's see the favorites!
1.) István Sas: The Creative Advertisement
István Sas, a advertising psychologist and advertising professional, presents a fascinating experiment: he seeks to answer how to eliminate the atmosphere of distrust between advertisers and (often reluctant) consumers. This is not an easy task, as advertisers have unilaterally crossed and rewritten every rule they set for themselves in recent decades.
István Sas was among the first in Hungary to address the problem that consumers are increasingly distrustful, even hostile towards advertisements, and they consciously try to avoid their overt and covert influencing effects. The equation is simple: the consumer fears being deceived. The advertiser, on the other hand, fears that all their tricks, creativity, and „foolery” will remain ineffective. The author writes honestly and without taboos about the greatest truth of advertising: every advertisement is intrusive. Therefore, it is the advertiser's important task to apologize for this intrusion with every available tool (humor and especially creativity).
The book collects, organizes, and explains the operational mechanisms of advertisements, showcasing a series of examples of what makes one advertisement much more successful than another. The author demonstrates through nearly five hundred memorable advertisements what advertising is capable of when it is creative.
- Publisher: Communication Academy
- Year of publication: 2007
2.) Steve Harrison: Howard Gossage
Howard Luck Gossage (1917-1969) the unavoidable hero of the advertising profession. The „Socrates of San Francisco” experimented with revolutionary solutions in the ’50s and ’60s, such as interactivity, social media (!), the first environmental campaigns, and publicity-generating press events. Gossage wanted not only to create and see good advertisements but also to use advertising for good.
„Changing the world is the only suitable work for an adult.” – Howard Gossage
Harrison's book not only presents Gossage's life, thoughts, philosophy, and activities but also closely relates to the era in which he lived. We get a glimpse into the fire station building that served as the headquarters of his agency, where many famous writers, thinkers, artists, and advertising professionals visited alongside Gossage's desk. Gossage's insights into advertising and his candidness still feel fresh and inspiring today.
For a person who saved the Grand Canyon from a flood, initiated green movements, and helped win the independence of a small Caribbean island, it was no problem to troll Ogilvy's famous Rolls-Royce advertisement...
Publisher: Advertising History Books
Year of publication: 2016.
3.) Alex Wipperfürth: Hijacked Brands – Marketing-Free Marketing
The book is based on the premise that in the twenty-first century, control has slipped from the hands of marketing managers. The immeasurable advertising tsunami, the accompanying rejection, and the increasing consumer awareness have led to the devaluation of previously effective advertising tools and created a completely new strategy: brand hijacking.
Brand hijacking is the phenomenon when a brand begins to be „appropriated,” shaped by consumers. Moreover, they take over the control of the brand and the further development of the product. In this relationship, the consumer is no longer a passive recipient: they have a say in shaping brand identity and brand values.
Wipperfürth tells great stories. He also pays attention to presenting how the brand hijack phenomenon works from the consumers' perspective: through examples like Starbucks, Apple, Red Bull, eBay, or the blockbuster Blair Witch Project, we can learn about the functioning of brand hijacking. Hijacked Brands His ideas are sometimes astonishing: we can read about methods that required boldness from marketers one after another.
The Hijacked Brands one of my best book experiences. I remember the time when I first read it and the feeling that this little paperback evoked in me. There are books that change the light conditions: this book is one of those 🙂
- Publisher: HVG Books
- Year of publication: 2005, 2008.
4.) Oliviero Toscani: Advertising, You Smiling Corpse
Many of us still remember the time when the Benetton logo appeared on shocking, scandalous billboards worldwide. The dying of AIDS patient David Kirby and the blood-soaked uniform of Serbian soldier Marinko Gagro became such strong symbols that still have an elemental impact even 30 years later. Toscani's „Benetton advertisements” sparked serious and passionate debates around the world: his posters were banned in several countries, while in others they are preserved in museums.
A Advertising, You Smiling Corpse The book is the response of Benetton's artistic director and advertising photographer to the criticisms of his work.
Perhaps I won't spoil it if I reveal: this book is a confession from a conceited, arrogant, cynical advertising professional who does not want to conform to anyone or anything. After reading the book, there won't be many who would find Oliviero papa sympathetic. Regardless, Toscani is an unavoidable figure in the advertising industry, and his book is a historical document from which we can learn about the stories and backgrounds of individual creatives.
For Toscani, advertising is the „strongest medium,” which he viewed as a carrier of various social messages, and provocation as a tool for dialogue. In fact, he used advertising, and through it, consumers for a greater purpose. His campaigns focused on social issues such as war, AIDS, or racism – and he skillfully tackled the most sensitive taboos to shock.
- Publisher: Park Publishing
- Year of publication: 1999
5.) Dominik Imseng: The Revolution of the Beetle
A Reklámtörténet.hu This foundational book is an excellent choice for anyone who appreciates intellectual, „smart,” and creative advertisements.
It is 1959: the New York DDB advertising agency faces the challenge of how to introduce a small, ugly, and moreover German car in the United States. The book is about the advertising campaigns of the Volkswagen Beetle and the brilliant professionals behind the agency. Bill Bernbach, Helmuth Krone, Julian Koenig, and their colleagues placed the power of persuasion and creativity in a new context.
The VW Beetle's advertisements, infused with sincere, witty, intellectual humor and treating the consumer with respect, laid the foundations of modern advertising – far ahead of their time.
Don't be deceived by the book's length: Dominik Imseng has done thorough work and created an unputdownable foundational piece.
- Publisher: Advertising History Books
- Year of publication: 2016.
6.) György Kaszás: Advertising – The Little Adrenaline Game
György Kaszás's book was published in 2000 titled The Great Adrenaline Game, from which we got to know the advertising agency work and the process and methods of advertising from the perspective of an advertising professional. I really loved the great advertising examples and the occasionally vitriolic style. We waited 14 years for the sequel: The Little Adrenaline Game became a worthy continuation of the previous book.
György Kaszás writes with his characteristic dry humor and frankness about the challenges and state of the profession in Hungary, as well as the future of the advertising industry. The book contains a very serious collection of advertisements: among the best domestic and international examples, everyone is guaranteed to find something to their liking.
- Publisher: HVG Books
- Year of publication: 2014.
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