advertising books « Marketing in the digital age

The Communications Challenge: A practical guide to media neutral planning by Cowley, White et al, eds This is one of the only books on media and communications strategy and planning that has been written by a collective of active practicioners. Even yours truly contributed, if only in a very small way.

The Advertising Budget: Advertiser’s Guide to Budget Determination by Simon Broadbent

The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection, Planning, Research and Buying by Helen Katz (LEA’s Communication) (LEA’s Communication Series)

The MRG Guide to Media Research by Mike Monkman and Colin McDonald

TV Media Planning Books

Lots of traffic seems to come to this page looking for TV media planning books. They are short on the ground. I am able to recommend a couple of media planning books that cover broadcast in some detail:

Media Planning: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (NTC Business Books) Surmanek’s book is one of the best introductions to the general principles of media planning, but in addition, Surmanek offers fairly heavweight coverage of broadcast TV planning, with much of the “language” of TV planning translated into understandable concepts.

Advertising Reach and Frequency: Maximising Advertising Results Through Effective Frequency (NTC Business Books) Colin McDonald’s “Effective Frequency” is mainly focussed on media advertising effectiveness and so has a lot of detail on TV. In partcular it features summaries of many of the key theories and tests that have been undertaken to explore and prove the effectiveness of media advertising. Lots of good information on TV effectiveness and much useful insight for TV media planning.

Broadcast Direct Marketing Eicoff’s “Broadcast Direct Marketing” is a specialist book on broadcast direct response advertising. If you are running campaigns which seek to deliver quantifiable phone calls, leads and sales, as well as web traffic, then this is an interesting and informative read. It’s quite rare so don’t expect to pick it up for £3.99.

There appears to be an updated version of the Eicoff book here. Have not read it but he knows his stuff so it should be a good read for direct marketers. Direct Marketing Through Broadcast Media (NTC Business Books)

Recommended general advertising books

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy This is one of the classic books on advertising. Some people say why read a book by a man who time has gone? But on the other hand why not read a book by a man who single handedly created one of the world’s greatest ad agencies?

The unpublished David Ogilvy - a selection of his writings from the files of his partners: Presented to him on his 75th birthday, June 23, 1986, in London The Unpublished David Ogilvy is a collection of Ogilvy’s memos and speeches from the 1950’s to the date of publication. Some of the memos are hilarious. Good insight into the mind of David Ogilvy.

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples(Prentice Hall Business Classics) Another classic. This books reveals many of the tried and tested rules that are deemed “unfashionable” by those trying to understand why their campaigns aren’t working.

Truth, Lies, and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning (Adweek Magazine Series)by John Steel Interesting contemporary look at the discpline of account planning by a seasoned and experienced practitioner. An easy and informative read.

How to Do Better Creative Work by Steve Harrison Can it all be put into just 150 pages? Well if the word of Steve Harrison is anything to go by, the answer is yes. He may not be wrong. An impressive summary of how to produce strong and effective advertising.

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Ries and Trout The word “positioning” is now firmly ensconsed in the marketing vernacular. Ries and Trout are the people who put it there.

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins This book did for David Ogilvy what Lonnie Donnegan and Elvis Presley did for John Lennon. In other words, this is the book the got Ogilvy into the advertising business.

Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing by Drayton Bird The master of direct marketing shares his knowledge on direct and data driven marketing in the context of the digital age.