Synopses & Reviews
Todays brands face an apparent choice between two evils: continue betting on their increasingly ineffective advertising or put blind faith in the supposedly mystical power of social media, where likes” stand in for transactions and a mass audience is maddeningly elusive. There has to be a better way . . .
As Lennon and McCartney wrote a half century ago, money cant buy you love. But in todays world, where people have become desensitizedeven disillusionedby ad campaigns and marketing slogans, that maxim needs an update: Money cant even buy you like.
Thats because weve entered the Relationship Era,” where the only path for businesses seeking long-term success is to create authentic customer relationships. Not through hip social media promotions, viral videos or blizzards of micro-targeted online ads. Those tactics, which simply disguise old ways of thinking with new technology, just dont work in the long run.
So what does work in this bewildering new era? Where do authentic customer relationships” come from? The answers will make some leaders sigh with relief while others rip their hair out: Honesty. Transparency. Shared values. A purpose beyond profit. Sure you still need a high-quality product or service to offer, but thats not enough. Now that people can easily discover everything thats ever been said about your brand, you cant manipulate, seduce, persuade, flatter or entertain them into loyalty. You have to treat them like flesh-and-blood human beings, not abstract consumers or data points on a spreadsheet.
It may sound like the woo-woo language of self-help books and inspirational wall posters. But as Garfield and Levy show in this book, its the deadly serious reality of business in the 2010s. Its why General Motors abandoned its $10 million annual budget for Facebook ads, and why some brands have hurt themselves badly on social media by nagging, interrupting, abusing and generally ticking off their customers.
The good news is that some companies have already embraced the Relationship Era and are enjoying consistent growth and profits while spending substantially less on marketing than their competitors. The authors show what we can learn from case studies such as . . .
- Patagonia, a clothing company with a passion for environmentalism, which solidified its customer relationships by urging people NOT to buy one of its jackets.
- Panera Bread, which doubled per-store sales by focusing on ways to create a welcoming environment while spending just 1 percent of sales on advertising.
- Secret, the womens antiperspirant brand, which gained significant share by focusing on its commitment to strong women.
- Krispy Kreme, which has built a near cult of loyal Facebook and Twitter fans, all but obliterating the need for paid advertising.
Blending powerful new research, fascinating examples and practical advice, Garfield and Levy show how any company can thrive in the Relationship Era.
Review
“This is a fabulous book that describes a revolutionary new vision for marketing, the Relationship Era, based on purpose, authenticity, trust and care. Written in an easy-to-read style and full of interesting stories, this book is both inspiring and fun. I give it my highest recommendation.”
—John Mackey, founder and co-CEO, Whole Foods
“This book is funny, a bit profane and utterly profound. At Patagonia, we cherish our relationships, but these guys have located and explained dimensions of the Relationship Era that opened my eyes—and mind. What an enjoyable and enlightening journey.”
—Casey Sheahan, CEO, Patagonia
“Cant Buy Me Like speaks clearly to the challenges every CEO and CMO is confronting. It identifies the collapse of mass marketing as we have known it and provides example after example of how successful companies build trust in the ‘new world.”
—Ron Shaich, founder, chairman and co-CEO, Panera Bread
“The digital and social revolution has challenged even the most sophisticated marketers among us. But thankfully Garfield and Levy have given us a much needed blueprint for thriving in this new relationship era of marketing. This is the book I dont want my competitors to read.”
—Eric Ryan, cofounder, Method, and author of The Method Method
“At last! Garfield and Levy have delivered a manifesto on what really matters to brands today: honest relationships. They do so by focusing not on our shiny social technologies but on the fundamentally changed relationship between business and customer in a world that looks less like a megaphone and much more like a network. Read this book; then challenge your business to live by it!”
—David Rogers, author of The Network Is Your Customer
“Cant Buy Me Like compellingly captures one of the biggest trends of our time. If there is a gap between a businesss image and its reality, it will soon be found out and the business will be punished for it. Using their in-depth industry knowledge in this beautifully written and immensely readable book, Garfield and Levy describe in detail how to succeed in the new world.”
—David Jones, global chief executive officer, HAVAS, and author of Who Cares WIns
“Garfield and Levy show how smart, conscious marketers can leverage todays extraordinary technologies to build authentic relationships with customers based on trust, authenticity and shared purpose. This book will usher in a new renaissance in which the marketing function can finally fulfill its own largely unrealized higher purpose.”
—Raj Sisodia, coauthor of Conscious Capitalism and Firms of Endearment, marketing professor, Bentley University
“At Zappos, relationships have always been a top priority. Cant Buy Me Like explores why this is so important for all companies. Garfield and Levy smartly describe how to build relationships with customers, vendors and employees to create an extraordinary business.”
—Tony Hsieh, author of Delivering Happiness and CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.
Synopsis
andquot;A powerful and penetrating exploration of what separates great companies and great leaders from the rest.andquot;
-Polly LaBarre, coauthor of Mavericks at Work
Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty?
In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way-and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why.
Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire.
Synopsis
Why do you do what you do?
Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and moer profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.
In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way -- and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit-- those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?
Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And the people who follow them don't do so because they have to; they follow because they want to.
Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.
Synopsis
?Gotta get me some of that New Marketing. Bring me blogs, e-mail, YouTube videos, MySpace pages, Google AdWords . . . I don?t care, as long as it?s shiny and new.?
Wait. According to bestselling author Seth Godin, all these tactics are like the toppings at an ice cream parlor. If you start with ice cream, adding cherries and hot fudge and whipped cream will make it taste great. But if you start with a bowl of meatballs . . . yuck!
As traditional marketing fades away, the new tools seem irresistible. But they don?t work as well for boring brands (?meatballs?) that might still be profitable but don?t attract word of mouth, such as Cheerios, Ford trucks, Barbie dolls, or Budweiser. When Anheuser-Busch spends $40 million on an online network called BudTV, that?s a meatball sundae. It leads to no new Bud drinkers, just a bad case of indigestion.
Meatball Sundae is the definitive guide to the fourteen trends no marketer can afford to ignore. It explains what to do about the increasing power of stories, not facts; about shorter and shorter attention spans; and about the new math that says five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don?t.
The winners aren?t just annoying start-ups run by three teenagers who never had a real job. You?ll also meet older companies that have adapted brilliantly, such as Blendtec, a thirty-year-old blender maker. It now produces ?Will it blend?? videos that demolish golf balls, Coke cans, iPhones, and much more. For a few hundred dollars, Blendtec reached more than ten million eager viewers on YouTube.
Godin doesn?t pretend that it?s easy to get your products, marketing messages, and internal systems in sync. But he?ll convince you that it?s worth the effort.
Synopsis
Why do you do what you do?
Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and moer profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.
In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way -- and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit-- those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?
Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And the people who follow them don't do so because they have to; they follow because they want to.
Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.
Synopsis
Every marketer and CEO has felt the ground shifting beneath their feet. Most have responded by either doubling down on increasingly inefficient advertising or by putting blind faith in the supposed mystical powers of social media. Only the most thoughtful brands have followed a third path—the only path to meaningful returns in the dawning Relationship Era. To remain relevant and sustain growth, businesses must now create and cultivate authentic customer relationships, based on shared values, in all they do. For example:
- Patagonia, as part of its dedication to the environment, increases loyalty by urging customers not to buy its products.
- Secret gained market share by launching a movement to champion strong women.
- Krispy Kreme has built a near cult of loyal Facebook fans, obliterating the need for paid advertising.
- Zappos, which couldn’t afford to advertise, made customer relationships the focus of its marketing.
Drawing on proprietary research and decades of experience, Garfield and Levy show how brands can outperform their competitors and inspire their employees— while also spending fewer marketing dollars.
Synopsis
You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. What do Starbucks and JetBlue and KrispyKreme and Apple and DutchBoy and Kensington and Zespri and Hard Candy have that you don't? How do they continue to confound critics and achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and true brands to gasp their last?
Face it, the checklist of tired 'P's marketers have used for decades to get their product noticed -Pricing, Promotion, Publicity, to name a few-aren't working anymore. There's an exceptionally important 'P' that has to be added to the list. It's Purple Cow.
Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period.
In Purple Cow, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for marketers who want to help create products that are worth marketing in the first place.
About the Author
BOB GARFIELD is the cohost of NPRs
On The Media and a columnist for MediaPost. Previously at
Advertising Age, he has been a prominent commentator on and analyst of advertising and marketing for thirty years. His previous books include
The Chaos Scenario. He lives outside Washington, D.C.
DOUG LEVY is the founder and CEO of MEplusYOU, a leading strategic and creative agency that believes authentic relationships fuel astonishing brands. This is his first book. He lives in Dallas.
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