Books that CEOs and VPs of Advertising and Marketings Agencies are Reading
Rolling Out knows that knowledge is power. Oftentimes, the right books contain such inestimable treasures that it can catapult an aspiring person from mediocrity to the heights of superstardom, and from superstardom onto the plateaus of immortality and history. Rolling Out has taken the time to present you the reading list of many of the most dynamic corporate executives in the nation today. On this occasion, we collected the list from these savant advertising practitioners, who took the time to share some of the books they say provided profound inspiration and helped propel them to greatness in their advertising careers. – terry shropshire
Fran Kelly, President-CEO, Arnold Worldwide: “You have to read all the exciting stuff out there. There is a book called Blink, which is about trusting your gut, not just the research. Good to Great is a book that makes a lot of sense for people in the business. I wrote a book called The Breakaway Brand: How Great Brands Stand Out, which is helpful if you want to try to understand how great brands get built. There are lots of ways out there to learn.” |
|
| Vida Cornelious, VP, creative director, DDB Worldwide: “All three Malcolm Gladwell books are wonderful books to read. They’re not advertising-based books but they are about the human condition. They are about sociology, and how you perceive yourself in the culture. The Tipping Point, Blink, and now he has a new Outliers, which is an awesome book for anyone who is striving for success, to really understand being successful is not only about you, but it’s about everyone that is around you and who touches your life.” | |
Marc Stracham, VP-Brand Management, Diageo [owners of global spirits brands such as Smirnoff vodka, Guiness beer and Tanqueray gin]: “Friends in high places – it tells you a lot about marketing and marketing strategies behind the scenes. Confessions of an Economic Hitman – which will give you inside to how this government markets itself around the world. From Good to Great – which I think it is an excellent book of not only taking a good idea forward, but also taking great ideals and making them happen.” |
|
Tony Hill, VP-Advertising, USA Today: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and it came recommended highly. About a little seagull that wanted to fly. And that was the thing. Everyone else wanted to fight for the scraps of food and he just wanted to fly. I just found it inspirational. … and I will say this because I need to. Because of my faith and what I believe, It took a year and every night, cover to cover, I read the Bible. That’s some hard reading. I’m proud of that and I still go back and get into it. That was one of the books that I said ‘there’s a lot riding on this book, this is a book I want to read’. And I did it. Nothing is happening here that didn’t happen in the Owner’s hand book. All of this today has played out before.” |
|
Kembo Tom, VP of Ideas and Innovation, GTM:Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands is a book that I’ll tell you to check out by Robert Sacre. It is an awesome marketing book. And it’s funny because as the world changes, one of the things that I’m recognizing is the ‘personability’ of it. Consumers are people. If you understand what makes a person passionate or connected to a particular thing, then you can talk to that person and have a common-tier convervation, an even-keeled conversation. Another book that inspired me is Russell Simmons’ book, Do You. Miles Davis’ autobiography also was a very inspirational book in my life. Guerilla Marketing is another book that came out a while ago that I wanted to do research since I’m a guerilla marketer, to make sure that I’m talking about the right things. And I am.” |
|
| In addition to the edification and illumination you’ll receive from the aforementioned palatable offerings, you can also log onto www.targetmarketnews.com to remain abreast of the latest developments in the black community. |
