I first discovered Rory Sutherland’s work via his TED Talks and found that he is entertaining as well as insightful and inspiring, which is why I often show his talks to my students.

Alchemy is just as insightful and inspiring. And it’s fun to read.

Through his videos and writing, I’ve found that no one can explain the irrationality of human behavior just like him. I’ve been inspired by his stories, insights, and case studies, and often used them to form my thinking when solving branding problems for clients. I believe you will, too.

For transparency’s sake, I should note that because I’m a fan of his work, I reached out to him and he wrote an introduction to one of my books and has endorsed others. But even if he’d said no, I’d still be recommending this book.

Before Life there was the Saturday Evening Post, a roaring success capturing the spirit of Middle America at a time when Middle America defined the cultural ethos of the nation. But by the late 1950s the potent reach of television advertising undermined the general-interest magazine business model, and the Post slipped into an inexorable spiral of decline that its top executives could never quite handle or even understand. There’s plenty of pathos and human drama as they struggle with forces beyond their control. 

I love this book as it was one of the first books I read about marketing when I was working for a small business in marketing. I wasn’t a dummy, but I wanted to make sure I hit the ground running, so this was an excellent refresher for me.

I particularly like books that make the complex simple, and this book did that. It put all aspects of marketing in front of my mind and helped me make a success of my new job. 

In recent decades, as advertising has moved from one-way communication about product benefits to conversations with consumers about brands, someone needed to sum things up. Iezzi and the creatives she interviews do exactly that. As she presents it, “First of all, forget about making an ad… You’re making something to compete with every other piece of content, every other media experience that a person has during her waking hours.” The Idea Writers is an excellent primer on this new landscape. How do we create a brand’s story, one that consumers identify with and help propagate, if not create? How do we manage it, move it forward, spread it across various media, and make it viral? How can it become its own never-ending story?

Chávez’s background in business and marketing offers a refreshing perspective on the history of Cuban rum and the geopolitics of the Cuban rum trade. Chávez is particularly interested in the marketing of Havana Club and the inherent contradictions that exist when a communist government enters the fray of international market capitalism. Havana Club sheds light on the Cuban government’s efforts to market itself in the modern era.

According to Chávez, Havana Club is a product of “cultural diplomacy” that has helped to “reintegrate” Cuba into international markets. As a commodity, Havana Club celebrates Cuban culture, and it has helped raise the profile of Cuba in the global cultural arena. Chávez also plays with the idea of rum authenticity in provocative ways.

Largely recognized as McLuhan’s first major work, this book provides a trenchant analysis of 1940’s popular culture in the United States, with particular reference to print-media advertising. To this end, it consists of x chapters, each of which consists of an image culled from newspapers and magazines, accompanied by an insightful—and often ironic—text. Dismissed by some as lacking in direction and coherence, the book actually has a tightly woven narrative that sheds considerable light on the gender issues, technology, and power structures of the day. 

Williamson was one of the first people (after me) to critique advertising from a feminist point of view. I could have chosen her earlier book, Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising, which also had a big influence on me, but this one is less academic and more readable.

Her discussion of how advertising channels people’s desire for progressive change into a need for products was one of the themes of my doctoral dissertation (written before this book). There are many gems, such as the fact that the ideal body type for women in ads has sometimes been that of a teenage boy!  

Randall Rothenberg, an advertising industry reporter for The New York Times, applied the Tracy Kidder Method of journalistic immersion in a process or profession to a single advertising campaign from start to finish. He chose wisely, focusing on the then up-and-coming Weiden + Kennedy—an ad agency riding the success of Nike’s “Bo Knows” commercials. His choice of product? Subaru of America, which, at the time, was the cellar-dweller of Japanese imports. Rothenberg effortlessly captures the high-stakes tension of the ad industry while not neglecting aspects of the industry that are more smoke and mirrors than research-grounded truths.

Rothenberg is exceptional at providing windows into advertising history as his story unfolds. Throughout the span of the campaign, he unsparingly documents inspiration, idiocy (W+K assigns a creative director who hates cars), and an intimate look at how advertising works.

Here’s a classic by the man who started it all. Claude Hopkins is regarded as one of the greatest copywriters of all time. He pioneered the “Reason-Why” style of copywriting (telling people why to buy your product). It’s filled with priceless stories, humor, and practical lessons you can apply to your ads immediately. Get this classic if you're truly serious about learning to create effective ads! While your competitors are floundering around scratching their heads because their ads aren’t working, you’ll know exactly what to do to influence people to buy NOW!

Very often, the study of obesity amounts to little more than stating the cause of obesity. Vague and uninformative statements are made, such as we eat too much, and exercise too little. Although true, this has little use unless you can persuade people to change their behavior. Therefore, the book recommended has one great attraction: it suggests something useful that can be done.

It is a short book aimed at children that attempts to reduce the impact of advertising. Children are introduced to the latest marketing strategies. They are taught ways they can push back, allowing them to take control of their diet and health. Food literacy is acquired.