Event Driven Marketing (Dutch)
The first book in the field of Event Driven Marketing, and winner of the Marketing Literature Award 2004 (for which ‘From Mass Brand to Personal Brand’ was nominated in 2005). Egbert-Jan van Bel introduces some new models to be used by brands who want to communicate with their (prospective) customers at exactly the right time, instead of regularly bothering consumers when it doesn’t make sense. This book is still very relevant. This is exactly the field that coaching brands will master into the tiniest detail.
Discipline of Market Leader
In this classic Treacy & Wiersema introduce their world-famous model in which they advise service organizations to focus on one of the areas operational excellence, cost leadership or product leadership. This model has been adapted worldwide and is still regularly found in lists of reference. A must-have too.
Good news in bad times, crisis communication in practice (Dutch)
A book from Paul Stamsnijder about crisis communication in practice. The books starts with Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Although I have read this book with pleasure, I think it has been outdated by the turbulent developments in the media landscape. Consumers behave differently, their reactions to companies are different, and at the same time companies have better possibilities to communicate effectively, while the media landscape in the mean time has continued its fragmentation. Even so, it is always fun to go through old cases.
The Anatomy of Buzz
In this book Emanuel Rosen analyzes how Word-Of-Mouth Marketing (WOM) works. He makes a brilliant list of things people want to talk about with each other, which I cite in my own book. Besides he has a beautiful picture of an American suburb, taken from the air. In this picture you can clearly see the houses with air conditioning. It turns out the air conditioning owners are clustered together: sometimes you see four houses with air conditioning next to each other, and then ten houses without. Apparently people there visit each other and recommend the product to each other, or even purchase it together. This is interesting to see. When you read this book, you realize that consumers are not just passive buyers of a product, but they can also have other roles like actively helping selling it.
Lovemarks, the future beyond brands
This beautifully designed book of Saatchi & Saatchi’s CEO Kevin Roberts show you his vision on future brands. He passionately shows us how brands can go beyond themselves by becoming LoveMarks. Lovemarks distinguish themselves through Customer Intimacy, Mystery (the stories around the brand), and Sensuality (the way in which the brand stimulates our senses). According to Roberts, brands need to do this because the world has changed. Although this book is worth reading or at least thumbing through, I miss a vision of the future. After all, the world keeps changing and even the concept of LoveMarks in the long run will be outdated too.
Sensible Thinking, Infantile Acting (Dutch)
In this book, Paul Postma shows us the simplicity of human beings. He introduces the ‘beach paradox’. In this paradox, a man stands on the beach barefoot, and looks out over the sea. His father stood there, thirty years ago, exactly like that. And his father’s father thirty years before that as well. Hundreds of generations have stood here, and have seen exactly the same sea. The difference is on the other side of the sea: on the coast side. We have slowly (over) populated the coast, and cultivated it. Postma shows us through this metaphor how humans genetically are still the same. We are led by exactly the same motives. Just the surroundings have changed. In these new surroundings we try to rationally explain our behavior. But we are actually still the naked apes on the water front. Talking about the ‘changing consumer’, this book is really something to keep in mind: lots of things are changing, but there is also an awful lot of things that stay exactly the same. That insight is a great starting point for further discussions.
Synergetic Marketing (Dutch)
In this book, Poiesz and Van Raaij show their academic vision on the changing world. They introduce the concept of the VGA: the Virtual Guardian Angel, an agent concept that guides people. This even can evolve into a PLM: a Personal Life Manager, who guides the consumer’s whole life. Although I absolutely believe that agent technology, like normal technology (for example: electricity, building technology, transport technology), will play an important part in people’s lives in the future, I find the way this is done too ‘clean’. This does not concern the technology, but the way it comes into people’s lives. Personally I see a much more emotional role for brands who know how to do this the right way. This book won the 2002 Marketing Literature Award, for which ‘From Mass Brand to Personal Brand’ was nominated in 2005. Although this book of course was a must-read for me, I found it hard to get through.
The Experience Economy, Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage
This book marked the start of the experience economy era: in a time in which all products are good, and services are easier to compare, the consumer is only willing to pay a premium for memorable experiences: experiences you still like to talk about with others, experiences you remember, or experiences that have taught you something. These experiences form the basis for the economy to come. Pine and Gilmore have a background in business and theater and thus know exactly how you can make somebody have a good day, and pay money for that. This book therefore not surprisingly became a great success. It is still good to read, although in the mean time many new books in this field have been published. I myself claim that the experience economy is still very young, and will mainly develop in the virtual world. It will be paid for, very high quality, interactive and personalized content. Experiences we will pay for so much, that they will cover up to 30% of our expenses. Although this book focuses on experiences in the physical world, it has very much inspired me. Besides, Pine & Gilmore in this book introduce models which in essence I use almost daily.
Enterprise One to One
This classic in one-2-one communication was the kick-off for more advanced Customer Relationship Management in the Internet era. Although many of Peppers & Rogers’ predictions have been fulfilled in the mean time, there is still much to be done in the field of CRM. Anyone who wants to go forward in this field, can use the recommendations in this book. A classic to add to your book shelves!
Peoplewatching
Biologist Desmond Morris spent a great part of his life looking at humans. As species. As living creatures. In this book he categorizes movements, emotions and habits. He does this in a very eleborate and reliable way, on a world scale. Morris is continuously searching for the ‘why’: why do people move the way they move? Did they learn this, or were they born with it? Very interesting for people who realize that the best communication occurs at complete reflection: the more similarities individuals have in looks and behavior, the more they will feel attracted to each other. I highly recommend this timeless book!
Global Marketing and Advertising
This book has had many favorable reviews! A great book which successfully shows cultural differences. De Mooij for example proves the correlation between the amount of pension products in a country and the measurable cultural feature ‘insecurity reduction’. And in advertising she finds interesting correlations between the way in which the actors are heroes, and the measurable cultural feature ‘toughness’. A must for anyone who wants to work internationally!
The Impact of the Me-Culture (Dutch)
A book from Cor Molenaar and his daughter Stephanie. Cor made name in the Netherlands in one-to-one programs. At Ogilvy Dataconsult he was responsible for initiating and setting up the successful Flying Dutchman loyalty program for KLM, the Royal Dutch airline. These and other experiences had me interview him for my book ‘From Mass Brand to Personal Brand’. Cor and his daughter in this book describe how personal choices of todays western consumers influence marketing.
Brand Sense
Great book from Brand Futurist Martin Lindstrom. Based on an international study done by Millward Brown, he has connected branding to ‘sensory awareness’. The result is this book which will make you think. We are designed to use all our senses, but in practice we use only one or two of those in our interactions with brands. Lindstrom shows that brands nowadays have many possibilities, and he even provides the scientific insights. He had Philip Kotler write a preface. In the cover of the book is a nice relief, which stimulates the senses. The only down side I could think of is that the book maybe should smell, feel and look differently. Even some form of auditive stimulation would have been in place. As anticlimax however the book inside is completely black-and-white, on recycled paper. Definitely not ‘the medium is the message’. For who can go beyond that though I can truly recommend this book!
Corporate Religion
In this book, Danish author Jesper Kunde shows what happens when employees truly believe in the brand. When what you show on the outside is a real reflection of who you are on the inside. And how you need to organize yourself before you can get there. Besides, Kunde emphasizes that also for employees all tough-points with the brand need to be exactly in line. This book is full of models, diagrams and cases. I cite this book because the quote on the front of the book supports the concept of ‘coaching brands’: ‘In the future, building strong market positions will be about building companies with a strong personality and corporate soul’.
BrandWorld (Dutch)
In this book leading marketing expert Roland van Kralingen strikingly decribes some marketing developments. A fun little book. Nice to give, and nice to get. Although it is somewhat outdated in the mean time. I have interviewed Roland for my book. He then made a couple of well-chosen remarks, among others: “People don’t know what they want; people however do know what they don’t want.” Anyone who knows how to explain complex things in simple words, wins my respect. This remark and some others he made have certainly made me respect him a lot.
No Logo
This book, written in 2000, marks the beginning of the ‘coming out’ of brands: the process in which brands more and more show their true character, start to work completely transparently, and start to involve consumers. In the end, the boundary between employee and consumer will completely disappear. Naomi shows the end of the 20th century’s tough practice of big brands we daily use, like Shell, Nike and McDonald’s. It was a real eye-opener back then. After that, concepts like ‘corporate branding’ and ‘internal branding’ have become popular. Since then brand managers, who were trained in closed and controlled branding, slowly let go of their control. Nike for example published its list of suppliers, including addresses, on its website. This is a very thick book, and at the time it mainly has historical value - not so much inspirational value. For collectors of classics.
Living the Brand
Nice book in which Nicholas Ind explains how a strong brand should be completely internalized in the behavior of every individual employee, where the brand comes to life if the difference between external and internal world is vague, and where stories and myths around the brand are of vital importance. The good thing is that Ind introduces a concept for the so-called Brand Saboteurs: people who are involved with the brand, but consciously work against it. Very interesting to read about these kinds of phenomena.
Culture and Organizations, Software of the Mind
Basic book for anyone working for consumers. It describes the world-famous onion model of Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede, and the accompanying dimensions for values with their international scores. In my book I use this model a lot. A good understanding of this model is necessary for anyone who tries to understand the behavior of people (as a result of their belonging to certain groups). The book is quite academic but it is worth reading. Later Hofstede has written a couple of books that are easier to read. Whoever wants to completely understand the onion model however should absolutely read this book!
Beyond Culture
This book describes cultural differences. The most interesting I found is the difference between M-Time and P-Time cultures: Monochronic time and Polychronic time. In M-Time cultures synchronic follow up of tasks is valued high: first you stand in line, then you sit down, then you come in, then you talk for half an hour, then you sign out, then you wait for the bus, etc. In this type of cultures concentration is important. In P-time cultures everything happens at the same time. The concept of a ‘line’ (people waiting) in this type of cultures is much less relevant. And the same holds for privacy during a meeting: interrupting is no problem at all. People do all kinds of things at the same time. It is a different way of looking at life. It is discovered that P-Time thinking is much more in line with human nature, and that M-Time thinking is learned. Western cultures however needed this M-Time philosophy to develop their societies. Very interesting to consider this insight in line with future developments of humanity.
Psychology
THE basic psychology book, internationally used at many universities. How do we observe? What is perception? How does categorization work? Many well-known as well as unknown tests of our brains are described here. Optical illusion is a great example. Or how our brains complete a not-complete image themselves. Great for marketers who want to understand the psyche of consumers, stimulating for officials who want to understand more of the people in their country, and very informative for (interaction) designers who try to fathom people’s perceptions, and want to influence those. Top book. This is the 7th edition, and there will be more.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
This book describes how the spoken word, behavior or viruses spread through groups of people. Gladwell distinguishes different types of people who play a very important role in this process, the type of message being spread, and the surroundings in which this takes place. This book is ageless. It could just as well have been written 50 years ago. It became a bestseller now because marketers discovered that just sending creative messages is not enough any longer to get the results you want. In my own book I cite several parts of this book, and I give summaries of important insights. Even so, the story-like character of this book makes you want to read it all through, at your own pace at the fire pit, or in your hammock. I highly recommend it!
Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless
The title of this book says it all: measuring customer satisfaction is not enough, customer loyalty is what it’s all about. Ratio (intention to behave) is not important, emotions are. These form the motives of people, which lead to real behavior. In this book you will find a lot of practical tips and nice examples, although a clear vision is missing. Even so, nice to read through and maybe select some points for inspiration.
Strategic Brand Management (Dutch)
Nice and complete basic book from Giep Franzen and co-author Marieke van den Berg about brand management. It contains many different models to look at brands, with many scientific references. In that sense this book itself is almost scientific. Times have changed however and ‘brand management’ is now seen from a totally different perspective. Great book for its time, but it could use an update.
The Mental World of Brands
Fine book from Giep Franzen, who gives us in-depth insight in how our brains handle abstract concepts like brands. Absolutely ageless as every next generation will handle brands in exactly the same way. We have no choice. Our brains after all don’t change in a few generations, but only over thousands of generations. The concept of brands however CAN change: it has been changed tremendously in the 20th century and it will keep changing in the century to come. Our brains however stay identical. Anybody who works or wants to work with brands should own this book, read it, and master it.
Built to Last
Incredible book by James Collins. He searched for similarities between companies which are more than 200 years old. He found some striking similarities, among which cult-like cultures, home-grown management and especially ‘Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works’. The last refers mainly to experimenting. In a stable situation companies can concentrate on optimizing: cut everything that doesn’t add value to your organization. However in a constantly changing world you should constantly be experimenting. This is true for products as well as processes as well as communication. While many companies wait for impressive cases from the Uniteds States, the really successful companies are constantly experimenting themselves and thus keep getting the First Mover Advantage. Every entrepreneur should read this book!
Influence
This Robert Cialdini bestseller shows how people can influence others by putting social pressure on them. Social pressure we can see for example in initiation ceremonies from students’ fraternities and sororities, religious or military groups. It shows how parents can influence their children. It shows how the Chinese were capable to have American prisoners desert to the Chinese camp. Purely by creating group pressure. Very interesting! And even more interesting: what does this mean for brands in the future? First read this book! Enjoy!
My book ‘Van Massamerk naar Mensmerk’ (From Mass Brand to Personal Brand, Dutch) describes how our media context will change over the coming ten years, how marketing and brands will adapt to this, and how today’s professionals can anticipate. Every day we work on making the world a better place, on a worldwide basis. Every day the future gets one small step closer. As we can take these small steps ourselves today, I closely follow the evolution of media, marketing and brands in the tab 
In 2005 my book ‘Van Massamerk naar Mensmerk’ (From Mass Brand to Personal Brand, Dutch) received a top-3 nomination for the Dutch Marketing Literature Award of the year. This prize is presented by the Dutch Platform for Innovation in Marketing (