Publishers Weekly features and reviews Marketing Mess to Brand Success by Scott Jeffrey Miller in a recent March post.
Don’t worry about making marketing mistakes —worry about not learning from them, advises Miller (Management Mess to Leadership Success), chief marketing officer at the management services company Franklin Covey, in this energetic guide. In each chapter, Miller introduces a marketing challenge (a “mess”) and provides ways to meet it: in “It’s the Customer, Stupid,” he urges marketers to “take what they do as seriously as if we were trying to win the White House” and monitor how many times the customer is mentioned in meetings. “Install Processes to Harness Creative Minds” suggests highly creative people often feel constricted by processes—and that leaders should discuss that discomfort openly. Each chapter ends with an exercise that directs readers to examine their behavior and efforts. Miller’s advice is not groundbreaking (“hire people smarter than you”), and frequent flights of grandiosity weigh things down (“Shock and awe best describes everything I do”), but the stories of his work at Franklin Covey are personable, and he strikes a fine balance of business wisdom (speak your customer’s language) and concrete pointers (learn to read a P&L). Readers who stay the course will find this an encouraging marketing resource. (May)
Marketing Mess to Brand Success
30 Challenges to Transform Your Organization’s Brand
One man’s mistake is another man’s lesson. Don’t let Scott Miller’s success story fool you. He has made and learned from many mistakes in his career. Featuring thirty chapters with challenges like “A Name is Not a Lead” and “Hire People Smarter Than You,” Marketing Mess to Brand Success shares a career worth of horrifying mistakes, missteps, and lessons learned. Whether you’re starting a new company, figuring out the best brand strategy for a niche market, or trying to land your first job as a brand manager, this book is designed to prepare you for many of the inevitable challenges that you will encounter.