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Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know
Philip Kotler
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hoboken, New Jersey
2003
206 pp.
(Hardcover)
Keywords Customers, Advertising, Sales, Brands, Leadership, Values
Review DOI 10.1108/07363760410542200
Hardly ever have I read a book in one sitting until Philip Kotler's new book was sent to me for review. I was immediately drawn to its content; it captured my full attention. The essential marketing rationales and philosophies are expressed in plain and simple language, in dialogue format. Kotler, one of the most respected sages in today's marketing world, presents 80 of marketing's fundamental concepts that are familiar to marketers in academic and practical fields.
Known as "the father of modern marketing", Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, one of the premier marketing program in the world. In this book Kotler illuminates the significance of some key marketing concepts by sharing enlightened and informed meditations and the hard-won wisdom of his marketing career. Whether one needs a refresher on branding or new strategies on word-of mouth marketing, this book provides the tools needed to compete for customers in the rapidly changing marketplace. It is an essential tool for managers, CEOs, marketing executives, and anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of marketing.
Several characteristics distinguish the book from many other books that deal with the same content in recent years. The first is that topics covered in the book - including advertising, branding, competitive advantage, creativity, customer relationship management, database marketing, differentiation, innovation, positioning, segmentation, strategy, value, word of mouth, and zest - are organized alphabetically from A to Z. Although such a format does not help the presentation of the topics it does allow readers to easily access advice.
The second characteristic worth a mention is that the author uses many of his own experiences to illustrate the principles and concepts and thus to make the information function as a dialogue between the readers and the author. For instance, when discussing the effectiveness...