Bang!: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World [Paperback]

Linda Kaplan Thaler (Author), Robin Koval (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2005

We all want to get our message heard. And in Bang!, marketing gurus Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval tell us how. They and their talented colleagues are the brains behind a host of memorable and highly successful ads, from the enormously successful AFLAC duck to the irresistibly sentimental “Kodak Moment” to Herbal Essences’ outrageous “Totally Organic Experience.” In Bang!, Kaplan Thaler and Koval offer proven strategies for creating a loud, clear, attention-grabbing message about and product or service.

Full of entertaining anecdotes and inspiring accounts of campaigns that have propelled revenues and dramatically increased market share, Bang! shows managers how to create a marketing campaign that cuts through the message clutter and creates a genuine marketing explosion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thaler and Koval, the CEO and vice-president respectively of the Kaplan Thaler Group advertising agency (KTG), share the secrets of their marketing success. In business for six years, KTG has created advertising campaigns based on a philosophy of the big bang, defined here as a strategy designed to make a brand explode onto the marketplace virtually overnight. Although the authors' advice is targeted primarily toward businesses and other publicists, the glitzy anecdotal writing is witty and informative enough to appeal to those interested in advertising and popular culture. Drawing on many specific examples of their accomplishments, Thaler and Koval describe just how the creative process is triggered by innovative thinking. The AFLAC insurance company, for example, was turned into a household name when a member of the KTG team realized that AFLAC sounded like the quack of a duck. The AFLAC duck raised the company's profile from zero to instantly recognizable. According to Thaler and Koval, big bangs are achieved in an atmosphere where rules are ignored, organization is compressed, chaos is embraced and intuitive thinking is encouraged. In addition to useful tips, the authors also highlight pitfalls that can derail a potential big bang, such as failing to rehearse presentations or neglecting to do appropriate homework on the company being wooed.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Acclaim for Bang!

"This top-notch book... is as much about creating an atmosphere that fosteres creativity as it is about memorable marketing."
— Fast Company

"Bright, breezy, but deadly serious guide to creating a buzz—and a bang."
— Miami Herald

“Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval ‘get it’ from every angle. This book is full of extraordinary insight on effective message delivery.”
— Gordon Bethune, Chairman and CEO, Continental Airlines

"The AFLAC duck campaign that Linda and Robin's agency created ...dramatically increased our brand awareness. Today nine out of ten people recognize the AFLAC name."
— Daniel P. Amos, Chairman and CEO, AFLAC Incorporated

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (January 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385508174
• ISBN-13: 978-0385508179
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Linda Kaplan Thaler is the CEO and Chief Creative Officer and Robin Koval is General Manager of the Kaplan Thaler Group, ranked as the fastest growing advertising agency in the U.S. by leading industry and business publications. They are responsible for some of the biggest bangs in the marketing world skyrocketing sales, infiltrating pop culture and creating brand icons such as the AFLAC Duck.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment!, January 24, 2004

By 

Daniel Henage (Riverton, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in A Noisy World (Hardcover)

After seeing a rating above 4 stars, I happily ordered the book expecting a treat. What a disappointement! This has been the first book I haven't finished. I got about one quarter of the way through and got rid of it.

Pros: Some good stories and ideas (but nothing that you couldn't find in any other marketing book of higher quality).

Cons: As another reviewer suggested, the author merely gives examples of successful ads and tries to explain how they worked because they went against the grain and got a lot of attention. Well, I could have told you that! The real problem lies in the author's conclusions. The underlying theme seems to be: "Do the opposite of whatever you think will work best." If you think an ad is tasteless, inappropriate, and irrelevant, then run it because it will be a great success. If the ad has nothing whatsoever to do with the product, then it is more likely to succeed. For example, one of her "bright" ideas is: "You must forget about what makes sense...illogical thinking means that when you're asked to promote a bottle of water, you realize that water is the last thing you should focus on."

Conclusion: I give this book a rating of 1.5 stars. Don't waste your time on this book.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A buzz, not a bang, January 1, 2004

By 

JoAnne Goldberg (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in A Noisy World (Hardcover)

Back in the last millennium I took my newly minted MBA and went to work for a huge advertising agency. Though those glamorous days are long behind me, I remain fascinated with the art and science of advertising, and am always on the lookout for a book that purports to divulge the secret. Bang! seemed perfect for a rainy winter evening.

I zipped through the book in record time, thanks to the witty and engaging writing of Kaplan Thaler and Koval (or, more likely, their ghost writer Delia Marshall). The picture on the back cover is practically worth the price of the book (and sets the tone for the motes of wisdom dispensed between the covers). And the authors end the book with the shortest chapter I've ever read, but one that is guaranteed to make you chuckle.

Great anecdotes, enthralling war stories, leavened by tales of minor foibles that remind us of the authors' humanity and humility. So why only three stars?

Simple: the book doesn't deliver the goods. If it had been subtitled "the stories behind a few memorable ads" I would have given it another star or two. But by promising to tell readers the secret of "getting your message heard in a noisy world" the subtitle establishes expectations that are beyond the scope of the content. The lessons that the authors derive are simplistic (be nice to people; keep your mind open to inspiration; take risks) but the authors fail to synthesize the material they've presented into a model that might prove useful to a reader.

Fun, fast, lively, and not a bad way to occupy 90 minutes of your reading time. Just don't set your expectations too high.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless -- Beware of 4 star rating, July 2, 2004

By 

Leslie Gore (A reader in NY!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in A Noisy World (Hardcover)

I bought Bang! and was thouroughly disappotinted. Which made me wonder why the book got the 4-star rating while a lot of newer reviews were negative.

Look towards the end of the reviewer list. You will find a number of glowing reviews all posted on Oct 21, 2003, mostly by a "reader in NY." Looks like somebody was trying to pump up the ratings.

In short, this book is a lot of self-promotion and not a lot of advise, apart from needing a $5+ mil budget to hire a hot creative agency (just like the author's). What a coincidence.