Praise for Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer
"Should be required reading for anyone considering a career in brand marketing. This book tells it like it really is."
--William J. Gentner, President and CEO, Andrew Jergens Company
"Brad Kirk's book serves as an excellent, practical reference source for anyone involved in any aspect of consumer marketing."
--Tom Bernardin, President and CEO, Bozell Advertising
"Brad Kirk goes well beyond theory, offering practical advice he's learned from being an executive that has consistently turned creative thinking into bottom line results."
--J. Tyler Johnston, Executive Vice President, Marketing Dreyers Grand Ice Cream
"For anyone who wants to crush the competition in the unforgiving world of consumer marketing, this book is a hard-hitting guide to what works and what is a waste of money and time."
--Richard W. Frank, Operating Partner, Consumer Companies, Allied Capital Corporation
Techniques that marketing leaders from Coca Cola to L'Oreal use to break into and dominate consumer markets
Today's best marketing minds are in the consumer packaged goods industry, working with budgets of $100 million or more to sell the (physically) low-differentiation products we use every day. In Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer, top CMO Bradford C. Kirk takes an inside look at this high-pressure world and shows you how the best marketers grab market share by understanding and speaking smartly to their most profitable consumers.
"Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer is written by a real-life chief marketing officer. For twenty-two years, including eight as a chief marketing officer, I've been responsible for delivering share growth and capital-efficient profits. The lessons in this book are about what actually works on the front lines of marketing, not what could or should work . . . . "
--Bradford C. Kirk, from the Preface
Knowing more and producing better numbers than the competition isn't just Bradford Kirk's job. It is, as with all successful marketing executives, his passion.
For more than two decades, Kirk has competed as a marketing executive in the rough-and-tumble packaged goods arena, developing marketing strategies for many of today's most recognizable consumer brands. He has spent that time learning how consumers think and how to make both retailers and consumers first take notice of a product and then buy it.
Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer details what Kirk has learned. He discusses what CMOs must know to keep their brands and themselves on top, including:
- Techniques for leading the development of share-building advertising
- Ways to use the input of power retailers to improve the consumers appeal of new products
- Strategies for choosing a media mix that leverages your product strengths, your creative strengths, and your budget
- Types of consumer product test marketing--which to use, which to avoid, and why
- Strategies for using branding, integrated marketing communications, and more to compete with retail store brands
Actual brand-name case studies, chapter-ending bullets summarizing major points, personal examples from Kirk's years on the frontlines, and more make Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer one of today's most thorough marketing guidebooks. Far more than just a theoretical text, it is a hands-on road map on how marketers can create a permanent spot for their brands, both on cluttered store shelves and in the minds and purchasing habits of consumers.
Kirk hasn't just studied the rules of consumer products marketing; he has helped to write those rules. Let Lessons from a Chief Marketing Officer trim years from your learning curve with its tips and techniques for making consumers search out and buy your products, from the mind of someone who has devoted his professional life to doing exactly that.
