Marketing and the Bottom Line (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Tim. Ambler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0273661949 | ISBN-13: 978-0273661948 | Edition: 2

"The subject is critically important and Ambler's ideas are provocative." Philip Kotler " Far and away the best book for a senior manager who is interested in understanding marketing's impact on his or her organization." Journal of Marketing, January 04 Marketing really isn't different, and it really isn't impossible to measure. It's an investment. Unless you can measure its impact, you're wasting your money. Select the right metrics for your company and ensure a regular assessment of marketing by top management in order to keep performance on track. Here, for the first time, is a book that explains the "why" as well as the "what" and the "how" of marketing metrics. How much attention does your board give to the sources of cash flow? Perhaps what gets measured is not always what gets done but it's a start. This book explains the reasons for regular marketing assessment by the whole board, key marketplace metrics, and assessing the firm's state of innovation health. Improved marketing requires employees to change what they do, and the way that they do it. Most companies don't have a clear picture of their marketing performance. Now is the time to see what you are doing. Clarity of goals and assessment of performance separate the professional from the amateur; and only the professionals win. "It is time that marketing stood up and was counted. Literally. This book is the enabler. It's not full of prescriptive rules. Instead it poses questions to ask, suggests possible measurements to make and details experiences from real companies. It does not suffer from consultant speak and is grounded in the reality of the struggle to "make marketing accountable. It is important for the future of marketing." Market Leader "A blue print for the marketer to impress his or her boss in how to measure the value of their efforts. Numbers haven't been so much fun for a long time. Buy this book." Brand Republic "Marketers need to be far more accountable, and this book shows them not just how to provide measures of success but also how to achieve top management consensus about marketing investment. " Ken Bishop, Director of Marketing, IBM UK "This is a succinct, witty and mould-breaking book on a very important topic. It should be read by all senior managers and marketers." Professor Hugh Davidson, Cranfield School of Management "This book is a big step forward in assessing marketing impact - an area which is short of regular performance management." Sir John Egan, CBI

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The subject is critically important and Ambler's ideas are provocative."
                                                              Philip Kotler

" Far and away the best book for a senior manager who is interested in understanding marketing's impact on his or her organization."
                                                               Journal of Marketing, January 04

"It is time that marketing stood up and was counted. Literally. This book is the enabler. It's not full of prescriptive rules. Instead it poses questions to ask, suggests possible measurements to make and details experiences from real companies. It does not suffer from consultant speak and is grounded in the reality of the struggle to "make marketing accountable. It is important for the future of marketing." Market Leader

"Marketers need to be far more accountable, and this book shows them not just how to provide measures of success but also how to achieve top management consensus about marketing investment. " Ken Bishop, Director of Marketing, IBM UK

"This is a succinct, witty and mould-breaking book on a very important topic. It should be read by all senior managers and marketers." Professor Hugh Davidson, Cranfield School of Management

"This book is a big step forward in assessing marketing impact - an area which is short of regular performance management." Sir John Egan, CBI

"Although Ambler's 'Marketing and the Bottom Line' may sound like a core text book that should be read by every undergraduate marketing student, its strength goes well beyond the bounds of academic study. To begin with, it's a really easy book to read. And although it's about the numbers that preoccupy the CFO and CEO, Ambler has demystified what could have been an impenetrable subject.

What struck me about this book is that it's written by a marketer for marketers. The central tenant of the book is that most brand owners aren't making marketing accountable in a way that is relevant and meaningful. But it doesn't stop there and through some original research Ambler provides a blue print for the marketer to impress his or her boss in how to measure the value of their efforts. Numbers haven't been so much fun for a long time. Buy this book."
Brand Republic

From the Back Cover

Strip out all the flash talk and pretty posters and you'll find that marketing is all about cash: either finding where it is and how to get a bigger share of it or spending it in an attempt to generate more of it.

Both fairly hard, measurable, results driven functions. And yet for years, while other departments have been subjected to intense scrutiny on their contribution to shareholder value, marketing have been able to make jokes about not knowing which 50% of their work produced the results.

Not any more, Marketing isn't a special case, it isn't different and it certainly isn't impossible to measure. It's an investment. Unless you can measure its impact, you're wasting your money.

Here for the first time, is a book that explains the "why" as well as the "what" and the "how" of marketing metrics.

"An excellent book; thoughtful and informative. It will open the minds of board members to the fact that marketing's value can and should be measured. The data produced is a vital indicator of a company's health."

-Mike Mawtus, Vice President, IBM Euro Global Initiatives

"I hate this book. It will only encourage the accountants."

-Anne Moir, -Head of Marketing, Quadriga Worldwide

"This book should be required reading for all board directors. It shows why marketing underpins shareholder value creation, and how marketing efectiveness should be measured and monitored."

-Professor Peter Doyle, Warwick Business School

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 2 edition (April 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0273661949
• ISBN-13: 978-0273661948
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing on two levels, March 27, 2006

By 

C. Armatys "Knowledge-Quest" (Black Forest, Co.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marketing and the Bottom Line (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I was disappointed in this book first by the quality of the binding. By the end of the book I had a half dozen loose pages falling out from the low quaity of the binding.

My second disappointment was the actual content. The case studies appeared as 5th generation photo-copies and were barely readable. The writing style was rambling and didn't bring much of anything useful to light until near the book's end.

Overall, a near waste of reading time.

2.0 out of 5 stars Printing Problems, October 9, 2011

By 

fhaddad - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marketing and the Bottom Line (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book has some printing problems, some of the pages you can't even read the text in it and it is wiped off. It is not the problem of Amazon but the printer problem

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, March 8, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marketing and the Bottom Line (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is a marketing book unlike any other marketing book. It is really written for financial officers. In fact, at one point, author Tim Ambler actually recommends turning responsibility for marketing metrics over to the finance department. That emphasis on a hard-nosed, bottom line orientation is novel and refreshing. Ambler recognizes that one of the biggest problems marketers inflict on themselves is their failure to establish and demonstrate that money spent on marketing really does matter to the financial performance of a business. With comprehensive attention to detail, he is careful to present most of the current thinking on how to measure the value of investments in marketing. Unfortunately, his style is dense, so much of what he says may take non-experts several readings to clarify. We are grateful that his helpful executive summary goes some way toward mitigating this problem and highly recommends his comprehensive and informative material - however, an editor as ruthless as a CFO might benefit the book's own bottom line.