Customer Reviews

Marketing Management

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Kotler tries to sell college students new books every year, hence the 12th edition he is now marketing. There is no new information, and the information contained is no different from any $12 marketing book. Students, buy an old edition and save, teachers stop using books like this, more and better information is available for free over the net anyway. Just because they are expensive and shiny doesn't mean they are worthwhile. BTW this is also available in an international edition with the exact same content for 1/4 of the cost.

No doubt this book is a classic in Marketing - most any MBA program in the world has this book as required, if not optional, reading. If you're taking an academic Marketing class, you'll probably be required to buy this, and rightfully so. If you need a desk reference on Marketing, again this will be a good read.

That said, it is a very long and detailed read that covers Marketing definitions, Marketing gurus, Marketing tactics, Marketing strategy... The whole 9 (or 10?) yards. In being everything to everyone, the book loses some of it's strength. If your interests are less broad and academic, the book is too broad. Interesting in improving your advertising? There's more precise books out there. Interested in applied Marketing Strategy? Again, there's more focused books available than even just reading Kotler's sections.

Using a variety of case-study analyses, this "Marketing Management" elaborated on the principal concepts of 21st Century marketing. Post-graduate students, as well as practising professionals will find it useful. Its specialized chapters did their best in ramifying every aspect of marketing. Information is everywhere; although that its versatility led to the boring repetition of strategies.
This book is simple and well-written. It is very good; but in comparison, the "Principles of Marketing", which is cheaper and comes with an attached CD-ROM, (and was written by Gary Armstrong and this same Philip Kotler) offers much more for less money.

This is the approach to marketing that tries to quantify the process instead of illuminate it. When all the formulas are stated, the numbers crunched, the bullet points listed, and the case studies studied, marketers are still left with the same problem: How do I align the whole company behind a single, powerful idea? In this particular effort, your best allies are courage, common sense, and a handful of simple principles. An expensive, five-pound "bible" is only good if you want to wake up your colleagues by dropping it on the table. Unless you're a student who has to read this stuff, you're better off buying "Bottom Up Marketing" by Trout & Ries or "The Brand Gap" by Neumeier, and spending the money you save on a nice dinner.

The overall thoroughness and comprehensive coverage of marketing fundamentals is very appropriate for undergraduate textbook. There are plenty of excercises, illustrations and quasi-mathematical formulae, but the book lacks the depth and insight for the more discerning reader. The text is very thorough and verbose, which makes is boring at times, full with superficial direct conclusions without even an attempt to look at the bigger picture.

In my opinion it more retrospective than forward-looking and inspiring. I would highly recommend "Strategic Marketing Management" by David Aaker at 1/2 of the price and 1/6 of the size. Also, I personally find inappropriate that Prof. Kotler starts each chapter quoting his own book.

Phillip Kotler's Marketing Management is the the classic MBA marketing text. It's comprehensive and encyclopedic--that means its not an easy read. Kotler's writing style could be described as a list of lists. Each topic is parsed into its elements and he then recites all possible attributes.

The book has an enormous market share, which means it comes with every possible ancilliary product (for instructors who adopt the book) such as videos and power points. Because Prentice Hall sells so many of this book, they can afford to issue new editions on an accelerated, two-year cycle. The good news from this is it allows them to move with the times (in this edition, they've eliminated all the trivial "Did you know ...?" sidebars that detracted from the seriousness of the last "Millennial Edition." The bad news (from a student point of view) is that you may be forced to buy new, because used copies won't be correct.

However, this is one book that you'll want to keep on your professional library shelves--it's as much a reference as a text. All other marketing texts either derive from Kotler or distance themselves from this book, so you might as well go to the source.

This book is not organized well at all. There is a lot of repetition in the chapters and they are extremely long with a lot of information contained in each chapter. Many of the examples seem irrelevant and the book just does not flow well. It seems Dr. Kotler is attempting to use the same old dry text with modern updating that makes this book long, confusing and boring.

This book is a great reference guide for those interested in marketing. The topics covered are too varied to be indepth, but it cavers a wide range of topics. I'd read this book in conjunction with Guerrilla PR Wired by Michael Levine to get a complete picture.

Great text for marketing basics. If you need a place to start this is it. It delves into a variety of topics and covers the extensive ground of marketing management. Should be great for students and professionals because it has many real life examples. It is very general, not industry specific. So, if you're looking for marketing specifically for hospitality and tourism for example, Kotler co-authored a textbook on that too. (another great book on that topic is Heads in Beds-hospitality and tourism marketing). A great book on branding is Keller's Brand Management.

It's not an easy task to thoroughly review and summarize such a vast discipline as Marketing. Prof. Kotler's book is definitely the best choice for those wishing to start learning Marketing from scratch as well for those experts wishing to review or deepen their knowledge through the extensive bibliography which is provided. The reading is easy and enjoyable, thanks to pictures, examples from everyday's life and common Marketing mistakes that make you master the art of observation and strategy. It would have been useful to dedicate a chapter or two to quantitative analysis methods, such as the usage of statistics and so on, but such a miss is easily forgiven once you get through the text and get caught by the Author's style.