Marketing Mayhem: Why Marketing Isn't Producing the Way It Used to [Hardcover]

Herschell Gordon Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

What is Marketing Mayhem? In the simplest terms, it is the mindless marketing that has been draining profits, wasting productive energy, and creating strategic and tactical confusion in just about every type of business. Why is this happening? A few specifics are below. Mindless use of technology; Imaginative sterility; Misleading and confusing use of language; Taking customers for granted; Want some examples of what Marketing Mayhem has done? We have more technology, analytical tools, and process than ever before. But: Sales and profits are down. Why? We supposedly know more than ever before about what buyers want. But: Customers are more sceptical and more alienated from us and more resistant to sales offers than ever before. We can choose from a ton of CRM software and hours of CRM seminars. But: The typical customer responds with the loyalty of a gnat. You can find more specifics on the pages of Marketing Mayhem. Even more important, you'll find answers to the problems that Marketing Mayhem creates-and you'll be entertained all along the way by the world's most productive copywriter and Direct Magazine's most popular feature columnist.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Herschell Gordon Lewis, Direct Magazine's Curmudgeon-at-Large, is one of the world's leading authorities on creating copy and marketing programs that sell profitably. His columns have appeared regularly in leading advertising, direct marketing, and marketing publications. He is a much sought-after speaker and appears regularly on podiums all over the world. His books are regarded as standard works on marketing and direct marketing creativity.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Racom Communications (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970451539
• ISBN-13: 978-0970451538
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,765,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Man is a Total Nut!, April 12, 2002

By 

Gary R Cooley (Mountain Home, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marketing Mayhem: Why Marketing Isn't Producing the Way It Used to (Hardcover)

This was advertised as a book explaining why marketing is not producing the way it used to. That is why I bought it as my marketing is not working the way it used to....I also know that Lewis is one of the best in the world at direct mail copy. I have read his works since the early 1980's and his wisdom has pulled me out of more than one hole.

The problem with this book is that all the way through you wonder if this man is pure genius resulting many successful efforts, or if he has he gone off the deep end. Regardless, the book, if nothing else, is way funny. Just the references to Sax Lewis will bust the toughest gut. It kept me in sincere stiches. I did not laugh at him, I laughed with him. He totally destroys the puffery some proudly call advertising. But he does more than destroy, he rebuilds. I needed some serious solutions for effective Web site copy, and I found them in this book. No, the book is not about writing Web copy. But if you combine this book with Nielsen and Tahir's "Homepage Usability" you will have all you need to know to produce a "killer" Web site. Lewis points out, in example after example, all the incredibily stupid mistakes that so-called pros have made in marketing over the last ten years. He puts all these mistakes under a magnifying glass so powerful that it burns. The ants soon fry. In this intense light it becomes obvious what one must do to gain back the confidence of one's target reader.

This is a book you will either love or hate. But one thing is for sure - everyone in marketing needs to read this book. Why? Within a few hours of finishing this book I knew what I had to do on our Web sites. And within 24 hours of making the changes I got several positive emails. My phone also rang with new business. I was impressed because all I did was follow what Lewis said to do in his list of 5 things at the end of the book. This book paid for itself many hundreds of times over in just 24 hours. I will read it several more times. I can't absorb this much wisdom in one reading.

So why the one star rating? You are a skeptic. That is why you are reading the one star review instead of the 5 star....

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh All the Way to the Bank, November 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Marketing Mayhem: Why Marketing Isn't Producing the Way It Used to (Hardcover)

That's what Lewis has enabled me to do. I've been able to use his shrewd insights into marketing and copywriting to get greater productivity out of my marketing programs. And I've never had such a better time reading about how to do it. Lewis has taken a very serious subject(increasing the size of my bank account) and entertained me all the while I'm doing it. I don't have to be entertained while I'm making money, but you'll never hear me complain about it either.

4.0 out of 5 stars Marketing Mayhem makes for Business Brilliance, May 10, 2002

By 

J. Russo (Collegeville, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marketing Mayhem: Why Marketing Isn't Producing the Way It Used to (Hardcover)

I had a chance to hear Mr. Lewis talk at a recent Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association meeting. This guy is a stitch! What a great presentation! It was at this meeting that I decided to purchase this book. If you enjoy reading Mr. Lewis' article in Direct Magazine each month, then you'll love this book. He holds nothing back. No industry is safe from his evaluation.

I think the one message he iterates throughout the book, which most business books can't or don't want to figure out, is the simplistic and common sense approach to a successful business. He, like Dave Thomas' book, "Dave's Way", talks about common sense solutions to everyday business problems. Mr. Lewis, unlike Mr. Thomas, is a bit more forthcoming in his analysis.

This book is for those business people who are tired of hearing open promises from "experts". It shreds apart the current world of advertising. Note: if you're an advertising AE, be warned. If you're an advertising AE and wish to read this book, you're on the right road to redemption.