Customer Reviews

The Portable MBA in Marketing (The Portable MBA Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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This book boils all of the marketing concepts I learned while in B-school(and some I didn't) into an easy read format. The only thing missing is that annoying quant-jock who sat behind my chewing gum the entire semester! If you just want a great introduction to marketing, or are an MBA looking to refresh your understanding of the 4P's, pick-up this book. You won't be disappointed.

As an undergraduate, I studied political science; as a graduate student, I studied history (among other things) - however, few if any of my classes ever dealt with the actual mechanics of business, despite dealing with business in a more general sense (as it would fit in the context of history and politics). I decided that it was important to learn some of the basic concepts of business administration, and the Portable MBA series by John Wiley & Sons publishers fit the bill.

This book on marketing covers the topic from the conceptual, research, and practical angles. Dealing with customers, potential and actual, is the key aspect to marketing. There are strategies that work and strategies that fail, and many of these are discussed and analysed. Companies included in the case studies include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive, Kawasaki, Campbell Soup, A.C. Nielsen, and literally over a hundred more. Just what is the magic that makes Nike a household word? How does one really assess the success of the cola wars between Pepsi, Coke, and other contenders?

In the foreword, Ken Blanchard (author of the 'One-Minute Manager') states, 'I have come to believe that the secret to competitive success is to give customers service so far above their expectations it becomes legendary.' Part of this strategy is to become a better listener (which is an art that is lost for many, particularly in the corporate world), and part of the strategy is to look beyond the actual and explore the possible.

The authors who contributed to this volume have both academic and professional experience, and tend to do a good job at explaining things in terms that the non-professional can understanding. Anyone with a basic undergraduate background should find this volume accessible. This book can also give one ideas for everything from garage sales to major marketing campaigns.

I taught marketing and advertising, having worked as a public relations/marketing director for a college and for a seminary. Had this book been available at the time I was teaching, I would not have hesitated to use it.

Just like all the other portable MBA books. This book is packed with pretty useful ideas. It is very focused and so you 'll need to be as well when you read it.

This book is good introductory manual to marketing, it covers the basic concepts you need to understand or that you cannot forget. In an MBA you will see exactly the same, nobodys will give you by reading a book or taking an MBA the Know How only the "Know" part, the "how" well, its a matter of practice and opportunity. But if you are in command of a MArketing unit this book will give you the "Knowledge" you need to focus your "how".

Don't buy the audio version from audible.com .

Their programming skills are terrible. I could not download some of the books I bought, could not burn into cd the ones I could download, and forget about making it work with an mp3 player, unless you're lucky.

I know about 5 people who bought stuff from there and only one had the luck of downloading a working file and burning it successfully to a cd.

The quality of the narrations is awful, at least in the books I managed to hear (only on windows media player, nothing else worked). If you're used to books on cd or tape, you're up for a big disappointment buying from audible.

On top of all that, they have the worst customer service I have ever witnessed. The site was not working right when I tried to purchase there for the first time. I sent them a message with no answer.

In a second attempt, I bought the stuff and some files never downloaded (which means they just stole my money and I don't know what I can do since I don't live in USA). I sent another message with no answer again.

Then their weird program, which turns Windows Media Player automatically on instead of working alone, showed no compatibility to Itunes and no possibility of burning cds or dreaming about hearing books on Ipod. I sent them a third message and nothing. A fourth and guess what? Nothing again.

So I am at least trying to warn other people here to avoid being caught by such scheme. I hope Amazon gets rid of audible as soon as possible. I always got great service from Amazon and the affiliated bookstores, or even other stores selling electronics, health products and others, but audible is just the worst company I ever wasted my money with. Too bad we cannot give notes to them like with the affiliated booksellers.

Sorry by the poor text, I am just mad with them.

Companies flying high on economic good times may be in danger of forgetting the business fundamentals that underlie their success. Increased focus on the bottom line, competitive strategies, and financial goals divert attention from the primary source of every company's good fortune-the customer. The Portable MBA in Marketing, second edition, is dedicated to the principle that the only guarantee for continued success is a consistent focus on and attention to customer needs, preferences, and expectations.

This powerful tool for business success in the twenty-first century furnishes bright, ambitious managers with a solid grounding in MBA-level marketing theory and practice. Fully updated and expanded, this new edition emphasizes fresh marketing strategies and cutting-edge marketing concepts and techniques that help keep you in touch with your customers. It focuses on the key issues facing companies today, including how to outperform competitors, anticipate future trends, improve advertising and sales, build customer loyalty, and market on the Internet.

Charles D. Schewe, PhD, is a principal at Lifestage Matrix Marketing and a full professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has authored ten books and more than fifty articles on marketing. Alexander Hiam is the author of a dozen books, including Marketing for Dummies, The Vest-Pocket Marketer, and The Entrepreneur's Complete Sourcebook.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan Adnan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School, London.