Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution [Hardcover]

Richard Laermer (Author), Mark Simmons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

This is a manifesto and practical guide for all business people, those involved in marketing and even those who think they're not. These are the folks who have witnessed that the shift in power from business to consumer has dulled the traditional tools of marketing. Our book introduces a radical new approach, and new lexicon, to a discipline in much need of an overhaul.Founded upon a completely revised set of assumptions about how customers interact with brands, it is more than just theoretical analysis; it is a set of usable tools for the modern marketing revolutionary: Ti-Vo; I-Tunes; and, Blogging the news. They're putting the consumer in charge. And we ain't seen nothing yet. Consumers are running the economy from their hand-held I-Pods, BlackBerries, mouse clicks, and remote controls. There's no new and improved pitch anymore - just dead and buried, and what's important to me and my space. Advertisers, marketers, and publicity professionals have lost their most effective tools, and they no longer have a fraction of the influence they once had over buying habits.Punk Marketing is the first shot-soon to be heard round the world - of the marketing uprising that businesses want and need. Authors, Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons, are more innovative than their 40 combined years of experience would suggest, and in this book they return effectiveness, creativity, and relevance to marketing. In quick chapters that include fresh case studies, spot-on graphics, tasty sidebars, and proven ideas from the best new campaigns, "Punk Marketing" is the manifesto for America's creative workforce. Not a narrative, not a 'theory' braced with familiar case studies from the everyday names of American business - the book offers its hard-tested experience and bracing ideas in spreads and sidebars that can be absorbed quickly, put into battle, and recaptured when the next marketing emergency breaks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

TV co-host Laermer (of TLC's Taking Care of Business) and agency alum Simmons (formerly of Crispin Porter + Bogusky) combine their considerable experience and wit to jolt readers into a new understanding of marketing's ever-changing arena. The premise-and the promise-of their approach to marketing is likely a familiar one: power is shifting from corporation to consumer, meaning that "a brand is formed in the eye of the beholder-the consumer-and is not the property of the marketer." As such, old-fashioned truisms like "any publicity is good publicity" have been subsumed by a new paradigm: "mediocre marketing does more harm than doing nothing." Blunt, fair, fearless and outrageous-just like the marketing style they espouse-Laermer and Simmons explicate the marketing methods of the future in a tour of blogs, lingo, games, the "real simple" concept and the new standards of cyber-socializing. Techniques involve story-telling, contests, product placement, emerging technology and the increasingly tricky business of crafting emotional connections. Asides include tales of planned scarcity (like "limited edition" sneakers), examples of broadcasters' waning power and the potential for targeting audiences "at every moment of the day." Though it covers some well-trod ground, there's plenty of sound analysis and prescient advice here (not to mention humor) for forward-thinking marketers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Expertly explains why, in today’s day and age, “marketing must be both brave and intelligent to succeed.” (Website Magazine )

“This should be required reading for all marketing and advertising people who still think that the world hasn’t changed much” (Technorati )

“A manifesto for anyone looking to break away from old methods and dropkick their sales campaign into the new millennium.” (Manage Smarter Magazine )

“Cutting edge marketing strategies.... Outrageous book format.” (History in the Making )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061151106
• ISBN-13: 978-0061151101
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for all marketers..., December 25, 2006

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (Hardcover)

I got the chance to get an advanced reader copy of the book Punk Marketing: Get Off Your @$$ And Join The Revolution by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons. This should be required reading for all marketing and advertising people who still think that the world hasn't changed much...

Contents:
Prologue - Welcome to the Revolution: Don't Blame Us, Just Thank Us
1 - The Punk Marketing Manifesto: You Read - We Make Your Life Better
2 - Kill the Middlemen: Do So Before They Kill You
3 - Brand Not Bland: How to Stand Out So That You Are "The Chosen"
4 - Who's Eating Your Lunch?: Make Them Spit It Out
5 - The Sell Phone: Use and Abuse of the Cell Phone for Marketing
6 - The Captive Consumer: Do Not Try This At Home
7 - Now It's Story Time: Art of Making a Case through Storytelling
8 - Leave Me Alone, Will Ya!: Too Much Stuff, Too Little Time
9 - Lies Lies Lies - The Truth About Truth: And Factoids about Facts
10 - As Seen on TV: Place It Baby, Place It
11 - At Last, a Job in Hollywood!: You Are the Content
12 - Game On: No One Is A Loser
13 - It's More Than Just Us: Hard as That Is to Believe
Notes
Index
Last Words

Punk marketing is defined as a rebellion against tradition, an attitude that says the same old thing doesn't work any more. Laermer and Simmons take a irreverent, no-holds-barred look at today's marketing landscape, and how consumers interact with advertising. The days of throwing a 30 second ad on TV and calling it good are over. There are so many media outlets clamoring for attention, and the advertising din has made it nearly impossible to stand out using traditional styles. Furthermore, the old ad agencies no longer hold the power to control the market. TiVOs have reworked the way people view a program, and the odds are high that your audience is fast-forwarding past your multi-million dollar ad budget. Punk marketing looks at how nontraditional methods of marketing are needed to reach your specific markets. Techniques such as viral marketing, cell phone interaction, and product placement in shows and movies are becoming the way to make a mark without just talking louder and longer. But even these avenues are fraught with peril if you don't remember the attitudes of the persons being marketed to. For instance, cell phone interaction can be great if it's participatory. But if you just start sending repeated ads to a cell phone audience, you've sealed your fate. Bottom line... you have to be different in order to be seen, and you *will* make mistakes. But standing pat on the past campaigns are becoming less effective with every passing year.

Even if you're not necessarily involved in marketing, you'll enjoy the attitude of the writers. I was reminded often of Tom Peters' style of writing with even more raw emotion. I knew I was in for a different read when I hit the dedication page... "To everyone who's ever s**t-canned us... and their spouses." That same in-your-face attitude carries through the entire book, and it makes for a compelling read. The fact that they nail the attitudes and habits of today's consumer makes it great...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of the Revolution, March 28, 2007

By 

M. Fox (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the rapidly changing marketing norms of today. Not only is Punk Marketing laced with thought provoking humor, delightful illustrations and case study side notes, but the content is worth the purchase alone. This is the first marketing book that I could truly not resist when I saw it at the Atlanta Airport Bookstore, and on top of that, the first marketing book that I had trouble putting down.

Good work Laermer and Simmons. I can't wait to see what is next.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new or "punk" here - don't bother, January 31, 2008

By 

David Shank "raoulduke" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (Hardcover)

There is really nothing worse than claiming you are taking a radical, new, "punk" break-all-the-rules approach....it is another thing altogether to actually accomplish such a challenge. This book does not deliver what it promises. There is nothing new here - lots of good, basic, marketing 101 information here, but not much else. The authors throw in the occasional swear word to demonstrate how "edgy" this work is - and in so doing this and only this they really show their ignorance and complete lack of anything new, radical, or "punk". Decent enough review of basic principles so that you have not wasted your money if you bought this - but if you are looking for what they claim they have delivered in their own marketing - go somewhere else - you won't find it here.