Customer Reviews

Your Marketing Sucks

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

Wow. I have never seen such bitterness about an Amazon product. There are some truly horrible products out there, I admit, but it looks like anyone who gives a positive review will get shot down 0 to 5 in the voting. It makes one think...

As for my review, I'll play it safe with 3 stars. I rated Mosquito Coast 3 stars too. What does it mean? It means I wouldn't go out of my way for it & I didn't get a ton from it, but there was something about it to justify it's existence.

For those of you who haven't read and who haven't been prejudiced to a negative review, the author's basic concept is that marketing should fall under the business domain and not the "artsy, creative domain" that it usually does. He makes a good point that your marketing should not be out there to win awards, and that more expensive (a la Super Bowl spots) doesn't mean better. Instead, everything you do to promote a product or service - and it can be at a grass roots level - should reinforce each other. I.e., your ads should tie to your website should tie to your publicity, etc. And all this should increase sales. If you don't increase your sales, your marketing sucks.

Now, it is true that the book is not an academic or even an intellectual book. Do not come here to learn about marketing. It's not even marketing 101. It's basically written to people in marketing who are doing it wrong. And, even if you think that this book is really simple, the reality that I've found is that most people in marketing really ARE doing it wrong. So, if you are in marketing - especially if you haven't had much business exposure - then this may be a helpful read.

Now, I will say that this book is INCREDIBLY poorly written. I think he spent 3 chapters winding you up to tell you what was inside. While inside, he meandered through countless examples where he identified poor marketing. And then he propels you to a final chapter that is fairly shallow & unhelpful. His advice that you should go on a retreat to absorb everything before you return to the office is a cute touch to make you think that there was alot to absorb.

I will say this though. At the end of the book, you wonder how much of a marketing tool this book is for Stevens' company. And you wonder what marketing tools he used to get so much hype for a book that isn't really worth it. And you think perhaps he really does know what he's talking about even though he can't write very well. It's kinda like looking at your reflection via 2 mirrors and seeing you look at your reflection via 2 mirrors who is looking at your reflection via...you get the picture.

My final word is that, in the long run, Stevens will be the big loser long-term whether the books sells well or not(unless he's exceedingly brilliant, which I am doubting at the moment). He's a one-trick pony. He may actually be a whiz at marketing consulting. But with his shameless use of a crude title & slogan to catch people's attention, he has also lowered himself on classiness pole enough that he probably will never be taken as a serious player in the business world. He will never rule the roost. He'll just help the rulers get more money...until some other irreverent upstart can do it better than he.

No original ideas, except of course the title. I guess this is worth something, after all, it persuaded me to buy the book!

The book starts off with the annoying phrase, "Extreme Marketing". Let's get one thing straight: Nothing in this book is extreme. The ideas are basic, focusing on sales and advertising. If that's what you need, then perhaps this is a good book for you.

Second, this book suffers from the ever-popular confusion between marketing and sales. This book doesn't really touch marketing as a discipline, but instead reads like a commercial for his advertising firm. He spends an entire chapter (one of the longer chapters in the book) describing how a company transformed itself using "his" principles. Guess what? The company is fictional! He made up the company, and made up the results! How is that helpful?

Overall, if you are a beginner in sales, this book may be of some help. But if you are looking for marketing tactics, strategy, or new insights, this this isn't the one.

This book is more hype than substance. Great title and admittedly well marketed. But a good marketer knows you have to deliver on your marketing promise to truly be effective. Mark Stevens does not do that. I would not buy another book from this author (fortuneately I got my copy from the library) I also would not reccomend it to others. His themes and concepts are not original. Sergio Zyman's book (End of Marketing...) is much better and insightful. Like most others who write on the subject of Marketing effectiveness, he talks a big game on Marketing ROI, but falls way short when it comes down to how to really measure it. He takes the easy road by speaking at a high, theoretical level. His most egregious mistake is confusing marketing communications (advertising, direct mail, PR) with Marketing. Even the Marketing undergrad knows Marketing communications alone doesn't motivate someone to buy, it is an integration of the product, the price you charge for it, how and where it is distributed and sold as well as the Marketing communications. Reading this book, you'd think just adjusting your advertising or direct marketing or PR will drive results. Shame on you, Mark.

A lot of the reviews for this book seem very polarized (either 1 or 5 stars) and quite honestly, it kept me from opening the copy I had bought a couple of months ago. Many of the negative reviews seem very vituperative and contain a lot of personal attacks on the author. I don't know him to judge him except by his book, which, staying focused purely on that, is pretty much a blah rendition of themes and ideas that we've all seen before. There are some very good generalities that someone with the know-how and initiative might be able to turn into something valuable, but quite honestly, anyone with a modest amount of common sense could draw the same conclusions about marketing that this book does. I found myself saying "Duh!" out loud. A lot. This is not to say that it's any worse than a number of other books that seem to be glutting the market right now, but at least those books provide some value in the form of case studies or other applications that could be interpolated into a marketing strategy. Maybe a selling point of this book is that it helps point out the obvious, but I would think that could hardly have been the point, especially when given such a provocative title.

Maybe that alone was the lesson - most marketing sucks and let me illustrate that for you by throwing a catchy title on a bunch of well-worn platitudes and watch it climb the best-seller list. Stevens obviously anticipates this thought because he poses the question himself - "How the hell does HE know?" Unfortunately, the book doesn't answer that. If anything, it just reinforces it.

I don't pretend to be the smartest business owner or marketer - that's why I continue to read books like this in the search for "the answer". However, I do think I am competent enough to understand what works and what doesn't. The somewhat condescending tone of the book doesn't achieve what I think it was meant to - to demonstrate how common mistakes are rampant in the business world when it comes to marketing. Clearly, the message is resonating with somebody, but it sure isn't me. I would have to recommend passing on it, unless you have a couple of days to kill and are morbidly curious.

The best thing one can say about this pathetic book it that the warning is right there on the cover- IT SUCKS! The latest in a long line of pathetic books by Mark Stevens, a wanna-be guru and self-proclaimed marketing expert. His latest collection of simplistic hype rounds out a long list of gems including How to Borrow a Million Dollars (credit card schemes?), Extreme Management (extreme confusion), How to Pyramid Small Business Ventures into a Personal Fortune (pyramid schemes?) - you get the idea.

Characteristically unoriginal, pompous, and lacking substance, this latest mess is designed to impress the easily duped into using Mark Stevens as a consultant. The book is hollow, a rehash of basic marketing and sales principles. Based on Stevens' stressing ROI, one would have expected him to litter his work with testimonials from what should be hundreds of thrilled and fawning clients? And one has to wonder what his real clients have to say. If he's so amazing, his clients must have the best marketing in the world! He's the expert and he puts these principles to work every day right? For zillions of clients, right? What? No willing droves of converts or devotees? Aren't there any real-world examples with verified ROI results? Why not?

Instead, it is quickly obvious that the author has had no real successes or he would have mentioned them. Maybe he's just really upset his firm has never won any real awards. All one can deduce is that Stevens' own marketing sucked so much he had the time to kick back and write a book. Doesn't sound like a guy that's all that busy working with real clients. Or maybe his prospects prefer more substance and less snake oil. Like they say, those that can - do. Those that suck - write stupid books.

Just so you understand where I'm coming from, let me lay some background. I'm a small business owner. I provide a professional service to both consumers and businesses. I do okay, holding my own, looking to improve. I have a decent background in direct marketing and publicity that has served me pretty well up until now but I could use some help. I often read books of this type looking for an idea or two that I can apply to my own situation. I very, very rarely find one that is applicable, simply because I think most of these "how-to" marketing books speak way to much in generalities. So it's not necessarily a knock against the book that it doesn't really deliver because it's just one of many that are like that.

Okay, that being said, I found a lot of problems with the book, mostly in terms of how it was written and the tone some of the chapters take, but I was still interested enough to contact Mr. Stevens's firm and see if perhaps I could benefit from a direct consultation. That's where my experience went down the tubes and although I am sure it colored my perception of the book, I think it's only fair to mention it here because, after all, the book is really just one large marketing gimmick for his firm's services and his business practices, I guess not surprisingly, don't completely mirror the things he stresses in the book. He doesn't necessarily practice what he preaches. That's red flag number one.

During the initial conversation I had with his representative, I was told that there was a fee involved (somewhat exhorbitant for a small business owner, I felt) for me to come in, tell Mr. Stevens about my business, and have him tell me what was wrong with it. I may be wrong, but it seems to me I shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of deciding whether or not I want the firm to represent me (or whether or not they want to represent me). Then I was told that I could have a private one-on-one session with Mr. Stevens to "pick his brain" in whatever way I chose. Again, I am not well-versed in what a nominal fee for such a service is but it still seemed somewhat high. Red flag number two.

Second, in researching his firm through his web site, it seems that the site goes against some of the basic tenets of what he indicates a web site should do for a business. I found the site not very user-friendly and more prone to promote the book than the firm. Red flag number three.

Lastly, I just got a bad vibe that, although the book appears to have been written for businesses like mine, unless you are a multi-million dollar corporation Mr. Stevens doesn't want to talk to you. In that regard, I have to agree with one of the previous reviewers who stated that Mr. Stevens cares more about the dollars than the marketing principles he espouses in this book.

Check it out of the library if you feel you should read it for yourself but I wouldn't purchase it.

The author demonstrates a lack of understanding of big vs. small business sales development. Different strategies work based on where they are in the business cycle. To criticize a large powerful company with huge budgets for utilizing the single largest reach and most talked about media vehicle (SuperBowl)without any understanding of the sales dynamics behind it is absurd. The press pre and post, the web traffic, the merchandising surrounding the SuperBowl is the reason Budweiser has done it 18 times.

To cast all advertising people in the mold of "junket spenders" and as creative awards hungry is sophmoric logic. Clamoring after Clios is not what keeps clients. David Ogilvy created an award for his agency for the account that had the biggest register ring from their advertising. He created a solution.

No one in marketing would disagree that sales input is crucial. But---Ask any sales guy if he would like to go into a call cold or with a customer that has at least heard of him via some marketing---before you throw out the carefully crafted brochures, the interactive web page and kill the trade and or consumer advertising.

As I think about it, this is a book that seems to be trying to shock people with a non-issue.

I was hungry for solutions and kept waiting to read one. I was curious how Stevens markets for his clients. Does he create brochures for them even though he thinks brochures don't sell? Does he do web pages for them that are "pretty online brochures" and don't sell? I'd love to see some realtime stories and results of his efforts- a strong case study or two versus these statements that seem to go against the grain in strategy but mouth the rhetoric or the obvious.

Still waiting.

The only thing this book has going for it, is the title. Those who know nothing about marketing will buy on this title alone. But should you be one of these individuals, let me spare you, save your money.

I inquired into client results for this company and found there were none. Strategies are based on the whims of Mark Stevens and nothing else. There are no proven methods here at all. Just a madman who wants to take your money, so he can spend it on luxury items to make himself feel better. This may sound like a personal attack, but is the truth.

Please save your money and your sanity, do not get involved with this man.

Did anyone ever stop and wonder why Stevens wrote this book? If his ideas and strategies were so wonderful, why is he not a successful marketing consultant with successful clients? Why would he need to write this book - to share all of his insight and knowledge with the business world? I highly doubt it. It seems to me that it is for the paycheck! If anyone would take the time to look into the business history of Mark Stevens they would find out that he has no more expertise or success in marketing than a recent college graduate with a marketing degree. Nothing that he says in his book is new, and in fact, I don't see any case studies in the book where he gives the reader examples of his successful marketing campaigns. As a businessperson, I would not take any advice from someone who cannot prove his success!

I bought this book over the weekend out of curiousity despite the bad reviews on amazon.com. After the first two chapters, I stopped. I returned it to the bookstore and got my money back. I should have paid attention when the titled screamed, "I need attention, buy me!"

The only purpose of this book to generate sales with its title (smart? maybe). Bottomline is that it offers no real value (Stupid? definitely). Save your money and go with your gut instinct. Any business person with worth, will know that marketing starts with examining what the ROI will be.