Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsHow far marketers will go to promote their own existence
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2016
A ten page white paper posing as a book; don’t waste your money. I’m going to literally review this in terms of it’s physical presentation, as well as content. This book is 6X8, 176 pages, BUT only about ½ of the pages actually contain narrative content, the other ½ are printed with “fluff” images supposedly included to drive his point. The typeface is at LEAST 18 pt (think LARGE PRINT book), expanding what is probably really just 20 pages into a "book." Between the large typeface and the tangential full page graphics, he has taken what was probably an hour of lecture notes and powerpoing and turned them into a “book” – and I suppose on that count I can give him some points for “marketing,” or more accurately, false promises.
As to content, unless you are truly dull in the brain and haven’t an ounce of creativity flowing in your blood, you will likely find his idea of “Zag” laughable. It is similar to the “Blue Ocean” theory of a few years ago. This is just one more marketer pretending to have a big idea, that is really so small it is not even worth paying attention to. Add to that, much of what he presents are re-treads of others' work, none of whom he properly credits, and basically you are dealing with the Dr. Oz Mahmet of the business world.
What he is promoting is an example of what Jean Baudrillard refers to as “simulacra” – and it is part of an old paradigm. But if this doesn’t resonate with you, do you really want to spend $21 on what is essentially a 20 page white paper designed to promote the author more than offer any substantive ideas? If you do, then you’ve fallen for his personal “brand” – that of someone who knows how to make an easy buck simply by bumping up the size of the typeface, and regurgitating other people's ideas.
As a research sociologist who has been looking at the phenomenon of “business promoting business” – e.g. the proliferation of business schools and business ideas simply to validate their own existence and make money doing it, I am filing this book under “Examples of how far marketers will go to promote their own existence.”
