Recommended Reading

A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young

This is the single most important book that anyone in marketing will ever read – and you’ll finish it in 20 minutes.

Having ideas is a foundational (and transferable) skill whether you’re a marketing executive or you work in an agency creative department and your actual job is ‘coming up with ‘ideas’.

The book was written in the 1940s but the advice and technique is timeless. The text is also beautifully readable.

I won’t tell you what the technique is here because it’s so simple you won’t believe it.

But James Webb Young did know what he was talking about. He started his career as a copywriter (with a successful side hustle in selling ties by direct mail). He rose to become VP of Creative at JWT. During the war years, he advised the US government on communications and, after he retired, became the first professor of Business History and Advertising at the University of Chicago. After his death in 1973, he was elected to the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Go read his book. It’ll do your heart, mind and career good.

Review By Pete Martin

From Marginal to Mainstream by Helen Edwards

If bandwagons are your thing, read what everyone else reads, do what everyone else does.

But if you believe in a different approach to life, business, and marketing, here are 3 reasons why you should read this book.

1. It’s for business, not just marketing. Though Edwards provides invaluable theory and practical exercises to stimulate your thinking on that too. 
2. ​​​​​​It’s not “marketing flavour of the month” fodder. She uses research and science and evidence. Yet makes it fascinating and leaves enough room for you to draw your own conclusions about how you will use it.
3. You will see with different eyes! Everyone is wise after the fact but those who can spot the great ideas NOW before they become mainstream will both succeed and have more fun doing so.

Read this book and then take Helen’s advice to get out there, ramble around in the margins, and find incredibly valuable opportunities. It’s so much more fun – and profitable - than following the crowd.

Note: Famous smart folks like Rory Sutherland and Mark Ritson endorse this book too!

Review by Lisl Macdonald

How Not to Plan by Les Binet and Sarah Carter

Stop Planning Your Marketing Demise: Read This Now

Marketing is full of myths.

How Not to Plan by Les Binet and Sarah Carter dismantles them, one by one.

If you haven’t read it, you’re working with one hand tied behind your back.

This book distils many years of wisdom into 66 bite-sized chapters covering everything from strategy to media planning. Each one highlights the mistakes marketers make and how to fix them.

It’s practical, punchy, and rooted in real-world evidence.

Think of it as a marketing satnav, steering you away from the usual traps, from pointless metrics, flawed research to misguided briefs. It’s been called wonderfully illuminating & our own Craig Inglis says it’s a 'must read for any marketer wanting to learn more about effective communication - & that should be all of us'.

In an industry obsessed with chasing the new, this book reminds us what actually works.

It champions the balancing of rigour and creativity, of long-term brand-building and short-term sales.

If you want marketing that gets results (& perhaps a route into that boardroom), read this.

Then read it again.

And again.

It’s not a book.

It’s a survival guide.

Enjoy.

Review by Mick Doran

Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy

This book was first published in 1963 to help promote his agency Ogilvy & Mather in Manhattan.

It was distributed to all of their clients and prospect clients as a new business introduction.

The book covers not only advertising but also insights on how to create a great agency.

“Confessions” found its way into our family home as my father worked for Unilever and was sent a free copy. It piqued my interest in advertising and played an important role in my course selection at university and career direction.

The book still remains an inspiration to many and is full of his wonderful quotes.

“Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”

As true now as it has ever been.

Not only recommended reading but essential I would say.

Review by Graeme Atha

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