Copy, Copy, Copy

Mark Earls' latest book, Copy, Copy, Copy, is a perfect example of illustrator John V. Willshire's famous maxim: 'Make things people want, don't make people want things'. This book is a thing. People should want it.

Mark's been a pal of BrainJuicer since the early days, and since we're cited in the book - as an example of what to do, luckily! - you shouldn't consider this a book review. We simply can't be that objective. So consider this a Book Notice. 

It's about copying (obviously). Earls takes aim at the cult of originality, the idea that the best ideas and solutions are blindingly novel. It's something we're prone to in research. The notion, for instance, that the best insight is something nobody has ever thought of before - rather than something that might be less original, but more useful to the problem at hand. Or the idea that brands have to have a unique selling proposition - when a universal human truth would do better at winning buyers over.

Instead of being original, Earls says, learn how to copy. He doesn't mean just rip people off wholesale. No, you have to copy well. Earls offers some rules on how to do this - to get something new and useful out of it. He also suggests embracing the potential for copying wrong, because you will get it wrong. But you might get it wrong in ways that are productive and useful. 

Additionally, Earls and Willshire put together a 'card deck' of 52 ways to copy, arranged according to the four strategies humans use for copying; you can see these getting a lot of use in planning meetings. 

Copy, Copy, Copy isn't about research, but it suggests a few tough questions for the industry. Brand researchers obsess over "differentiation", when marketing science shows that inconsequential distinction is far more important. If we focus too much on originality, might we end up missing the moment when a bunch of borrowed material comes together with electric effect? Earls thinks so, and after reading Copy, Copy, Copy, we're inclined to agree.

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Mark is speaking at our second #OnestoWatch workshop this August. An exciting new initiative nurturing future talent into tomorrow's marketing leaders. Learn more here.

Join our Book Club. If you're a member of The Marketing Society we'd love you to write a 300-word review for our Clubhouse. Or if you're an author get in touch. We've got lots of members keen to review your book. Contact Michael Piggott to find out more.

Want to learn more about how behavioural principles can be applied to make brands successful? Get in touch with BrainJuicer at [email protected].

Mark's book, Copy, copy, copy: how to do smarter marketing by using other people's ideas, is available to buy now on Amazon.