I am a true bookworm! The best marketing books for marketers are usually exciting to read and I am always eager to read more about marketing.
When I’m hooked on a book I can devour it within a day.
I love reading books, blog posts, articles, magazines… especially books about marketing, growth hacks and psychology. At this age of fast pace and information overload, I think it is sane to go back to books as a source of knowledge.
Paper books whenever possible: studies show that we process and remember the content of a paper book in a more efficient way than other digital versions like Kindle, iPad and digital screens.
If you are reading the post you are currently looking at, I am sure you love reading too.
What are your favorite marketing books? Let me know in the comments below.
In this post, you will see the top 20 best marketing books for marketers.
The big advantage of being a polyglot is that I can read in French, English, Japanese and Mandarin… gna gna.
Reading in other languages gives me access to other ways of seeing the world, a different way of thinking and it allows me to learn unique ways of doing business.
How did technology affect our behavior?
Of course technology changed a lot of things, and even our behavior, but technology simply added extra channels and methods, the fundamentals are still the same! So some of the best marketing books I present are a bit old, but they are what I consider classical marketing books.
As marketing is related to psychology, demographics and sociology, and keeping in mind that fundamentally, we did not evolve in the past 30 years as a species, I believe that even classical marketing books that are 20-30 years old are still relevant.
Believe me, I was born in 1980 and went through the whole digital transformation of the past decades.
Here is a list of the best marketing books for marketers, entrepreneurs, and everyone marketing a brand or running a business.
Let us know in the comments what your favorite marketing books are!
Top 3 Branding Books: My Recommendations
Positioning The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
Don’t be fooled by the two-decade age of this book because it still remains very relevant in this modern day and age where content is flying almost everywhere.
Written using plain and simple English, the book provides tips on better positioning yourself in the mind of the public, identifying you and your competitors’ weaknesses and strengths and learning how to properly communicate using ways that will emphasize your spot all the time.
Start With Why How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Stepping into the world of branding always comes with many basic questions that need the right answers and this is what this book is all about – answering all of the whys you might have about branding.
The book will make you realize that the most influential leaders of the world share the same thoughts, acts, and methods of communication, something that the rest don’t.
The author refers to this powerful idea as The Golden Circle that offers a framework that can be used to build brands, lead movements, and inspire people. Just like its title, the book proves that the Why is the beginning of everything.
Sticky Branding 12dot5 Principles to Stand Out Attract Customers and Grow an Incredible Brand by Jeremy Miller
With the name inspired by the author’s brand building firm, this book delves into the reasons why big companies are as successful and recognizable as they are today. Backed by years of research, this book contains tried and tested techniques on brand building that are beyond ordinary.
The book brings together the concepts of customer service, purpose, passion, strategy, vision, and operational excellence to provide exceptional company’s door due to marketing alone. Marketing hype can fade away fast. Customers return because the company offers a memorable experience and compelling service.Best Branding Books
Archetypes in Branding: A Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists by Margaret Hartwell
If you are getting started with building your first ever brand, this book shouldn’t leave your side.
It is an interactive kit that will help identify the motivations of your brand, how this moves in this world, and what makes it attractive to certain customers. With its companion deck made up of 60 archetype cards, you can identify what your brand is all about and what its way of communication is.
Building Strong Brands by David Aaker
A certified pioneer as the branding world is concerned, the author of the book came up with a true classic when it comes to marketing and branding academic literature with its exceptional deeper approach to different concepts of branding.
Despite the academic style of writing, the book provides excellent fundamental principles that can be applied to boost your own brand.
This book is highly recommended for those who are in part of the branding and marketing industry. While not necessarily the latest work of the author, it still remains to be one of the best reads that explains the concepts of branding that can be difficult to understand.
Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller
A certified pioneer as the branding world is concerned, the author of the book came up with a true classic when it comes to marketing and branding academic literature with its exceptional deeper approach to different concepts of branding.
Despite the academic style of writing, the book provides excellent fundamental principles that can be applied to boost your own brand. This book is highly recommended for those who are in part of the branding and marketing industry. While not necessarily the latest work of the author, it still remains to be one of the best reads that explains the concepts of branding that can be difficult to understand.
Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick by Alexanda Watkins
Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick
If you are having a hard time thinking about the right name for your brand, make sure you grab this book right away. With its right dose of fun and entertainment, this engaging book is quite helpful if you want to make sure that your brand name sticks out from the rest of the crowd.
The book contains numerous resources that the author personally handpicked so you can have the assurance that what you will get are useful accurate, and crucial pieces of information to simplify the naming process for you. Complete with examples and compelling stories, you wouldn’t regret spending time to read it.
Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit by Anne Bahr Thompson
Do Good is an easy and simple to read book that shows that extensive research was made to put everything into writing. It offers a lot of helpful examples, practical tips, and insights on how to create a brand that has a solid purpose.
This book is highly recommended to brand managers or entrepreneurs who want to know how to make their services and products more meaningful to their customers and turn a profit at the same time.
What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest by Denise Lee Yohn
Proven strategies on how to build powerful brands are the key takeaways in this branding book. With a fresh perspective, this book will teach out the strategy of innovative brand as a business that can improve brand identity and boost profit margins, improve company culture, and create a stronger and more solid relationship with all the stakeholders.
Getting inspiration from over two decades of consulting job with top brands, you will get to know more about the primary principles behind the brand as business strategy.
The book is a critical blueprint to help you launch your brand and make it reach greater heights with the targeted guidance meant for entrepreneurs, COOs, CEOs, as well as other organizational leaders.
Branding: In Five and a Half Steps by Michael Johnson
From the design legend himself, this epic book is an undeniable classic filled with enlightening analysis of the world’s finest branding.
The author dives into the very heart of rebrands, campaigns, advertisements, and iconic logos to explain the impact, idea, and execution with a clinical accuracy.
It also contains the author’s invaluable anecdotes from his personal seminal campaigns that reveal the alchemical and theory of the art of creative thinking. Expert insights with less use of jargons is what makes this book a must-read for both novices and seasoned experts.
Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands by Michael Beverland
This book completely explains what brand authenticity is all about and why brand strategists and marketers should pay attention to developing authentic brands. There is also an interesting action guide on the final part meant for brand managers.
It serves as an exceptional tool for large and small brands alike that have a hard time remembering what their company is really all about.
It might be written in an academic style but it is still a very good read for professionals and students who wish to build strong brands because the book is filled with tons of real life examples and pieces of branding advice.
Power Branding: Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands by Steve McKee
This book completely explains what brand authenticity is all about and why brand strategists and marketers should pay attention to developing authentic brands. There is also an interesting action guide on the final part meant for brand managers.
It serves as an exceptional tool for large and small brands alike that have a hard time remembering what their company is really all about.
It might be written in an academic style but it is still a very good read for professionals and students who wish to build strong brands because the book is filled with tons of real life examples and pieces of branding advice.
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Brand Portfolio Strategy by Power Branding Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands
Another book in this list from David Asker, this is an insightful read for people who manage big brands including brand extensions or sub-brands. Here, the author shares a detailed explanation of the interconnections, roles, and scope of portfolio brands. The style is once again quite academic yet it lets you learn many valid brand management principles that you can put into action.
Brand Thinking by Debbie Millman
It is important to talk about what branding is and what it is not before coming up with your branding strategies. The book from the professional design visionary is the collection of conversations and interviews with field leaders and examines the questions and so much more.
Once you are done reading the book, you will better understand modern branding, why this is done, and how large companies’ branding decisions affect customers and the other way around. You can also understand the underlying principles that encourage consumers to choose specific brands and prompt companies to perform their strategies in a specific way.
Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities by David Airey
This branding book contains sketches, case studies, tips on how to work with clients, logos, insider stories, and a whole lot more. This will teach you how you can come up with an iconic identity for your brand from beginning to end with the use of actual client case studies coming from famous designers.
The book also reveals how designers generate ideas, come up with effective briefs, collaborate with their clients, and charge for their job.
The author also shares his own experiences as he worked on identity projects that include drafts and finished results of his personal successful designs.
The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular by Tom Skazy
Product packaging is often dubbed as the silent salesman, making it one of the most crucial tools for branding strategies as this is usually the sole branding touch point with consumers in shops. Sadly, single use packaging often goes straight to the landfills, making it one of the main concerns of ecologists.
The book is written by the author to draw a future of circular economy that limits waste and overconsumption.
The book serves as a helpful source of inspiration and knowledge for bigger established product companies and startups. It serves as a guide to design the economy from free from waste while following a more sustainable form of brand innovation.
Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team by Alina Wheeler
If what you need is a helpful guide on how to design a one of a kind brand, this book is your best partner.
It doesn’t matter if you are just getting started or you have already made your own mark as a designer because the author offers great wisdom on things you should know when it comes to branding. It is the perfect combination of practical tips and design theory straight from the expert.
Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding by David Airey’s
While he himself is an accomplished branding designer, the author placed the spotlight on world-class creatives and allowed them to discuss their personal projects in the book.
Branding books can make or break the frankness of the involved talent and the quality of showcased projects and with his years of experience in the industry, the author proves an exceptional judge of stellar talent and killer campaigns.
Top Branding Books
The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design by Marty Neumeier
This book offers a unified brand building theory where the author takes a look at the creative and strategic approaches on how to come up with a charismatic brand that is important to the life of consumers.
A brand is the gut feeling of a person regarding a company, service, or product. This is a gut feeling since everyone is an emotional and intuitive being in spite of the best efforts of being rational. It is the gut feeling of a person since at the end of the day, the individuals define the brand, not the companies.
Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits by Debbie Millman
This book offers a unified brand building theory where the author takes a look at the creative and strategic approaches on how to come up with a charismatic brand that is important to the life of consumers.
A brand is the gut feeling of a person regarding a company, service, or product. This is a gut feeling since everyone is an emotional and intuitive being in spite of the best efforts of being rational. It is the gut feeling of a person since at the end of the day, the individuals define the brand, not the companies.
Conclusion
What books changed your perspective on marketing?
Who made you a better marketer?
If you have any suggestion or you think that we missed some good books, let us know in the comments below.
Images credit: all images come from amazon.com
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