The End of Marketing As We Know It - Softcover

Sergio Zyman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006531849 ISBN 13: 9780006531845

Publisher: Harper Collins Pb, 2000

Synopsis

Sergio Zyman - aka Aya-cola - had the dubious distinction of launching New Coke - one of the best documented and most spectacular marketing failures. But just 79 days later the return of Classic Coke produced the biggest one-year rise ever in the brand's sales. Zyman learnt - and taught others - lessons about the emotional bond of consumers to the product. Here, he reveals his own marketing philosophy based on "neo-marketing" - the notion that "advertising and promotion are supposed to sell more stuff".

About this title

Review:

Remember the New Coke? A disaster, right? Or how about the commercial where "Mean" Joe Greene meets a little kid holding a bottle of Coke? A masterpiece, right? Wrong, on both counts. Sergio Zyman, who was the chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola, will tell you that while the New Coke nose-dived, it--and the subsequent reintroduction of Coke Classic--helped to reconnect people to the soft drink and revitalize a brand that was losing market share to Pepsi. And as for "Mean" Joe Greene, while people loved the ad, it wasn't doing what good marketing should do: sell product, which is what Zyman's book, The End of Marketing As We Know It, is all about.

For Zyman, marketing is not an art, it's a business. "Marketing is a strategic activity and discipline focused on the endgame of getting more consumers to buy your product more often so that your company makes more money." He sees too many marketers who don't understand this point, who are too concerned about projecting image when they should really be focused on producing sales. Zyman peppers the book with stories about various campaigns at Coke as well as assessments of companies that get it, such as Starbucks and Southwest Airlines, to companies that don't, for example, Nissan and Levi's. He believes that the old-style marketing of Madison Avenue is dead, that it no longer has the "ability to move the masses," that in today's "consumer democracy" there are simply too many choices. Instead, marketers will have to focus on sales, conversion rates, targeting customers, and creating value for shareholders. The End of Marketing As We Know It is not a primer on how to do better marketing; rather, it's a reordering of priorities so that good marketing will be done in the first place. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

About the Author:

Sergio Zyman was born in Mexico City. In the late seventies he worked for PepsiCo until 1979 when he joined Coca Cola. He left Coke in 1986, following the disastrous launch of New Coke, and worked as a consultant until 1993 when he returned to Coca Cola as Chief Marketing Officer. He has recently relinquished this post to found Z, his own consultancy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins Pb
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0006531849
• ISBN 13: 9780006531845
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272