Summertime is here. As the pace of work slows a bit and you escape to the beach or the mountains, it’s a great time to catch up on reading. So, what will you bring with you? Here’s a list of great reads for marketers. Some are classics. Some are new. Some are edifying. Some are inspiring. All will help shift your perspective and bring new insights to you and your organization. Enjoy your downtime. You deserve it. And, happy reading!

1. Summer Reading List
Top Reads for Marketers

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Summer Reading
What will you bring with you?
• Summertime is here. As the pace of work
slows a bit and you escape to the beach or
the mountains, it’s a great time to catch up
on reading.
• So, what will you bring with you? Here’s a
list of great reads for marketers. Some are
classics. Some are new. Some are edifying.
Some are inspiring. All will help shift your
perspective and bring new insights to you
and your organization.
• Enjoy your downtime. You deserve it. And,
happy reading!

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Converge
by Bob Lord & Ray Velez
Over the course of their careers, Bob Lord and Ray Velez have had
a front row view of the convergence of marketing and technology.
As CEO and CTO of Razorfish, a large, global digital marketing
agency, they provide their unique perspective on how to succeed in
the digital and social era.
Bob and Ray make the case for close collaboration between
marketing and IT departments and provide a blueprint for culture
and business process change. They explain the new landscape of
customer expectations and dive into technologies such as
interactive marketing, cloud computing, omnichannel commerce
and ubiquitous computing.
Favorite Quotation:
“The villain throughout this book is the silo.” [tweet this]

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11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra
by Nilofer Merchant
By now, much has been written about the impact of social media
on business. Most of this has focused on opportunities to leverage
social media from a marketing or customer service viewpoint. Much
less, however, has been written about how social media changes
more fundamental aspects of business. How will social media
change the way we approach strategy? Will it impact the structure
of firms? How will it change how people work together as well as
corporate culture? And, how will social media help unlock more of
the talent that exists within each individual?
In her book 11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra, Nilofer
Merchant addresses these topics, exploring emerging themes and
raising new questions for us to consider.
Favorite Quotation:
“Anyone can, but not everyone will.” [tweet this]

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Outside In
by Harley Manning & Kerry Bodine
As two of the most prominent thought-leaders in customer
experience, Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine couldn’t have
chosen a better time to write their book, Outside In. Businesses
across many different industries are recognizing that creating
positive, compelling experiences for their customers is more
important than ever. Leaders in customer experience have superior
financial performance and sustainable success.
However, customer expectations are increasing every year, and the
proliferation of digital, social, mobile and physical touch points
makes creating consistently great experiences very challenging.
Harley and Kerry offer practical advice and share success stories
from leading firms.
Favorite Quotation:
“You need your customers more than they need you.” [tweet this]

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The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence
by Vala Afshar & Brad Martin
Vala Afshar and Brad Martin assert that the digital and social era
provides businesses with the tools to extend their values, core
beliefs and guiding principles to their employees, customers, and
partners. This creates an unprecedented opportunity for social and
cultural transformation.
Social collaboration—with mutual benefit for all involved—is the key
to true connection and requires the ability to listen, learn, share,
engage and add value in a way that’s scaled and amplified like
never before.
Vala and Brad argue that the transformation to a social business
requires technology, but technology should not be the focus. To
truly benefit from the opportunities of the social era, businesses
must focus on culture and people first and foremost.
Favorite Quotation:
“A social business simply cares more; a social business lives its
culture.” [tweet this]

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YOUTILITY
by Jay Baer
Jay Baer is one of the most widely-recognized thought leaders in
marketing today, and he’s working to turn traditional marketing
upside down. Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies,
Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. It is marketing
that is useful, helpful, personalized and provided for free. It is the
key to building long-term, trust-based relationships and customer
loyalty. And, it is very effective in cutting through the clutter of the
advertising and marketing that’s bombarding people every day. It is
pull marketing, that which is desired by customers, rather than
push marketing, that which only interrupts and annoys customers.
To win attention these days, marketers must start with a new
question: “How can we help?”
Favorite Quotation:
“The difference between helping and selling is just two letters.” [tweet this]

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Return on Relationship
by Ted Rubin & Kathryn Rose
Ted Rubin and Kathryn rose make a very interesting observation in
their book, Return on Relationship. The social and digital era has
brought focus and attention to developing relationships with
customers and nurturing them over time. This, oddly enough,
almost takes us back full circle to the “before mass advertising
days” of traditional, face-to-face selling.
Ted and Kathryn encourage business people to drop efforts to tie
social investments to traditional Return on Investment (ROI)
metrics. Instead, they advocate thinking about the true value of
social strategy in terms of Return on Relationship (ROR). ROR is a
back-to-basics measurement approach to assessing how well
you’re developing true engagement with customers.
* Oh, and one more thing, Ted wears cool socks, which you’re sure
to discover if you follow him on Twitter.
Favorite Quotation:
“Relationships are the new currency.” [tweet this]

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The Epic Collision of Marketing & Data
by Dave Birckhead
I’d like to round out this reading list by humbly adding my own
eBook. I wrote The Epic Collision of Marketing & Data to serve as a
conversation starter to explore some of the ways that marketing,
technology and data are coming together in rapid and powerful
ways. The purpose of the book is to: cut through the clutter and
hype surrounding big data and marketing; provide clear,
straightforward descriptions; and present ideas and concepts that
can immediately be put into practice.
The book is also published on a new platform called Snippet that
makes it an ideal beach read. Snippet is available via a browser,
iPhone or iPad and has totally re-shaped the reading experience to
allow better navigation and social interaction while reading.
I hope you enjoy the book!
Favorite Quotation:
“Marketing is going through the most significant, technology-fueled
transformation in its history.” [tweet this]

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Contact Me
!
@DaveBirckhead
www.davebirckhead.com