Book Review

Besides trade publications, blogs, and the internet, I urge you to do some good old fashioned book reading. On the right side of this page are a few books that I highly recommend, and you can click on them and order directly from Amazon.

Drew at the Marketing Minute has another book recommendation:

Book Review: The Authentic Brand

Posted: 24 Oct 2008 11:47 PM CDT

I just finished the book The Authentic Brand written by Christopher Rosica, CEO of Rosica Strategic Public Relations. It's a cotton candy sort of read. Lots of good stories and some sticky fun.

Rosica did some in-depth interviews with the business leaders listed below. He mixes their comments with his own take on how these entrepreneurs developed authentic brands.

• Wally Amos of Famous Amos Cookies
• Jerry Baldwin of Starbucks
• Bobbi Brown of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
• Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s
• Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm
• Jim Kock of Samuel Adams Beer
• David Neeleman of JetBlue Airways
• David Oreck of Oreck Corporation
• Roxanne Quimby of Burt’s Bees
• Andy and Kate Spade of Kate Spade
• Jeff Taylor of Monster.com

The book tackles topics like marketing strategies, leadership traits, and customer service practices from each of the entrepreneurs' perspectives.

The aspect of the book that I appreciated the most, as a business owner, is that in many of the interviews, the big name entrepreneurs talk as much about their failings as they do their successes. I've always thought there was more to be learned from the mistakes than the triumphs.

I think you'll find yourself quoting some of the stories and hopefully apply some of the lessons learned.

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