Tell The Truth: Honesty Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool

Description

Truth is a powerful marketing tool-and really the only way to promote a message and brand effectively. In Tell the Truth, Jonathan Salem Baskin and Sue Unerman look at the content and context of marketing communications. They provide the research of hundreds of companies and in-depth case studies on more than 50 global brands to show how truthful brands deliver sales, profits, and sustainable relationships. Truth yields true competitive advantage.

Sue Unerman is Chief Strategy Officer of MediaCom. Amid the changing media landscape, she delivers a strategic edge in communications and strategic planning for clients, thereby ensuring MediaCom UK is a step ahead of the competition. Equipped with a history degree from Oxford University, Unerman has experience in planning and buying media at Benton and Bowles, DMB+B, and Geers Gross. The UK-based Campaign magazine says that Unerman is "widely considered to be one of media's finest strategic brains, helping to turn MediaCom into a $1billion agency." Jonathan Baskin, President of Baskin Associates, Inc., has worked for the last 28 years to translate branding strategy into something more than images and words for global brand names including Apple, Blockbuster, Limited, and Nissan. He has led agency and corporate teams responsible for all aspects of marketing communications and public affairs. Since 2008, Baskin has written a bi-weekly column on marketing leadership for Advertising Age, and posted twice-weekly on his award-winning blog, BaskinBrand. He is also a frequent public speaker and an often-quoted expert in news stories from sources such as USA TODAY and Reuters.

"Truth is the only defensible competitive advantage. I'm not sure why this is controversial, but it's true." --Seth Godin, Author, We Are All Weird "The true future of marketing will be about brands and their ability to have a direct relationship with their consumers. The trick, as so well explained in Tell The Truth, is that brands have to be honest ... brutally honest. Truth in advertising? Truth in marketing? It hasn't really happened, but now it can. Sue Unerman and Jonathan Salem Baskin offer this wonderful book as a first step in the right direction. It belongs on everyone's desk who touches a brand." --Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image and Author, Blogger, and Podcaster, Six Pixels of Separation "Truth in advertising is no longer an oxymoron; it's an absolute necessity if a brand wishes to compete in today's increasingly transparent marketplace. Brands will be judged not based on what they say, but what they do; not the promises they make, but the ones they keep. This book is the first step toward your enlightenment." --Joseph Jaffe, Author, Flip the Funnel "The authors re-examine the abiding value of authenticity; convince us that, in the Internet age, brand truth has become a marketing necessity; and offer practical guidance on how to achieve it." --Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP "Tell the Truth is an essential guide to advertising in the modern world." --Jonathan Dean, Online Culture Editor, The Sunday Times "In a sea of marketing gibberish and thinly disguised motivational babble ... Unerman and Baskin stand out by offering practical information presented in plain English." --Ken Wheaton, Managing Editor, Advertising Age, and author of The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival "In the digital age, all of us have a voice that can be heard instantly and around the world. Consumers are increasingly using that voice to speak out whenever they see injustice and untruth. So for brands and businesses, honesty and integrity are now imperative for success. Tell The Truth is an essential guide to building honest businesses." --Claire Beale, Editor, Campaign