Punk Marketing

Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution

By: Richard Laermer, Mark Simmons

Narrated by: Richard Laermer, Mark Simmons

The revolution is here, so get on the right side of the barricade and become a part of it. Let's thank Mr. and Mrs. Consumer and their little Consumerlings, who have seized power from the corporations and are now firmly in control.

In Punk Marketing, Laermer and Simmons take an irreverent, penetrating look at the seismic change in the relationship between people who sell stuff (products, services, entertainment) and those who purchase it. They demonstrate that to survive in business, a revolutionary approach is needed: one they have branded (you got it) "Punk Marketing". It's one we all need to understand, for the traditional divisions among commerce, content, and consumers are continuing to blur ever more rapidly.

Never dull, sometimes controversial, but always a helluva lot of fun, Punk Marketing presents a manifesto for any businessperson needing to engage consumers - or any consumer seeking to understand and employ their newfound power. And here's the good news: it's based upon principles that have existed forever. In an age of digital video recorders, "branded entertainment", cell-phone TV, multiplayer online videogames, and never-ending social networking, a coherent approach to marketing has never been more vital. With Punk Marketing there's a built-in plan to equip you with tools to make all this change work out just fine, thanks.

Punk Marketing is the first shot (soon to be heard round the world) of a long-awaited and breathless uprising that businesses want, deserve, and desperately need.

©2007 Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons (P)2007 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Blunt, fair, fearless, and outrageous: just like the marketing style they espouse." (Publishers Weekly)
"Taken together, their anecdotes show that truly original, engaging, and, most important, surprising ads will always prevail, whether they're labeled 'punk' or not." (Business Week)
"Welcome to a brand new brandscape. Despite its newness the authors maintain that the message is still the message: it's just delivered with a new media." (Silicon Valley Business Journal)

Very repetitive

It's not that the author doesn't have a good point, he does; it's just that you don't need 6 or 8 hours to prove it. They say the same thing over and over again I have an hour left to listen to, which I will; painfully.

The basic idea of the book is that you can no longer take advantage of consumers because they are paying attention and know whats up. they encourage no more cookie cutter business models. So instead of acting like a big company, that just pushes people to the cash register, act like a smaller company with a real purpose. Show the customer that you stand strongly for something relevant to them and they will become a part of your group, and buy from you.

Basically provide real, valuable service that fits your customer, and don't screw them.

That's it. They then go on to list 500 examples of why this is true. You will understand the whole book in 1 hour. The rest is just a repeat.

Again, they do have a good point and examples to back it up. If they decided to not waste my time (as they suggest in the book) then they would get a higher rating from me. Other business audio books use their time wiser and are a better listen. This one gets repetitive quickly.

They must have Cliff Notes on this one!

Useless

I bought this book hoping for insight into modern marketing, and was sorely disappointed.

Punk Marketing doesn't really tell you anything useful. The authors keep insisting that "there's a new way of marketing" and "old media is dead," but they don't actually tell you WHAT is so new or HOW to implement it yourself.

The book provides several examples of successful "21st-century" marketing campaigns - few of which I'd ever heard of, so they don't seem that successful - but unfortunately, no details are provided on HOW these campaigns were executed. That would have been far more interesting and useful.

The authors read the book themselves, and their delivery is absolutely horrible and flat. In particular, their attempts at injecting humour into the book fall completely short. The jokes are so unfunny and poorly delivered that at first I wasn't even sure if they were jokes. The British guy's voice grates on my nerves.

I hate to be the guy who writes a one-star review and has nothing but negative things to say, but this book really deserves it. If you're looking for insight into modern marketing, look somewhere else - anywhere else.

Yawn

This is more of an ego trip than anything else. I listen to these books to learn not to hear how great someone else thinks they are at marketing.

This Book Nails It!

Let me start by saying I'm "the other Steve from Canada", not the previous misguided reviewer.

The core of this book is the Punk Marketing Manifesto, which a series of 15 Articles that define what it is to be a Punk Marketer.

My 3 favorite Articles are: Article Three - Take a Strong Stand; Article Seven - Make Enemies; and Article Eleven - Know Who You Are.

This book challenges the way we have traditionally thought about, and used marketing. It's like a punch between the eyes. But a good punch, that gives you a real wakeup call.

I think it's great that the authors, Richard and Mark, actually read their own book. One of the themes in Punk Marketing is to actually have the courage and confidence to allow your personality to show through, and to let that be something that attracts the right people.

And I think having the authors do their own reading (rather than having some unemployed "theatrical" reader do it) allows their personality to show through.

If you are not open-minded enough to actually listen to their message (rather than get petty about how their voices sound - can you say "ad hominem"?) then too bad. Get over it, because marketing has changed, you dinosaur.

Buy this book, and get ready to have your horizons and viewpoint really expanded. But you'll be so much better (and cooler) for it.