Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution

TV co-host Laermer (of TLC's Taking Care of Business) and agency alum Simmons (formerly of Crispin Porter + Bogusky) combine their considerable experience and wit to jolt readers into a new understanding of marketing's ever-changing arena. The premise-and the promise-of their approach to marketing is likely a familiar one: power is shifting from corporation to consumer, meaning that ""a brand is formed in the eye of the beholder-the consumer-and is not the property of the marketer."" As such, old-fashioned truisms like ""any publicity is good publicity"" have been subsumed by a new paradigm: ""mediocre marketing does more harm than doing nothing."" Blunt, fair, fearless and outrageous-just like the marketing style they espouse-Laermer and Simmons explicate the marketing methods of the future in a tour of blogs, lingo, games, the ""real simple"" concept and the new standards of cyber-socializing. Techniques involve story-telling, contests, product placement, emerging technology and the increasingly tricky business of crafting emotional connections. Asides include tales of planned scarcity (like ""limited edition"" sneakers), examples of broadcasters' waning power and the potential for targeting audiences ""at every moment of the day."" Though it covers some well-trod ground, there's plenty of sound analysis and prescient advice here (not to mention humor) for forward-thinking marketers.