There's always a lot to unpack when it comes to business-related books. Most of the time you find yourself worried that people on the tube think you're trying to look like some smart and entrepreneurial sort of "person", and other times you're being told to look forward to the alarm going off on a Monday..? Absolutely f**k off with that nonsense.
Don't get me wrong; there's an abundance of great business and marketing books out there - and we should hope so too. That's like our thing - but I guess what you want to avoid is things like this...
You only need to look at our Book Club to know that we love a good marketing book and how, short of writing eBooks ourselves, talking about them is like our favourite thing, so worry not! There's plenty of fun and bloody useful books for you to dive into.
Here's ten of 'em...
1. Your Ad Ignored Here
Created by Tom Fishburne - otherwise known as The Marketoonist - Your Ad Here is more of a coffee table book, full to the brim with nearly 200 New York Times-esque comic strips.
It's a lot of fun and one of those books that really holds a mirror to the industry... man. As my colleague Sarah brilliantly put it, "I love it, it's like this industry is terrible!!!! No-one knows what's going on!!! There's a deer in the boardroom!!"
2. Delusions of Brandeur
This one's got a good name. Obviously you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or it's name, but if you were going to, this would probably find it's way towards the top end of your reading list.
On top of that, the Ryan Wallman book is actually good. It really is two birds with one stone there. It sounds like a copout from me, but this really is explained best by its blurb:
"If you’re a fan of books by people like Gary V and Simon Sinek, you should probably stop reading now. This book is the opposite of those. And not just because it won’t be anywhere near as popular. Delusions of Brandeur is an antidote to the insanity that now pervades the marketing industry. A collection of articles, satirical posts and assorted miscellany, it is a no-holds-barred commentary on modern marketing, advertising and business".
3. 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get By Without Even Trying
>Oh man how I wish I knew about this one sooner. The time I could have saved if I just heeded Sarah Cooper's advice.
This book is wonderful and hilarious and my review wouldn't be able to do it proper justice. As well as obviously being an ironic and sideways look at the world of business, it's surprisingly and painfully astute in that everything it suggests is actually something people do; and subsequently look smart doing.
4. ADWEAK: Your Leading Source for Fake News
Described as "The best-of parody tweets for the advertising and marketing professional," ADWEAK is a lot of fun. Paul Taylor's book is full to the brim with hilarious tweets that really do make you consider just how much people in this world overthink and overcomplicate things, as well as illustrations and infographics that just make everything even more palatable.
Definitely worth you looking through, this one.
5. As Per My Previous Email
We've all been there. We're minding our own business at work and all of a sudden get an email that more or less implies that the sender wishes we were dead. It's hard to navigate and you have to wonder what it was that you did wrong. Luckily Steve Burditt is here to help us get through the dreaded emails that kick off with the dreaded five words and, as he quite prudently explains, indicate that:
- The sender is a bit of an arsehole
- They don't value your opinions and have an over-inflated
sense of self-importance - You totally ignored their last email
- The sender is still a massive arsehole
All true. It's a very funny book and actually pretty bloody useful. Not specifically marketing-related, but we all get emails, don't we?
Speaking of which, if you want to pick up a book from our wonderful Marketing & Technology Book Club, now's your chance!
