Rarely has a book about advertising created such a commotion as this brilliant account of the principles of successful advertising. Published in 1961, Reality in Advertising was listed for weeks on the general best-seller lists, and is today acknowledged to be advertising's greatest classic. It has been translated into twelve languages and has been published in twenty-one separate editions in fifteen countries. Leading business executives, and the advertising cognoscenti, hail it as "the best book for professionals that has ever come out of Madison Avenue." Rosser Reeves says: "The book attempts to formulate certain theories of advertising, many quite new, and all based on 30 years of intensive research." These theories, whose value has been proved in the marketplace, all revolve around the central concept that success in selling a product is the key criterion of advertising. Get Your Copy Now

Grade level: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, e, i, t.

In case you haven't noticed, there's a whole new retail and marketing scene out there. It's complicated, intensely competitive, and changing at a rate that's hard to keep up with. Malls and downtown strips are spawning theme stores such as Warner and Disney. At the Bloomingdale's courtesy counter in New York, staff who speak 30 languages are available to answer questions for international clientele. Wal-Mart has stores in China. Subway ads are considered chic. The game of brand management is getting grittier, with the Coca-Colas and Calvin Kleins of the world overrunning the selling floors and knocking out the smaller niche players. And with all the merchandise tie-ins and pre-release advertising, you don't just go to the movies anymore—you attend "cinematic happenings" that are almost impossible to resist. Huge, costly marketing ploys are creating demand for things that didn't exist before and for things that consumers simply never thought they needed before. MasterMinding the Store helps you deal with the present situation and prepare for the future. How so? By imparting the creative insights of Donald Ziccardi, who has logged 20 years in marketing and advertising; his experience is woven into over 100 real-life anecdotes and case studies about media strategies, creative executions, and agency-client relationships that provide the combined wisdom of years and years of experience. In its down-to-earth, breezy style, MasterMinding the Store: Demystifies the marketing planning process with easy-to-follow steps Teaches how to develop and deliver a powerful, creative advertising message that meets marketing objectives Tells how to quickly study your company, customers, and competition, then stake out a marketing position and set realistic budgets Examines winning and losing principles of actual advertising, public relations, and sales promotion campaigns Amid the new competitive climate, it's not enough to produce a quality product or a useful service. You have to exploit the power of the media and utilize new resources available in technology, research, and marketing to tap into the minds and hearts of a more demanding consumer and capitalize on shifting demographics and lifestyles. To do all this, you need your "corporate constitution," the right marketing plan. Section 1 of the book details the marketing plan, including guidelines on how to get started, how to successfully use good and not-so-good news on the state of your company, and why it's important to know as much as possible about your consumer and your competitors. Section 2 is loaded with real-life accounts and behind-the-scenes anecdotes that teach valuable lessons on moving from the creative to the practical, media planning, sales promotion, point-of-purchase, personal selling, and public relations. The book concludes with an in-depth analysis of budgeting. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a newcomer in fashion design, wholesaling, retailing, or advertising, or whether you are a small business owner or a student of business, MasterMinding the Store will help you cut marketing costs and maximize advertising dollars. It will help you achieve every retailer's ultimate goal—bringing the right products and services to customers where and when they want them. Praise for MasterMinding the Store "I highly recommend MasterMinding the Store. The ins and outs of advertising and marketing in this important guide will help not only marketing managers, but everyone who has ever considered advertising a product or service." — Linda Allard, Design Director, Ellen Tracy "Don's book is a marvelous blend of broad and useful knowledge coming from hard, personal experience and an active, imaginative mind. It's all interwoven with a powerful presence of uncommon common sense." — Ken Kolker, Senior Advisor and former Chairman, May Merchandising Company "A first-rate guide on how to create effective advertising and marketing campaigns, whether you're designing fashion or selling hardware. Don combines his ability as a realistic businessman and a dynamic creative force in the message of this book." — Stu Schwartz, President, Annie Sez "In the increasingly competitive world of selling, good straightforward advice has been a rare commodity. No longer. MasterMinding the Store is a smart, well thought out approach on how to sell smart and be a savvy marketer as well. It is wonderfully conversational, has a great sense of humor, is well paced, and if that is not enough, there is lots of 'must have' information. If you want to improve your selling skills, start by reading this book. It will make a difference." — Sandy Golinkin, Publisher, Allure "Don's varied experiences bring a unique and insightful perspective on marketing as we enter the new millennium." — Art Reiner, President and CEO, Finlay Fine Jewelry; former Chairman and CEO of Macy's Northeast "Don Ziccardi captures the nuts and bolts of advertising wisdom in an easy, readable format which should not only be read and remembered, but followed." — Glenn Palmer, President, Liz Claiborne Collection and Studio "Don Ziccardi has all the answers to the questions that we so often forget to ask. After reading this book, advertising and marketing executives will agree that Don gives us the vision and the inspiration we need to move forward in this very competitive and difficult economy." — Jeannette Chang, Publisher, Harper's Bazaar

From a certain perspective, the biggest political story of 2016 was how the candidate who bought three-quarters of the political ads lost to the one whose every provocative Tweet set the agenda for the day’s news coverage. With the arrival of bot farms, microtargeted Facebook ads, and Cambridge Analytica, isn’t the age of political ads on local TV coming to a close? You might think. But you’d be wrong to the tune of $4.4 billion just in 2016. In U.S. elections, there’s a lot more at stake than the presidency. TV spending has gone up dramatically since 2006, for both presidential and down-ballot races for congressional seats, governorships, and state legislatures—and the 2020 campaign shows no signs of bucking this trend. When candidates don’t enjoy the name recognition and celebrity of the presidential contenders, it’s very much business as usual. They rely on the local TV newscasts, watched by 30 million people every day—not Tweets—to convey their messages to an audience more fragmented than ever. At the same time, the nationalization of news and consolidation of local stations under juggernauts like Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcasting mean a decreasing share of time devoted to down-ballot politics—almost 90 percent of 2016’s local political stories focused on the presidential race. Without coverage of local issues and races, ad buys are the only chance most candidates have to get their messages in front of a broadcast audience. On local TV news, political ads create the reality of local races—a reality that is not meant to inform voters but to persuade them. Voters are left to their own devices to fill in the space between what the ads say—the bought reality—and what political stories used to cover.

In the increasingly competitive global market, successful and meaningful intercultural advertising plays a key role in reaching out to consumers from diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals and businesses to be able to navigate the field of marketing communications to cut through the noise in a consumerist society to persuade their target audience. The Role of Language and Symbols in Promotional Strategies and Marketing Schemes provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of the power of words and symbols used in promotional strategies and marketing schemes. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as shock advertising, branding, and celebrity endorsement, this book is ideally designed for marketers, managers, business professionals, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students seeking current research on the use of language and symbols in marketing tactics.

Drive more value from all your marketing and communications channels--together! Demolish your silos and sync all your messaging, strategies, and tactics (really!). Optimize every medium and platform, from iPad and Facebook to TV and direct. This book is a must-read for every senior marketing, communications, and PR decision-maker. It’s not about social media. Or new (or old) media. It’s about results—and there’s only one way to get results. You must finally bite the bullet, tear down your silos, and integrate all your marketing and communications. That’s how you choose the best platforms and messages for each customer. That’s how you make research and metrics work. That’s how you overcome today’s insane levels of complexity and clutter. You’re thinking: Oh, that’s all I need to do? “Just” integrate my whole organization? Are you nuts? No. We’re not. It can be done. This book’s authors have done it. They’ve shown others how to do it. And now they’re going to show you. Step by step. Strategy. Tactics. Research. Metrics. Culture. Social. Mobile. Direct. Broadcast. Print. All of it. With you, the marketing/communications decision-maker, right at the center...right where you belong! Even now, organizational silos prevent most companies from conversing coherently with customers, delivering the right targeted messages, and building real synergies across all their marketing and communications programs. Now, Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston show how to finally break down those silos, bridging traditional and newer disciplines to drive more value from all of them. You’ll learn how to create a flexible marketing hub with integrated spokes including sales, PR, advertising, customer service, HR, social media, and the executive team. Then, you’ll learn how to use your hub to speak cohesively with each customer through the tools and platforms that deliver the best results at the lowest cost. Dietrich and Livingston guide you through hands-on strategic planning, illustrating key points with real case studies and offering practical exercises for applying their principles. You’ll learn how to perform baseline analyses of media from iPad apps to radio, optimize resource allocation, change culture to overcome siloed behavior, use measurement to clear away obstacles, and gain more value from every marketing investment you make. Pull it all together--finally! How to successfully integrate your tactics, tools, messages, and teams Better goals, better results: beyond “SMART” to “SMARTER” Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, evaluate, and reevaluate Better listening: stakeholders, customers, and research that works How to make sure you hear what really matters Four powerful ways to market in the round When to go direct, come from above, use the groundswell, or execute flanking maneuvers

Until now, most works on the history of African Americans in advertising have focused on the depiction of blacks in advertisements. As the first comprehensive examination of African American participation in the industry, Madison Avenue and the Color Line breaks new ground by examining the history of black advertising employees and agency owners. For much of the twentieth century, even as advertisers chased African American consumer dollars, the doors to most advertising agencies were firmly closed to African American professionals. Over time, black participation in the industry resulted from the combined efforts of black media, civil rights groups, black consumers, government organizations, and black advertising and marketing professionals working outside white agencies. Blacks positioned themselves for jobs within the advertising industry, especially as experts on the black consumer market, and then used their status to alter stereotypical perceptions of black consumers. By doing so, they became part of the broader effort to build an African American professional and entrepreneurial class and to challenge the negative portrayals of blacks in American culture. Using an extensive review of advertising trade journals, government documents, and organizational papers, as well as personal interviews and the advertisements themselves, Jason Chambers weaves individual biographies together with broader events in U.S. history to tell how blacks struggled to bring equality to the advertising industry.