A bit of a "rah-rah" book, proclaiming that anyone can write advertising copy. The author proposes a six-step outline to identify core parts of the product (and brand) and the customer. I was most fascinated by his idea of framing ads in the context of archetypes, which I've never heard before. Overall, this is a decent framework for idea generation, even if a few of the stories provided seemed a little self-serving.

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LT Haiku:

Gives ideas for ads
to promote values to get
long-term customers. ( )

I thought I would expand my reading by signing up to review this book from GreenLeaf Book Group Press, whom kindly sent me a complimentary copy. After viewing the ridiculous high priced Super Bowl commercials, I flipped opened StoryBranding without any other knowledge on marketing. The book is in nonprofessional’s terms, along with a few quirky diagrams, so you do not have to be a marketing genius to understand it. Jim Signorelli’s view of marketing is simpler than you may think.

In today’s economy, consumers are not going to waste their money on pointless products. They spend their money on things their family needs. Companies hire marketing agencies to sell their products to consumers, which can be difficult if the consumers cannot connect with the product. The product needs to tell the truth, as us customers are tired of lies. Jim Signorelli uses new, but simple ways of marketing to today’s customers by telling the story of the product/brand. You cannot just have an expensive flashy advertisement; most customers would be put off by it. It is like telling me to buy, when you should be showing me why I want to buy this brand.

It took me longer to finish this book, because of several dry chapters. In addition, at times I thought the chapters repeated the same information. StoryBranding is primary aimed for marketers and brand owners, but small business owners, writers, and bloggers can easily find the book useful. Honestly, I did not find StoryBranding to be groundbreaking. I am not in marketing, but I found most of the information to be common sense. After viewing recent commercials/advertisements, in my opinion, it seems brands have lost their creative edge and they have no idea what the consumers want. Maybe, if they had some common sense they will read StoryBranding. ( )