Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why

By Max Sutherland and Alice K. Sylvester

Book Overview

By the time we die, we will have spent an estimated one and a half years just watching TV commercials. Advertising is an established and ever-present force and yet, as we move into the new century,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1865082317
• ISBN13: 9781865082318
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Well Written and Full of insights

The book dissects the advertising process and analyzes the different elements that make up the ad.Backed by years of tracking TV commercials down under, Max Sutherland has first-hand knowledge of what qualities make an ad work and what others make no or a negative difference in the ad's effectiveness.The book commences with an introduction to advertsing's facts of life and a clarification of what is substantial and what is not in the public's perception of the industry.It ends with a couple of interesting chapters that introduce the reader to the basic concepts of ad-effectiveness research. All in all, a good and solid book.It does, however, use brand examples throughout that are known only to Australian readers and primarily discusses broadcast advertising.

Don't bother reading the reviews, JUST GET IT!

To all advertisers and consumers; This is a must for your knowledge. Finally, a book that evades the 'magic' of advertising and pins down the psychological factors that make an ad succesful or not. It is seen from every point of view; the advertiser, the consumer and even the psychologist. It will change the way you advertise and see ads As an advertising student I found it to be my little bible.Get it!

This book should to be in the top 20 marketing books

The subject of the book is advertising, the expertise of the author is marketing research and its background is psychology. However, the text is highly suitable for marketing professionals. Why ? The reason is that it gives practical tools for marketing decisions concerning advertising, tools that have long time beeing denied by advertising agencies. As many marketing professionals may know, ad agencies have built several "recipes" or "éclairs d'imagination" never giving their foundations. Instead, Max Sutherland gives clear guidelines, combining them with the correspondant motivational background and/or justifying them by facts. Additionally, the book is very well written to allow the reader to take the core conclusion of each chapter.

A "must read" for all brand marketers.

For anyone involved in making ads, this book gives a simple explanation of what happens in people's heads when they are exposed to advertising. I have used the book's principles over and over again when teaching the basics of advertising management to young brand marketers. I describe this book as a "must read".

Very stimulating, provocative, and interesting book

This book is as fun to read as it is informative. The author makes his points with many memorable analogies and provocative perspectives. For instance, he observes that "We as consumers generally believe (advertising) does not really work on us personally. Despite this, advertisers keep on advertising. Something must be working." He makes the analogy between how advertising works and how we perceive our kids growing up. "We don't notice their physical growth each day, but from time to time we become aware that they have grown. Evaluating a single exposure to advertising is like asking how much your kid has grown in the last 24 hours." The author continually points out how these imperceptibly small changes add up to significant ones over time. Another analogy I really like is that "advertising is like a feather that just tips the balance when other things are about equal." And in most markets, brands are competing in categories where the consumer sees the products as being about equal. It is in these situations that advertising becomes so important. The book is also full of research findings and results, but without being "textbook like" about it. There is a gold mine of practical and memorable advertising findings and advice within these covers. The book is divided into an A part explaining "Why advertising has remained a mystery for so long." This is the part with all the insights and perspectives on the role of advertising in branding. The B part of the book addresses "What works, what doesn't and why." This section of the book contains insights from the author's years of experience in running continuous advertising tracking studies around the world. In summary this is a fun book to read and is full of information that could be of use to any markcom or campaign manager. Shelby McIntyre Marketing Professor Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA 95053