Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign

by Randall Rothenberg

For all the right reasons. Cars that can. What to Drive. The perfect Car for an Imperfect World. Only one of these slogans would be chosen by Subaru of America to sell its cars in the recession year... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679740422
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.1" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Lessons for Anyone In...or Going Into...Advertising

The entire advertising world -- scratch that -- the entire world has changed immensely since this book was written. Many of the assumptions of this book, such as the overall business importance of network TV to an ad campaign, are simply no longer true. Technology changed it. Corporate buyouts have changed it. Energy and wars have changed it. Yes, the Internet changed it. And so on. But guess what? ANY book about an ad campaign yesterday is old news the moment it's printed as far as that particular campaign is concerned. What's important is the processes that created, sold, and produced the campaign -- and the forces that can keep it going or kill it dead. If you don't learn those, after all, you won't learn advertising as a career. This book delivers on several important things that ad agency people should still learn from, including: * Insider, quote-by-quote looks at highly-regarded New York agencies making pitches...and mistakes. * A Kirisawa-like view of people from two or more companies being in the same meeting, yet walking away believing it had two different outcomes. * The importance of ego -- and managing it well -- whether you're on the agency side or the client side. * The importance of always knowing who REALLY holds the decision-making power in what you're trying to achieve. * Inside looks at the thinking of key corporate marketing personnel in the throes of an ad agency search. * Reassurance that even multi-national corporations sometimes don't realize that it's better to emphasize your true strengths than to try to invent strengths no one believes exist. It's also a great inside look at the car business as it's done in the US. At least how it used to be done. That, too, has changed a lot, but as long as their are human beings making a ton of money at power plays, it will change slowly. Lastly, when you get to the chapter about the Japanese auto industry - skim. It's moderately interesting overall, but not very meaningful to the outcome, and Rothenberg doesn't tell it particularly well. It's the biggest snore in the book. Aside from that, this book is a great read and, again, if you are young in the ad industry -- take notes.

Turf Wars a plenty

One the best books I have ever read with regards to the managing of advertising campaigns within a company. Few other books have provided such an insight into the realities of the pitch process, getting agencies on board, the client/agency relationship and the palava of producing an ad campaign. But where this book truly strikes home is in the laying bare of the internal politics - Agency vs Marketing vs Sales vs Dealers vs Operations (production). Local company vs Off shore Parent. And even more enlightening/entertaining is the strife within each divisional silo. It is set within the Automobile world but the actions and truths to be found are equally applicable to many businesses but especially to the Client/Agency interface. I squirmed when I recognised situations that I have faced as an FMCG marketeer and when things hit home that way you know you are reading a book with true insight.

Best Advertising Book

Simply the best, most sophisticated book ever written on advertising. At least that's the opinion of one guy who's read them all.

Cool story about two tough businesses -- advertising & cars

This is a detailed, on-the-ground tactical exploration of the Subaru ad campaigns of the mid-90s. Watch the idealist dreamer's of the agency's creative team collide with the cold, hard world of auto retailing.To me, an entertaining business book is something that teaches you about a particular profession, industry, comapny or leader, and develops the story through a plot, inherent tension in the conflicts in the business, and a "what would you do in their shoes?" sensibility. Where the Suckers Moon has both, and is one of my top 15 business books as a result.

"Where The Suckers Moon" Is At The Front of The Class

"The Nerd from the Back of the Class"'s criticisms of Rothenberg's excellent, meticulously researched "client's eye-view" book seem to be focused on three areas: Subaru isn't "sexy" enough, the book is four years old, and that Rothenberg's cool refuses to crack in order to glamorize the ad game or its participants. In fact, one can infer from "Nerd At the Back of the Class"'s review that Rothenberg's writerly sang-froid is a deterrent from a reader's enjoyment or even basic understanding of the book. A question: What word in the English language didn't you understand, Nerd? This is as fine a primer on the processes and pressures relating to advertising as I have ever read. And I'm not a Joe Blow--and I doubt that "Nerd At the Back Of The Class" is either-- but, in fact, have made my living as an advertising copywriter for five years now. Rothenberg's cool detachment, his knowledge of his subject (ostensibly modern advertising agencies but, in fact, the history of advertising agencies themselves, and, in fact, Subaru and its parent company in Japan) his patience, his eye for detail, his recording of the filming of the Subaru commercials and the organized chaos that is The Creative Process, his willingness to hang around legendary hothead Joe Pytka for crying out loud--these things make the book what it is: a treatise that modern consumer culture and in fact modern corporate America are neither godlike, infallible or perfect. Rothenberg is Toto, pulling away the curtain to reveal the Wizard for who he is--a little fat guy with a lot of smoke and mirrors at his disposal, a man who loves power and flattery. (Think of the original owners of Subaru and their covered motorcycles, or the divisonal Subaru car salesman or Wieden & Kennedy for heaven's sake.) And by the way, if anyone doubts Rothenberg's street creds please see his weekly column in Advertising Age, one of the industry's leading publications.If "Where the Suckers Moon" strikes anyone as being recondite, then perhaps you need to eschew this book for something a little less thorough. Perhaps an ad for Apple with its sexy lines and pretty colors...pretty colors good...and sleight of hand. Me, I prefer to know that I'm not being suckered. And that Rothenberg isn't suckered either.And as for the complaint that this book is four years old and out of touch...As someone in the book says, advertising is all about people and relationships and they don't change. This book is as much about the people as it is about their business.If you're looking for sexy, they have plenty of Web sites for that sort of thing...sorry. Rothenberg can't help the fact that Subaru, try as they might, ain't sexy nor will they ever be. And frankly I'm glad he doesn't see the manufacturing nor selling of a car as sexy or feel that he ought to dress it up for the bored people at the back of the class. But, however, the auto industry is quite important to the U.S. economy, and so is