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apeeks's review against another edition
4.0
This is between a 3 and a 4 but I'll round up.
Some chapters are far better than others but overall the book provides some good information to be a better marketer. Seth has a few books out there and as his catalogue grows the number of references to this other books also grows. By no means are the other books required reading but a couple chapters are heavy on reference to his other material.
Its a short book but well written. Material flows well from topic to topic and doesn't try to cram to many topic into one title.
I consider this more of a brand/product management and market strategy book. The author touches on sales and direct marketing but only lightly.
Some chapters are far better than others but overall the book provides some good information to be a better marketer. Seth has a few books out there and as his catalogue grows the number of references to this other books also grows. By no means are the other books required reading but a couple chapters are heavy on reference to his other material.
Its a short book but well written. Material flows well from topic to topic and doesn't try to cram to many topic into one title.
I consider this more of a brand/product management and market strategy book. The author touches on sales and direct marketing but only lightly.
lavenderlazarus's review against another edition
1.0
I had seen Seth Godin's name and I'm open to just picking up a book to read but this was so bad it's making me rethink Godin's credibility. This is self-help for marketers. I didn't like the writing style that felt like a LinkedIn post. The advice discussed here is rebranded rules you would already know if you worked in the industry. It tries to sound profound but it's not. There's almost no practical advice here. Sure, there are some useful things discussed but it's so rudimentary and presented in such a self-aggrandizing way. And some things are just plain wrong. I'm not a fan of SEO either but writing a paragraph on it and dismissing it by saying you should just focus on making your brand important enough to search instead of doing any SEO, it was so laughably ignorant. The only thing it seems you can trust Seth Godin to do is market himself.
laurenbastian's review against another edition
3.0
Seth Godim would say that this book probably isn't for me, and I have to agree, at least, it's not for me right now. A lot of these markets tactics would be super helpful for somebody who already had a business, not necessarily somebody looking to start one.
rdelagarza's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.75
Some incredible takeaways in this book that will change the way I think about bringing marketing into more than just my work.
picklestar's review against another edition
4.0
Let's say 3.5 stars
Since I've somehow found myself in a career under the 'Marketing' umbrella, but without any formal education in the field, I thought a book titled THIS IS MARKETING is probably a good place to start reading up on the topic.
And it is. This is a good, general guide to the state of Marketing today, and a good introduction into some of Godin's theories. Godin is concise, clear and engaging - I did 'read' the Audible version of the book too, which is narrated by the author. Although even as a relative newbie in the field, there were some parts that were 'revision' for me and I can see that marketing veteran might not get get much from this.
All in all, I have enough scrawled notes in the margin of my desk notebook to make this worth the read for me.
Since I've somehow found myself in a career under the 'Marketing' umbrella, but without any formal education in the field, I thought a book titled THIS IS MARKETING is probably a good place to start reading up on the topic.
And it is. This is a good, general guide to the state of Marketing today, and a good introduction into some of Godin's theories. Godin is concise, clear and engaging - I did 'read' the Audible version of the book too, which is narrated by the author. Although even as a relative newbie in the field, there were some parts that were 'revision' for me and I can see that marketing veteran might not get get much from this.
All in all, I have enough scrawled notes in the margin of my desk notebook to make this worth the read for me.
btrillz's review against another edition
DNF @ 56%. This was full of platitudes and I hated every second of it.
elisecreates's review against another edition
4.0
I had to breeze through the last couple of chapters before my eBook was returned on Overdrive. So, I may reread those someday. But overall, I liked this book and his insight to marketing. I loved that his perspective was a lot more about connecting with a real audience who really wants your product or service, not manipulating people into thinking they need your product. This book teaches a solid approach to marketing and a lot of the foundational principles of marketing.
nlwisz's review against another edition
3.0
You should read this book if you like: Pithy wisdom, reading books about work, commencement speeches, aphorisms, single-sentence paragraphs
* * *
This book is full of generalizations and sporadic anecdotes, and isn’t specific to any industry. So although that could give it wider appeal, it also means that this information is surface-level helpful at best. That said, it does include some good advice:
• Stop insisting on your narrative while ignoring your target audience’s POV. Always ask “Who’s it for?” and narrow your scope. Find your smallest viable audience.
• Be okay with telling everyone outside of your target audience that your product/service is not for them. This demonstrates your ability to respect them enough to not waste their time/pander to them.
• Psychographics (what your target thinks/feels/desires) are way more important than demographics (who/what/where they are categorically). Spoiler alert: This is the premise of the whole book, basically. Your ultimate goal is to sell feelings and connections, not stuff.
• We talk about being good at what we do, as if businesses being good at their craft is the exception and not the rule. It’s not true, so stop doing that.
• Think of your competitors not as your competition, but as your customer’s alternatives. Identify where you might have an edge in the things they care about (e.g., price, sustainability, status, etc).
I dunno. This book was fine. There’s a lot of weird logic that feels like built in ego-protection, to help you justify your efforts at the end of the day, whether people like it or not. For example, if you give this book a bad review, the author would probably say, okay, you weren’t my desired audience anyway. (There’s a Harry Potter example in the book that supports this hypothesis.)
* * *
This book is full of generalizations and sporadic anecdotes, and isn’t specific to any industry. So although that could give it wider appeal, it also means that this information is surface-level helpful at best. That said, it does include some good advice:
• Stop insisting on your narrative while ignoring your target audience’s POV. Always ask “Who’s it for?” and narrow your scope. Find your smallest viable audience.
• Be okay with telling everyone outside of your target audience that your product/service is not for them. This demonstrates your ability to respect them enough to not waste their time/pander to them.
• Psychographics (what your target thinks/feels/desires) are way more important than demographics (who/what/where they are categorically). Spoiler alert: This is the premise of the whole book, basically. Your ultimate goal is to sell feelings and connections, not stuff.
• We talk about being good at what we do, as if businesses being good at their craft is the exception and not the rule. It’s not true, so stop doing that.
• Think of your competitors not as your competition, but as your customer’s alternatives. Identify where you might have an edge in the things they care about (e.g., price, sustainability, status, etc).
I dunno. This book was fine. There’s a lot of weird logic that feels like built in ego-protection, to help you justify your efforts at the end of the day, whether people like it or not. For example, if you give this book a bad review, the author would probably say, okay, you weren’t my desired audience anyway. (There’s a Harry Potter example in the book that supports this hypothesis.)
jhanzey's review against another edition
1.0
So poorly written. Can’t even tell you how many times he said ‘marketing is about making change’ but never bothered to explain how in the first 20 pages. Mostly generalizations, too. Nothing so groundbreaking here.
This is not it, sorry Seth
This is not it, sorry Seth