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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Dr. Bob Rich Bones Up on Marketing

The Invisible Brand
by William Ammerman
McGraw-Hill Education
ASIN B07K3YH6YG
ISBN-13: 978-126044125
Available on Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Bob Rich originally in his Bobbin’ Around newsletter. 
This book was offered to me for review by the Nonfiction Authors’ Association. I was tempted to turn it down, because marketing is not a particular interest of mine, but read the first few pages, and realized that yes, it is highly relevant to me, because it is highly relevant to everyone. I started reading the book to review it. I kept reading with interest and even fascination because I needed to know what it taught me.

I am an immensely non-consuming person. Marketers have no influence on me -- or so I thought. All the same, Mr. Ammerman has shown me that I am as vulnerable as anyone to covert, invisible manipulation. And if I am, you are, too, only probably more so.

This book is a map to a new, foreign land where monsters lurk. You need the book to avoid being eaten. Here is just one quote: “The science of persuasion is uncovering these unconscious reflexes that trigger specific behaviors. In fact, these reflexes can be so powerful that, even when we become aware of them, we find them hard to overcome.” (p 50)

Computers can now beat world champions in the real thinking games: chess and Go. They can get you to love them. The same tools, applied to making us into puppets is a marketer’s dream, but more like a nightmare to me. I think my Luddite intuition is correct: I am not welded to a phone, and apart from banking, only use the internet for purposes I don’t mind being known to the shadowy puppet-masters.

It is a difficult task to write engagingly, even amusingly about a highly technical subject, but Mr. Ammerman manages to do so. For me, it is a good day when I learn something new. This book taught me lots, much of it very useful to protect myself in a Brave New World.

About the Reviewer

Dr. Bob Rich is a Professional Grandfather with many hundreds of grandkids all over the planet. His 18 books, 5 of them award-winners, are part of his work to create a survivable world for them, and a world worth surviving in. A strange thing about Bob is that he has no sense of humor whatever. However, he proves that most other people do: they keep laughing at his writing. You can be informed, inspired and entertained — but never bored — at his blog, Bobbing Around https://bobrich18.wordpress.com
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Dr Bob Rich
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The Invisible Brand  by William Ammerman

The Invisible Brand  by William Ammerman


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 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

1 comment:

  1. Carolyn, thank you for featuring my review. The feedstock for the marketing monsters (every human) will thank you too.
    :)
    Bob

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