To be sure, punk is marketing. However many cool bands and bad fashions it drove, the idea of punk was meant to sell by appropriating antagonistic feeling toward the suffocating traditional.
To label marketing as “punk” is kind of silly, borderline repetitive. Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons are on to this (or they eventually figured it out). They go to great effort and many pages to define what punk marketing is (unhelpful clue: it’s Southwest and it’s not SanDisk).
As a result, Rick and Mark end up kind of chasing their own collective tail. The definition has something to do with not selling the way a traditional marketer would. Ultimately, punk marketing is what they say punk marketing is, and that seems to be whatever successfully sells in a nontradtional way.
It’s a real weak premise. Nonetheless it gives 2 insiders the excuse to write about recent surprising marketing campaigns. Most of these campaigns have already been covered to a great extent already, but they write with a clear and irreverent tone. If you want a refresher on what you’re exposed to everyday, check it out.
But don’t expect much depth. Although it touches on a lot successful campaigns, it doesn’t to any insightful depth. They seem to eschew marketing research and don’t really do a lot of work connecting the disparate stories they tell, or give reason why these campaigns were successful. It’s only advice is something like, “don’t be afraid be creative.”
Not a lot of insight here (I think I learned that I could probably write a marketing book if this is what passes for one). It does provide a lot of manifesto-ish rah rah, so it’s like a more readable Cluetrain. And there are a lot of pictures. This would be a fine coffee and/or bathroom book.
Eric Bescak's Online Journal 