Recommended Reading

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This - A guide to creating great advertising
By Luke Sullivan

An unofficial survey of professional copywriters revealed that this was the most recommended book on creating great advertising. It covers TV, print, radio, outdoor, new media and even integrated and guerilla campaigns.

Hey Whipple highlights some great ads and some truly awful ones, all the while focusing on one thing: How to create advertising that doesn't suck.

Ogilvy on Advertising
by David Ogilvy

Sometimes called "The Father of Advertising, David Ogilvy was one the the most influential and successful ad men of all time. This book, full of colourful examples and anecdotes, offers his brutally frank opinions on how to create successful ads.

Guerilla Marketing - Easy and inexpensive strategies for making big profits from your small business
by Jay Conrad Levinson

Levinson's revolutionary marketing strategies and "take-no-prisoners" approach for small-business owners have given birth to a whole new way of learning about market share and how to win more of it.

His tips include how to market your company on line, how to target prospects and win repeat and referral business and how to launch a killer marketing campaign on a shoestring budget.

Why We Buy - The Science of Shopping
by Paco Underhill

Every retail business owner should read this book. Underhill and his team have spent thousands of hours watching shoppers in all types of retail environments. His witty and eye-opening insights into how we shop, and the common things retailers do to turn customers away, will blow your mind.

My favourite anecdote is "the butt-brush factor!"

Scientific Advertising
by Claude Hopkins

Written in 1923, this groundbreaking book remains essential reading for anyone entering the copywriting and advertising professions, reminding us that advertising's purpose is purely to sell.

Experience the Message - How experiential marketing is changing the brand world
By Max Lenderman

Consumers are becoming sick and tired of advertising intruding in their lives and sullying the cultural landscape. Lenderman reveals how traditional marketing and advertising is resulting in diminishing returns and is actually turning away potential customers.

More importantly, he offers insight into how to win new customers and build a successful brand by offing a marketing mix that invites customers to participate in and experience the brand.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - The zero tolerance approach to punctuation
By Lynne Truss

Think you know grammar? I guarantee you'll learn something new from Lynn Truss!(and Mignon Fogarty, below.)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves is a spirited and witty instructional volume in which Truss serves up unabashedly strict and sometimes snobby commentary on the world of grammar.

If you want to break the rules, first you have to learn them!

The Grammar Devotional - Daily tips for successful writing from Grammar Girl, by Mignon Fogarty

In The Grammar Devotional, Fogarty (known throughout the online world as "Grammar Girl") serves up 365 lessons on language in the form of tips, quizzes, puzzles and efficient memory tricks.