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| Wednesday, 17 September 2003 |
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Book review : Uncommon book on advertising The (Un)Common Sense of Advertising, Getting the Basics Right by Sanjay Tiwari Sage Publications (New Delhi, California, London) Reviewed by Kushani Ratnayake Advertising fascinates most people. It flirts momentarily with their lives, seduces them and leaves them with wonderful images and dreams. Dreams that to be fulfilled, make people work harder and harder, earn more and more to spend more and more. "Getting the basic rights first" that's what this book is all about. Advertising is a serious business but done with a sense of fun. This book has been written in the same spirit combining fun and business. It is comprehensive in its knowledge, looking at marketing, branding, strategy, insights, creative and media. But it does so with a difference. The writer uses everyday life connections and anecdotes to bring theory to life. The cartoon illustrations provide relief from the heavy load of work. He also uses international and Indian examples to support the concepts. It covers all the critical facets of advertising quite lucidly. Thus making it all the more readable and relatable. The aim is to understand the fundamentals of advertising better and get equipped to fish in the waters of the advertising world. It helps to look at issues like what is advertising, its importance and relevance in our lives, the role it plays in marketing and brand building, how it works, the key elements of advertising planning and implementation, and lots more. In doing so the attempt is also to demystify the learning of advertising - of concepts, ideas, observations and jargon - by trying to simplify and explain them in as people friendly terms as possible. The more commonsensical it sounds the simpler it seems and the easier it becomes to understand. The second objective of the book is to look at advertising from a commonsense perspective. The attempt is to clarify and simplify some of the hardcore professional advertising and marketing concepts to make them easier to comprehend. Making the learning of advertising an insightful one is the third and final objective of the book. The perspective of the book is more from the real and practising world of advertising rather than from a theoretical one. The focus is on explaining terms and concepts as they are applied in the real world. Theoretical concepts and frameworks have essentially been used to explain and substantiate some of the insights, conclusions and experiences. Last but not least, the approach of the book is qualitative not quantitative. Though it is fairly exhaustive and covers most of the relevant topics in advertising, its focus is on the key 'fundamental' aspects that are relevant and critical in understanding the very basics of advertising and the way it works. The attempt is not to know it all but to know the vital points. For the professional,it is a refresher to basic advertising concepts. Though the book is meant for the uninitiated and the beginners who could be students or professionals in their formative years in the field of marketing and advertising, it may be useful reading for anyone who is interested in knowing more about advertising or in understanding it better. It might add a fresh perspective or insight to their existing knowledge base or might help brush up the rusted parts. The book provides a strong foundation to the business. It is enjoyable and educative and is recommended for anyone with an interest in advertising. " The (un) Common Sense of Advertising" is an "un" common book on advertising. |
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