The Marketing Mavens
Over the past dozen or so years, globalization has turned business on its head. For almost a half century, from the late 1940s until the 1990s, the overriding factor that dominated the economic scene was scarcity of supply. Companies did not have to be all that good, much less great, and competitive innovations in another country or region presented little threat. If somebody, somewhere, found a better way to do something, there was plenty of leeway to ignore it or slowly acquiesce to change. Companies no longer have the luxury of such behavior, and customers no longer dance to their tunes.
About The Marketing Mavens
Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide, describes The Marketing Mavens as: "This is big picture marketing about companies whose entire orientation is 'to the market.'" Based on in-depth interviews with CEOs and top marketing leaders at the best marketing companies worldwide, the author distills a new system of five-linked imperatives that drive marketing and company success.
Published by Crown Business, The Marketing Mavens is available at bookstores and at online booksellers like Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
For a video of Professor Capon discussing The Marketing Mavens, click here.
Wall Street Journal Review
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What Reviewers Are Saying
Where companies once thrived in a climate of scarce supply, globalization introduced a breed of killer competitors ready to lure customers away at every opportunity. Dr. Noel Capon's new book Marketing Mavens identifies the five key marketing imperatives that differentiate surviving market leaders enabling them to rise above the competition and dominate their respective industries. Dr. Capon further examines how these companies have managed to retain consumer loyalty by integrating customer needs and values throughout its operations making marketing everyone's business. It helps us understand how the best marketers create a slot in the consumer's mind that no other product can occupy and how a successful positioning will create a new slot or unseat an incumbent. The final result is a book that offers valuable insight into "the internal dynamics, the thinking, and the actions that make great companies great." It is a must read!
-- Robert Friedman, President of @radical Media. Former President of New Line Cinema and Founding member of MTV networks
"Marketing Mavens provides accessible insight into how some of the world's iconic companies have penetrated deep into consumer psyches to develop winning strategies and brands. In fact, the mavens are all mavericks--seeing what others miss and having the conviction to invest capital, build capabilities and create new businesses. Capon skillfully overlays a five point framework over great narratives of how a broad range of companies -- from Starbucks to Sony, from the Mayo Clinic to Virgin and Bloomberg -- push the boundaries of "marketing" into the real world of anticipating and meeting customer needs."
-- Donald J. Gogel, President and CEO, Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, Inc.
"This is a terrific book, rich with anecdotes and logic. Capon makes sense of all the marketing clutter by integrating the insights of the world's best marketers into a series of simple rules. These rules become the manifest for market leaders and those who want to become one. This is the best marketing book I've read in a long time."
-- Reed Holden, Founder and CEO Holden Advisors
"A fascinating book with a much-needed, different point of view: One I have personally held for a very long time. This is big picture marketing about companies whose entire orientation is 'to the market'. It's about people at vibrant and successful companies who orient themselves to the outside world of consumers, customers and users. Everything marketing mavens think of and everything they do is in the context of the people who are actually buying the product and experiencing the brand."
The Marketing Mavens is excellent. It's the right book at the right time."
--Shelly Lazarus, CEO Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
"Think of this book as the Miracle-Gro for marketers. Put a little of Noel Capon's formula into your marketing root system and see your business flourish. It's time marketers dug much deeper into customer dynamics and drivers to make market understanding a real competitive advantage that can be both a differentiator and business value builder. Filled with valuable, relevant and current brand marketing illustrations, Capon makes a compelling argument for advancing the need to architect and integrate your operations around the customer experience. Let's all make "customer-focused action" a cultural imperative in our organizations!"
--Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council
"Professor Capon has powerfully made the case for why and how to become a customer-centric business, with big "M" marketing driving everything you do. He focuses his message through five key principles, he provides outstanding case examples and insights, and offers a wealth of specific, pragmatic changes that you can make to drive your business to an altogether higher level of performance."
-- Adrian J. Slywotzky, Mercer Management Consulting
"Dr. Noel Capon's new book, Marketing Mavens, is a much-needed book in the spirit of Built to Last by Collins, by digging deeply into the strategies, tools, and track records of leaders. Most books in this tradition treat marketing as one factor (often small) in the company's impressive track record. This book, Marketing Mavens, as the title suggests is all about great marketing. Any marketer, any manager who needs marketing to be at their best will glean useful stuff - ideas, cases, and tools from this timely book. The in-depth look at integrated marketing is especially valuable in today's fragmented marketplace."
-- Joe Plummer, Chief Research Officer, The ARF - The Research Authority
"While many talk about the necessity of being 'customer-centric', in Marketing Mavens, Noel Capon clearly identifies and illustrates the essential elements that enable companies to achieve and sustain leadership by continuously delivering value to their customers. I highly recommend this book to business leaders of all ranks regardless of whether they are looking to build a new business model, transform an existing organization, or better understand and strengthen an already thriving organization."
-- Sidney Taurel, Chairman and CEO, Eli Lilly & Company
"Marketing Mavens unearths the shared characteristics of customer centric companies that consistently outperform their rivals. It defines fundamental truths that apply from Toyota to IBM, from Amazon to Alcoa. This is a "must read" for business leaders and marketing executives who are committed to leading and winning the battle for growth in today's competitive markets."
-- Gary S. Tubridy, Sr. Vice President, The Alexander Group, Inc.
Professor Capon's Video Presentation
Professor Capon presents The Marketing Mavens