Z.E.R.O. Adds Up To New Ways To Approach Marketing

One thing I’ve noticed over the last several years is that there are a plethora of marketing folks looking to brand their own theories and ways of looking at marketing. Add to that list Joseph Jaffe and Maarten Albarda’s Z.E.R.O.: Zero Paid Media as the New Marketing Model.

I’ve appeared on The BeanCast with Joseph Jaffe before, and I know he has no love for the traditional advertising world. He and Maarten (who actually take turns writing different sections of the book) lay out a vision for how brands can take advantage of new technology and new thinking to bypass the “spray and pray” method of marketing. What’s most interesting is the discussions of corporate culture and agency relationships – from agency compensation to budget setting and internal corporate talent recognition, there’s actually some advice marketers can use to change the way they operate, not just the tactics they use.

Is Z.E.R.O. (I’ll leave it to you to find out what it stands for) the answer everyone’s been looking for? Maybe, maybe not. Some corporations can embrace what the authors are saying, many can’t. We still live in a world where advertising plays a powerful role. But the authors use many examples of the good, bad and ugly of today’s marketing techniques, giving readers of Z.E.R.O. a lot to chew on.

Special thanks to Mediamuscle for providing me with a review copy.