TOP 20 Advertising Books

Ogilvy on Advertising — David Ogilvy

This book contains numerous stories of real projects, brilliant ideas, and sometimes bad decisions. Ogilvy describes the entire "inner kitchen" of the advertising world and tells various stories that allow you to plunge into the world of the advertising business of the last century.

Zag — Marty Neumeier

This book is a how-to guide that provides a basic outline and a clear step-by-step plan for creating high-impact branding. You will learn how to enter the market in an era of product and information overload with an offer that will stand out. Also, learn how to achieve the great goal of branding: to satisfy customers so that over time more people buy more goods and services from you at a higher price.

 

Truth, Lies, and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning — Jon Steel

The book reveals in detail the secret mechanisms of the advertising business, the emergence of which is recognized as the greatest invention of American advertisers since the birth of television advertising. The author writes about the fundamental features of his beloved work without preaching. The first-hand reliability and relevance of the topic make this book indispensable for all advertising professionals and their customers.

 

A Technique for Producing Ideas — James Webb Young

This book is for those who take their first steps in the creative craft. The author offers both a guide to action and an understanding that an idea appears as a result of a deliberate process, not an accident. And if this little book falls into the hands of those who say: “I could never come up with anything creative” — now they will be able to greatly surprise themselves.

Rework — Jason Fried

The book explains what the optimal size of the company is. What and how to plan, and whether it is necessary to learn from mistakes. It is about many other things, familiar and unexpected. The authors of the books are the practitioners Jason Fraid and David Heinemeier Hansson. They are highly successful internet entrepreneurs who founded the legendary 37signals. A company of 14 employees, whose products are used by more than three million people worldwide!

It is an easy read that dispels all doubts on the distant approaches. It inspires, even though it can be confusing sometimes. It leads you out of your comfort zone. Finally, it provides a practical base.

 

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads — Luke Sullivan

The publication addresses advertising professionals and future masters of the advertising business — find opportunities for brilliant insights and enjoy your work. The book will also be of interest to advertising business professionals and experienced executives who know the price of selling ideas — discover new ways to effectively promote your products and services.

Why She Buys — Bridget Brennan

Women are the engine of the global economy, driving 80 percent of consumer spending in the United States alone. They hold the purse strings, and when they’ve got a tight grip on them as they do now, companies must be shrewd than ever to win them over. Just when executives have mastered becoming technology literate, they find there’s another skill they need: becoming female literate.

 

The Social Impact of Advertising — Tony Kelso

The book reflects the latest industry trends, especially the migration from legacy to social media vehicles like Instagram and Snapchat. Topics covered include a brief history of modern advertising in the United States, advertising’s influence on the so-called non-advertising content of the media, the ideological themes advertising inadvertently delivers, how advertising can privilege or marginalize various social constructions of identity, the controversial practice of targeting children, and how corporations often use advertising to superficially present a positive face while masking their profoundly darker sides.

 

Paid Attention — Faris Yakob

Faris Jacob, the founder of the strategy and innovation consultancy, reflects as an ad practitioner on how the digital age is transforming the advertising world beyond recognition. The author makes an excursion into history. He also considers the whole complex of factors that form the modern appearance of advertising. He backs up his findings with case studies showing how companies can use multimedia platforms to build new types of customer relationships.

 

Scientific Advertising — Claude C. Hopkins

For decades, this book has been not only one of the undisputed bestsellers in the advertising publishing market but the Bible for generations of advertisers. A renowned master and sales genius, Hopkins spent many years in the maelstrom of advertising. He has hundreds of dizzyingly successful advertising campaigns under his belt. Hopkins launched many brands that are still thriving today. He invented and developed numerous methods of selling advertising.

 

Frenemies — Ken Auletta

Frenemies is Ken Auletta's reckoning with an industry under existential assault. He enters the rooms of the ad world's most important players, some of them business partners, some adversaries, many "frenemies," a term whose ubiquitous use in this industry reveals the level of anxiety, as former allies become competitors, and accusations of kickbacks and corruption swirl.

Creative Advertising — Mario Pricken

We bring to your attention the book "Creative Advertising" by Mario Priken - this is a guide to the birth of brilliant ideas. The book, with provocative optimism, claims to give the reader a glimpse into the mysteries of the alchemical processes of creative thinking. She explains the thinking strategies of creative professionals and provides insights into how great ideas are created.

 

M: Advertising — William Arens, Michael Weigold

This book is the premier textbook on advertising in the United States and elsewhere in the world. It has been published for over 25 years and has gone through 11 reprints. Here is the most complete encyclopedia of modern advertising: each of the 18 chapters of the book contains full-color illustrations of the best advertisements, videos, and advertising campaigns, clearly showing the highest achievements in the field of advertising.

 

Breakthrough Advertising — Eugene M. Schwartz, Martin Edelston

If you look at the best marketing and advertising books of all time, this book will be in the top three. This bestselling book by the legendary professional copywriting guru is almost impossible to find on shelves. Eugene Schwartz's book was written for novice and practicing copywriters, advertisers, marketers, entrepreneurs — everyone who is in one way or another connected with promoting a product and working with a target audience.

 

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less — Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz explains at what point the freedom of choice we so cherish begins to wreak havoc on our emotional well-being. The author offers eleven practical steps to reduce the variety of choices to reasonable limits, develop the habit of focusing on the alternatives that matter, and ultimately get more satisfaction from life and the decisions we have to make.

 

The Adweek Copywriting Handbook — Joseph Sugarman

Sugerman learned Zen in the creation of advertising offers - from under his pen appeared both fascinating and practical texts. His book is often called a textbook but Sugerman's lessons are more about learning through fun. He simply, intelligibly, and consistently talks about the copywriting process — from preparing to study a product on the market to polishing ideas outlined on paper. You will receive the tools and techniques to create an extraordinary sales copy, and you will also gain an excellent skill of thinking "like a copywriter".

Adland: A Global History of Advertising — Mark Tungate

The book describes stories of the world's leading advertising agencies and the most famous advertising campaigns that influenced the development of this creative business. The author painted vivid portraits of revolutionaries, businessmen, hooligans, and perfectionists — all those extraordinary personalities thanks to whose "manipulation of consciousness" still attracts many charismatic and bright people who combine creativity and entrepreneurial talent.

 

Cutting Edge Advertising — Jim Aitchison

It is an entertaining book that reflects the accumulated experience in the field of advertising. It was written by a patient author who managed to reveal the topic from different points of view and give practical advice from a professional who knows all the secrets of the advertising kitchen firsthand.

 

The Advertising Concept Book — Pete Barry

In his book, Pete Barry, in simple and understandable language, describes the basic rules for creating not just an advertisement but an exclusive and memorable concept. Throughout the book, the reader will have many exercises and tasks that help with studying and working. He collected some of the best examples of advertising campaigns from the past fifty years. Most of them have won international awards. Especially for this book, the author has selected over 450 of the brightest advertising ideas.

This is Advertising — Eliza Williams

“This is Advertising” addresses the changes that are occurring within advertising, from the perspective of key figures within the industry. Each deals with a key emerging trend—digital, branded, ambient, integrated,and self-initiated. Featuring in total over 80 projects as well as ten-in-depth interviews by a selection of leading advertising figures, it offers an insightful overview for students or anyone involved with or interested in the current world of advertising.