End of Marketing as We Know It by Sergio Zyman

Bob Garfield
Always insightful, always provocative and (almost) always right, the irrepressible Sergio Zyman mined his experience at a certain coca-colossus to write a marketing book, a management how-to, and a cola-war memoir all in one. -- (Bob Garfield, columnist, Advertising Age)

Shelly Lazarus
No one is more provocative or passionate on the subject of marketing than Sergio Zyman. I’ve seen him literally mesmerize audiences. Somehow he’s managed to capture all this in The End of Marketing As We Know It. It teaches as much as any textbook ever could, but does so in a remarkably entertaining way. You don’t realize, until you’re finished, that you are now much smarter about marketing. It’s vintage Sergio. -- (Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide)

David J. Stern
The End of Marketing As We Know It is typical Zyman--brash, compelling, and eminently practical. I found myself using several of its conclusions and insights at staff meetings and presentations--of course, without crediting Sergio. -- (David J. Stern, Commissioner, National Basketball Association)

Charles R. Schwab
A wizard at marketing discloses his magic. No matter what your industry, you will benefit greatly from Sergio Zyman's out-of-the-box thinking and contemporary concepts. -- (Charles R. Schwab, Chairman, The Charles Schwab Corporation)

Jay Chiat
This is a book that’s sometimes arrogant, occasionally profane, usually profound and always entertaining . . . just like Sergio. If you read it and learn its lessons, you’ll become a high voltage, successful marketer . . . just like Sergio. --(Jay Chiat, founder, Chiat/Day Advertising)

John F. Cooke
This book is not simply about marketing; it is about how to choose the right objectives and achieve them and how to successfully build a business. No matter what industry you’re in, Zyman’s book is a must read! -- (John F. Cooke, Executive Vice President, the Walt Disney Company)

Dick Ebersol
Here’s a great marketing tip...Buy this book, written by the ultimate master. No marketer can live without it. -- (Dick Ebersol, President, NBC Sports)

Dan Wieden
Nothing moves forward as long as people are comfortable. Sergio Zyman has single-handedly driven whole legions of professionals to the brink, forced them to rethink strategy, tactics, relationships ...the fundamental underpinning of 20th century marketing. God love the hellraiser. -- (Dan Wieden, CEO, CCO, Wieden & Kennedy)

Patrick R. Fallon
Sergio Zyman’s voice is powerful. So are his insights. He never fails to challenge, inspire, or teach. The End of Marketing as We Know It is like being in a conversation with Sergio-without the fear of being assaulted. It is a must read for anyone who values achieving results in a highly competitive marketplace. -- (Patrick R. Fallon, Chairman, Fallon McElligott)

Table of Contents

Interviews & Essays

Why have marketing? For no other reason than to make money, says former Coca-Cola marketing chief Sergio Zyman in his new book The End Of Marketing As We Know It. Zyman recently took some time to talk to business editor Amy Lambo about why the craft of marketing is as mysterious and artistic as finance, and why marketing, as most of us know it, is dead.

barnesandnoble.com:  Advertising Age recently published a list of the greatest advertising campaigns of the century. If you were compiling such a list, what would your criteria for it be, and what campaigns would top your list?

Sergio Zyman:  Did it sell product? Did it elect a candidate? Did it make people actually want to go out and buy stuff? Everything else is irrelevant. Which campaigns? "Are you better off now than four years ago?" from Reagan. Volkswagen then and Volkswagen now. The introduction of New Coke. Broiling vs. frying from Burger King. The Pepsi challenge.

barnesandnoble.com:  In your new book, you discuss many products that were seemingly failures and then argue that they really were a means to greater successes. Tab Clear, OK Soda, and of course, New Coke. Explain how these product failures were really marketing winners.

Sergio Zyman:  What happened with New Coke...everyone thought we ended up with a major failure, but not really. We had two launches. We introduced New Coke, then introduced Coca-Cola Classic -- we didn't reintroduce the old Coca-Cola because it wasn't working to grow the business. We found out in 77 days that this New Coke wasn't going to cut it. Then we went out and created this whole new brand called Coca-Cola Classic and introduced that. Instead of restaging and reformulation and re- re- re-, we used the iconography that made the brand successful in the beginning but actually launched an entirely new brand.

With Tab Clear, I was asked as a consultant, "What do you think of this Crystal Pepsi thing?" I said, "You know, this just doesn't make sense to me." One of the critical determinants of cola is darkness. One of the criteria of Crystal Pepsi was it was associated more with lightness and low-calorie brands, so I came up with the idea to launch Tab Clear. We managed the P&L really well because we knew it was going to die and had no future. We forced Pepsi to take Van Halen to launch Crystal Pepsi and spend a ton of money. Before they knew it, both of us had dead brands.

barnesandnoble.com:  How can marketers learn from the basic business practices of the entrepreneur who owns the corner deli?

Sergio Zyman:  I think that in every business that exists today, people have built these black boxes to justify their existence. People don't have a contribution to make to speak of, so they build a fence around themselves and say, "I'm the only guy who can do this, and I have this special recipe for something or other." People lose sight of the fact that in any business, you're supposed to invest money and assets and put those assets to work to make more money. You have to get income from wages and income from capital. The guy that opens up a vegetable stand or sells pretzels on the corner in New York, he gets it. He gets up in the morning and goes out with the objective of making more money out of what he's investing that morning. He will never have in that little cart anything that is not going to sell. In business we have gotten so sophisticated with these long cycles, and we just allow failure on top of failure to occur. We haven't figured out that anybody has to be measured by their ability to increase value out of shareholders' money. You can get so into the idea of the product, but who cares? It doesn't make any sense, and it's never going to make any money. I try to ground my thinking and my arguments on the realities. Making sure people identify with my principles in very basic terms. If I start talking with models with arrows and with circles, I'm going to lose a lot of people.

barnesandnoble.com:  You also advise business people to watch the world, not just the market. Explain why that's important.

Sergio Zyman:  If I observe you as a consumer and how you are behaving in general terms, I have to know what is affecting your lifestyle. You can use the example of what's going on now for us. How come people are not involved at all in the Kosovo deal? When I hear that people in America are not interested in what's going on over there, I come to the conclusion that there is something more going on there. It deals with prosperity, and how people don't want to hear anything that's not positive in a time when the economy is in great shape. That is something that is affecting the psyche of people. Also, I recently read that George W. Bush had raised in one week more campaign funds than any other politician has raised in three months without a single fund-raiser or dinner. That says to me that people are very interested in having a Republican president. You have to ask, "How will these things affect how I tell people about my product?"

barnesandnoble.com:  In this multimedia age, how do you as a marketer deal with the fact that consumer attention is being dispersed among so many new forms of media?

Sergio Zyman:  It brings up even more the point of The End Of Marketing As We Know It. You have to think anew every day about what you need to do to go talk to your consumers. There are 500 channels, but how many do you watch? I probably watch five. I remember many years ago in the beer business I found out that people in Middle America frequent five outlets -- two supermarkets, one store, and two restaurants. It makes even clearer the point that what you need to do is be clear about what your product is and recognize that the consumer is confused and needs a more targeted message.

barnesandnoble.com:  How are you going to market your own book?

Sergio Zyman:  I'm going to go on a ten-city tour. And I'm going to launch "teomawki.com." What's teomawki? It's not a magical herb. It's an acronym for The End Of Marketing As We Know It.

Read an Excerpt