Kotler on Marketing

For more than three decades, Philip Kotler has been the authority on marketing for business grad students around the world. (His seven textbooks on various aspects of the topic are available in 18 languages in 58 countries, for example, while his seminal Marketing Management is considered the most widely used volume among all MBAs.) Even with all these publications, and a consultation/seminar practice aligned with firms such as AT&T, IBM, Michelin, Shell, and Merck, Kotler never committed to paper his popular theories concerning the ways in which executives and their managers should approach their real-life marketing programs. Until, that is, Kotler on Marketing. Comprehensive yet clear, this new compendium finally synthesizes Kotler's vast experiences and proven ideas into a single accessible resource. Three meaty initial sections address a series of strategic, tactical, and administrative concerns, ranging from identifying opportunities and building brand equity to utilizing outside intelligence and evaluating performance. A brief fourth part titled Transformational Marketing" offers Kotler's perspective on "the revolutionary impact on the marketplace and marketing practice of the new technologies … and new media" including the Internet, fax machines, sales-automation software, cable TV, videoconferencing, and "personal newspapers."

• Part One: Strategic Marketing
1. Building Profitable Businesses Through World-Class Marketing
2. Using Marketing to Understand, Create, Communicate, and Deliver Value
3. Identifying Market Opportunities and Developing Targeted Value Offerings
4. Developing Value Propositions and Building Brand Equity
• Part Two: Tactical Marketing
5. Developing and Using Market Intelligence
6. Designing the Marketing Mix
7. Acquiring, Retaining, and Growing Customers
8. Designing and Delivering More Customer Value
• Part Three: Administrative Marketing
1. Planning and Organizing for More Effective Marketing
2. Evaluating and Controlling Marketing Performance
• Part Four: Transformational Marketing
1. Adapting to the New Age of Electronic Marketing
• Appendix
• Characteristics, Success Strategies, and Marketing Department Roles in Different Types of Industrial Businesses

A very good and easily understood primer on what marketing is (or should be, depending on viewpoint). Kotler doesn't present any new stuff in this book, regardless of what the subtitle might imply. But he presents what marketing is as well as its scientific foundations and connects this with practical tips to make a very good case for his viewpoint on the subject.

Nothing to be overly exited about, but well worth reading, especially if you really want to understand what marketing is all about.