This Is Marketing — Seth Godin

Hardcover | Portfolio | November 13, 2018

The Gist

A guy who knows a lot about marketing, kind of talks about marketing, but the writing is very disjointed.

Read If You Like

• Books about marketing

• Snarky narrators

• Start with Why by Simon Sinek (although I would recommend this book way more)

The Verdict: Eh, Borrow It

This Is Marketing’s jacket copy boasts a lot of promises by Godin struggles to deliver on them. Godin comes with an impressive resume and has an engaging authorial voice. The book starts with a very clear view of what marketing is and isn’t. At its core, Godin explains, marketing is about helping people solve their problems. However, Godin fails to take his own advice and help his audience. The short and clipped paragraphs make it difficult to gain momentum and the lack of transitions between the paragraphs leaves readers having to puzzle out the connection for themselves (if there is one at all). In that same vein, the overuse of section headers makes it easy for Godin to justify switching gears, but often leaves the prose feeling disjointed. While This Is Marketing misses the mark in execution, there are some valuable knowledge nuggets littered throughout and outlines a list of additional marketing books to read.