Overview
Main description
"With solid credentials supporting him (as chief marketing strategist at Bridge Worldwide, a large
advertising agency), Gilbreath lays out his ideas about a marketing strategy he calls 'meaningful
marketing.' He defines meaningful marketing as the 'marketing itself add[ing] value to peoples’ lives.'
Insisting that traditional marketing is now out-of-date because the consuming public has grown
sophisticated in avoiding regular marketing strategies ('Most traditional advertising is meaningless,' he
says), he is a great proponent of marketing that offers consumers actual things to put to practical use,
which then, in turn, makes the best advertising for the company that is supplying those services. He cites
the 'best historical example' of marketing with meaning as the Michelin tire company, which, way back
when, produced the first-ever car-travel guide to France. From there Gilbreath presents, essentially, a how to:
outlining a model for developing meaningful marketing and then explaining, with many useful case
examples, how it can be tailored to any company, large or small. An essential addition to comprehensive
business collections." --Brad Hooper, Booklist
Table of contents
PART ONE: What is MEAN IT! Marketing?
Chapter 1: What Mean It! Marketing Can Do (for Your Customers, Your Bottom Line, and the World)
Chapter 2: Give the People What They Want: What Makes Marketing Meaningful
Chapter 3: “I Need Money, Time, and Information”: Meaningful Solutions
Chapter 4: “I Want My 15 Minutes of Fame… and I Want Others to Know About It”: Meaningful Connections
Chapter 5: “Help Me Change My World”: Meaningful Achievements
PART TWO: How to Implement MEAN IT!
Chapter 6: Start at the End: What Do You Hope to Accomplish?
Chapter 7: Just Ask: Discovering What Keeps People Up at Night, and Gets Them Out of Bed in the Morning
Chapter 8: Ideate, Rank, Repeat: Gauging the Meaning of Your Marketing
Chapter 9: Measure It: Evaluating the Success of Your Meaningful Marketing
Chapter 10: MEAN IT! Marketing at Work: From Early Adopters to Hall-of-Famers
Epilogue
Author comments
Bob Gilbreath is chief marketing strategist
at Bridge Worldwide, one of the largest global
digital ad agencies. He has worked with
some of the world’s largest marketers,
including Procter & Gamble, Johnson &
Johnson, Anheuser-Busch, and Ford. He
currently leads digital strategy work for clients
such as Kroger, Abbott, Luxottica, and
ConAgra Foods. Bob was recognized by Advertising
Age as one of the Top 50 Marketers
of 2004. Bridge Worldwide headquarters are
located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
