It is hardly a coincidence that the former chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company, Mr Sergio Zyman, chose a book title very close to that jingly REM song, It's The End Of The World As We Know It. Like all good jingles, it stays in your head. You might find it irritating, but you cannot ignore it.
At least that is probably the way he would like to see it. The End Of Marketing As We Know It is one of these gung-ho American business books that gushes with over-the-top self-confidence. This is the guy who was responsible for New Coke, one of the biggest marketing flops ever, - and he's still proud of it.
Mr Zyman's thesis is that marketing as we know it is dead. As proof, he offers the argument that the marketing budget is the first to be cut when profits nosedive.
Mr Zyman says that marketing is not magic, or arty. It is a serious discipline that must be about one thing and one thing only - "selling stuff".
Award-winning advertising campaigns are not where it's at. Mr Zyman doesn't have a problem with his Attila the Hun nickname "because Attila was a results-oriented guy".
Successful marketing people need to know what makes people tick in order to sell their products. When Tony Blair swept the boards in Britain he did so by promising change without promoting anything specific.
"We took our lead from Blair and changed our advertising and promotions, and it worked for us as well."
Faced with the problem of shifting "stuff" during Ramadan, when muslims don't eat or drink during the day, Coca-Cola gave its advertising a night-time orientation. There are 1.2 billion muslims in the world so even a tiny increase in sales could make a significant difference.
The End Of Marketing As We Know It is peppered with sound observations from a master of the trade and is an easy, entertaining read. However, Mr Zyman never gets round to proving why his back-to-basics message should be accepted as gospel by marketing people. He's so pleased with himself that he does not even bother to try.
jmulqueen@irish-times.ie
