June 2023 MBR The Business Shelf

The Business Shelf

A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising
Shailin Dhar, author
Scott Thomson, author
Kogan Page Inc.
www.koganpage.com
9781398609693, $126.00, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Marketers-Guide-Digital-Advertising-Transparency/dp/1398609692

Synopsis: With contradictory rules surrounding data privacy, measurement constraints, changes to supply chains and other complexities often too difficult to approach, the world of marketing is more complex than ever before. With the publication of "A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising: Transparency, Metrics and Money", co-authors Shailin Dhar and Scott Thomson will help marketers navigate the complicated world of digital advertising by diving into the metrics, money and technology fueling the marketing industry.

In "A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising", digital advertising consultants Shailin Dhar and Scott Thomson collaborate to outline the forces shaping the current digital landscape and the common responses from advertisers trying to design their digital strategy. Walking readers through the common missteps made within digital advertising, they provide useful insight into measurement and thoughtful alternatives to practices often found lower on a company's priorities list.

"A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising" offers ways to minimize waste and improve outcomes for brands and their business partners. It also illuminates the gap between in-house marketing teams, agency professionals and tech partners whilst helping readers make sense of the way money flows through the global ad industry.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of an eight page Glossary, a listing of the authors and their credentials, and a ten page Index, "A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising: Transparency, Metrics and Money" is an ideal textbook on the subject of digital marketing and a well advised addition to personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Direct Marketing and Web Marketing instructional reference collections. It should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "A Marketer's Guide to Digital Advertising: Transparency, Metrics and Money" is also available in a paperback edition (9781398609662, $39.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $37.99).

Editorial Note #1: Shailin Dhar (https://goldendrum.com/speakers/shailin-dhar) is the founding partner of Method Media Intelligence (MMI), a measurement consultancy and technology provider. A board member for the Programmatic & Data Center at IAB, he previously served as Chief Strategist for Adsiduous Media, Director of Business Development at Darcher Media and Business Development and Operations Manager at DOL Marketing. Dhar is a media, web-technology and ad-technology expert who is focused on helping companies confirm digital ad efficacy, secure validity, evaluate viewability and support brand safety. He is based in New York City, NY.

Editorial Note #2: Scott Thomson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottrst) is a partner at Method Media Intelligence (MMI), a measurement consultancy and technology provider. After working with a Ministry of Defence contractor in the UK, helping design user-friendly control systems, he has spent over two and a half decades with companies like Publicis, Nielsen, Media Audits, Naked Communications and Dentsu. He helps brands devise, design and measure successful marketing strategies, and he has helped numerous global brands take on the challenges currently plaguing the advertising industry today. He is based in London, UK.

Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation
Michael Lenox
Stanford Business Books
c/o Stanford University Press
www.sup.org
9781503635197, $26.00, HC, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Digital-Age-Mastering-Transformation/dp/1503635198

Synopsis: In today's business environment, digital transformation is much more than building a digital infrastructure to gather and process data. It's about understanding how digital technologies enable the creation of innovative services and products. It is also about identifying new competitive positions and business models and thinking critically about how to both create and capture value.

With the publication of "Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation", by strategy expert Michael Lenox directly engages these concerns and provides a comprehensive roadmap for planning a successful digital strategy and executing a digital transformation in organizations.

Covering major topics such as big tech, data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, autonomy, cybersecurity, data privacy, and antitrust, "Strategy in the Digital Age" outlines a set of novel, original frameworks to help those undertaking digital transformation at their organization devise their strategy. Readers will also come away with a greater understanding of how to navigate the human dimension of digital transformation and tackle the numerous social and policy challenges raised by digital technology.

With insights from major companies such as Spotify, Facebook, and Uber, Lenox delivers a compelling volume that offers both a foundational understanding of this dynamic environment and an action plan for those seeking a path to digital strategy implementation for their organization.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a number of figures, a ten page Glossary, twelve pages of Notes, and a ten page Index, "Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation" will have a special value for anyone with an interest in the evolving impact on corporate and business competition and management in the Digital Age of automation and robotics. While also available for personal reading lists of MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject in a digital book format (Kindle, $21.99), "Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation" is unreservedly recommended as a core addition to community, corporate, and academic library Contemporary Business Management collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Michael Lenox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lenox) is the Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. He is the coauthor of The Decarbonization Imperative: Transforming the Global Economy by 2050 (Stanford, 2021) and Can Business Save the Earth: Innovating Our Way to Sustainability (Stanford, 2018).

The Content Strategy Toolkit
Meghan Casey
New Riders
c/o Peachpit Press
https://www.peachpit.com
9780134105109, $34.99, PB, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Content-Strategy-Toolkit-Guidelines-Templates/dp/0134105109

Synopsis: "The Content Strategy Toolkit, The: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right" is an essential guide in which Meghan Casey outlines a step-by-step approach for doing content strategy, from planning and creating your content to delivering and managing it.

With "The Content Strategy Toolkit", as a DIY instructional guide and 'how-to' manual, you can confidently tackle difficult activities like telling your boss or client what's wrong with their content, getting the budget to do content work, and aligning stakeholders on a common vision.

Reading The Content Strategy Toolkit is like having your own personal consulting firm on retainer with a complete array of tools and tips for every challenge you'll face, including:

Identifying problems with your content and persuade your bosses it's worth the time and resources to do it right; Making sense of your business environment and understand your audience; Getting stakeholders aligned on business goals and user needs; Setting your content strategy and decide how to measure success; Creating, maintaining, and governing on-strategy content. -- You'll learn to control your content and not have that content control you.

Critique: A complete and comprehensive course of methodical DIY instruction, "The Content Strategy Toolkit, The: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right" is exceptionally 'user friendly' in organization and presentation. Highly recommended for professional, college and university library Computer Science & Technology collections, and while readily available for personal and professional reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.39), "The Content Strategy Toolkit" will have a special value for anyone with an interest in Content Management, Computer Graphics, and Software Design.

Editorial Note: Meghan Casey (https://www.braintraffic.com/authors/meghan-casey) is the lead content strategist at Brain Traffic, the world's leading agency devoted exclusively to content. She helps a wide variety of clients (startups, nonprofits, colleges and universities, Fortune 50 companies, and everything in between) to solve the messy content problems most organizations encounter every day. She has also helped The Nerdery, a software development shop, build content strategy into their User Experience practice. Meghan is a regular trainer and speaker on content strategy topics and once inspired workshop participants to do the wave.

Spark the Heart: Engineering Empathy in Your Organization
Dr. Nicole Price
Forbes Books
18 Broad Street, Suite 300, Charleston, SC 29401
https://books.forbes.com
9798887500966, $27.99, HC, 200pp

https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Heart-Engineering-Empathy-Organization/dp/B0BHNZ4WST

Synopsis: One of the fundamental responsibilities of corporate managers is how to leverage the benefits of empathy to get the results wanted for their company.

The idea that there was no place for empathy in business was a belief that Dr. Nicole Price, (a logical, results-focused engineer) held onto tightly, until a cascade of life-altering events provided her a new perspective. A perspective that recognized empathy as a critical skill that every leader must develop and employ to achieve success.

Dr. Price's empathetic leadership journey has been a multi-year process, one that continues today, and one that she willingly shares with the publication of "Spark the Heart: Engineering Empathy in Your Organization".

Dr. Price dispels common empathy myths including the notions that: Empathy is a trait that you're born with or not (everyone can develop the skill of empathy); Empathy requires you to take on the other person's beliefs and values (empathy is understanding why another person believes what they believe and values what they value, even if it's different from your own); Empathy means you don't have accountability, high expectations, or stretch goals (empathy can fuel expectations and aspirations in new ways).

Empathy and accountability can and should exist in tandem.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Spark the Heart: Engineering Empathy in Your Organization" provides clear actionable steps for beginning a personal empathy journey or bolstering an existing empathy practice. For corporate leaders and ready to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between themselves and those they choose to lead and to leverage that understanding for greater success, "Spark the Heart" is available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) and is a solid, practical, and highly recommended addition to professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business Management, Leadership, and Motivational collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Trained as an engineer, Dr. Nicole Price (https://drnicoleprice.com) later found her true calling: Leadership Development. As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, training leader, and as the CEO of Lively Paradox, Price believes that leadership is personal and requires a balance of empathy and accountability.

Decision Sprint
Atif Rafiq
McGraw Hill Professional
www.mhprofessional.com
9781264609598, $28.00, HC, 304pp

https://www.amazon.com/Decision-Sprint-Innovate-Strategy-Action/dp/1264609590

Synopsis: Managing a business has become dramatically more complex and uncertain in our modern era. Constant exploration of new territory by teams is the name of the game. Yet most companies are stuck with yesterday's approach to problem solving. Problem solving needs to be reinvented to meet today's challenges. The future of business depends on it.

Having reached the highest levels of the Fortune 500, digital disrupter Atif Rafiq has written "Decision Sprint: The New Way to Innovate into the Unknown and Move from Strategy to Action" in order to pull the curtain back on the hidden management systems within your organization that impact how people think, collaborate, and make decisions.

Talent is vital to any company's advancement, but it's the collaboration and problem solving systems that separate industry leaders from the rest. Systems designed to embrace unknowns are the quickest, most enduring way to foster growth, continuous innovation, and results. Learn how teams begin with upstream work (the phase of a promising idea or initiative where the unknowns predominate) to problem solve anything, thus unlocking downstream actions from alignment to decision making to execution.

With Rafiq's guidance, you will overtake your competitors by moving upstream, embracing workflows that convert unknowns to clear recommendations, alignment, and action. In addition, you'll receive direct advice from the CEOs/presidents of H&R Block, Volvo, Peacock, Restaurant Brands, Orange Theory Fitness, among others and learn from in-depth case studies such as Amazon's disruption of publishing, the massive digital transformation of McDonald's, the secret of launch of Apple Pay, Volvo's push for sustainability, and more.

Critique: A complete and comprehensive course of DIY instruction, "Decision Sprint: The New Way to Innovate into the Unknown and Move from Strategy to Action" is essential reading for anyone in charge of corporate or entrepreneurial decision making/problem solving. While also available for the personal reading lists of MBA students, academia, corporate executives, business managers, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99), "Decision Sprint" is unreservedly recommended as a core addition to professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business Leadership & Management collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Atif Rafiq has blazed trails in Silicon Valley and the Fortune 500 for over 25 years. After rising through digital native companies like Amazon, Yahoo!, and AOL, Atif held C-suite roles at McDonald's, Volvo, and MGM Resorts. Rafiq was the first Chief Digital Officer in the history of the Fortune 500, a pioneering role he held at McDonalds, and he rose to the president level in the Fortune 300.

Sparking Success
Adam Kingl
Kogan Page Inc.
www.koganpage.com
9781398609600, $56.00, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sparking-Success-Develop-Creative-Mindset/dp/1398609609

Synopsis: Contemporary studies show that 80% of people feel an increasing pressure to be productive rather than creative at work. "Sparking Success: Why Every Leader Needs to Develop a Creative Mindset" by Adam Kingl not only demonstrates how a creative mindset can be instilled in your business; it also highlights how creativity is a hugely valuable tool for productivity and innovation.

Whether you're running a small team or a multinational corporation, the art of leadership has transformed dramatically. The traditional approaches to corporate leadership lack the innovation and fluidity required for success in modern-day disruptive markets. In order to succeed, you need to spark a creative outlook that will allow you to adapt to fast-moving trends and innovations.

"Sparking Success" investigates the leaders and businesses across a range of industries who are effectively adopting a creative mindset. From media powerhouses such as Netflix and Disney to major manufacturers such as Bosch and Panasonic, "Sparking Success" clarifies the importance of creativity and innovation for business leaders across all sectors.

Each of the core chapters comprising "Sparking Success" poses a challenge or opportunity that will trigger an innovative mindset, before providing insights from notable leaders who have overcome creative challenges. "Sparking Success" is a groundbreaking leadership guide which highlights an innovative approach that will build you into a dynamic, creative and empathetic leader.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Sparking Success: Why Every Leader Needs to Develop a Creative Mindset" in an invaluable source of 'real world' relevant information, insight, and instruction for maximizing employee productivity and success that is unreservedly recommended as essential reading for corporate executives and business managers. While highly recommended for professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business Leadership/Motivation collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of MBA students, academia, management leadership, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Sparking Success" is also available in a paperback edition (9781398609587, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.39).

Editorial Note: Adam Kingl (https://adamkingl.com) is an author, speaker, educator and adviser. He specializes in the areas of leadership creativity, innovation and adaptability. His previous book, Next Generation Leadership (HarperCollins, 2020) was focused on the work and leadership paradigms of millennials. Adam also holds the position of adjunct faculty member at the University College London School of Management and at Hult Ashridge Business School. He is also an instructor at Imperial College London, Sauder Business School, the Irish Management Institute at University College Cork, and at Headspring Executive Development (a joint venture between the IE Business School and the Financial Times). He is an Associate of the Moller Leadership Institute at Churchill College, the University of Cambridge.

WINX
Irma Parone
WINX Publishing
https://paronegroup.com
9798986196923, $24.99, HC, 182pp

https://www.amazon.com/WINX-Problem-Solving-Exponentially-Customers-Employees/dp/B0B6XJJRM7

Synopsis: With the publication of "WINX: The Problem-Solving Model to Win Exponentially with Customers, Employees and Your Bottom Line", author and leadership consultant Irma Parone presents an ultimate 4-X award-winning business guide and reveals a proven action plan for leveling up your organization and applying WINX to your business challenges.

With a practical and down-to-earth approach, this book helps aspiring and established business owners develop a thriving WINX-based culture and maximize their bottom line through easy-to-implement strategies.

"WINX" offers: The revolutionary 8-Step WINX process to transform your organization; Illuminates new ways to look at problem-solving (and how to tackle challenges big and small);
Presents: 'The Art of Evaluation' (How to know if your solution will just make things worse.); and showcases tips and tricks for managing your team and surrounding yourself with those who want you to succeed -- and so much more!

Critique: Exceptionally well written, and informatively organized and presented, "WINX: The Problem-Solving Model to Win Exponentially with Customers, Employees, & Your Bottom Line" is a compendium pertinent real-life stories and as well as tried-and-tested strategies, offering a framework that is particularly ideal for both small and medium sized businesses, as well as national and international companies. Simply stated, "WINX" is essential reading for entrepreneurs, managers, business leaders, CEOs. While highly recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business/Personnel Management collections, it should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "WINX" is also available in a paperback edition ($18.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).

Editorial Note: Irma Parone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOLNHsuHYzw) is the CEO of the Parone Group and a seasoned businesswoman with over 20 years of experience, Irma knows first-hand how challenging it can be to build and maintain a successful business. She aims to provide actionable advice that will radically reshape the way you tackle problems within your organization, so you can win more customers, empower happy employees, and scale your income.

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