CATEGORY

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." --Howard Rothman