Library
Books that have shaped how I think about marketing, systems, and business. Primary sources over summaries. Research over opinions.
Marketing Science
How Brands Grow
Byron Sharp
The foundational text on evidence-based marketing. Challenges most of what the industry believes about how brands actually grow.
How Brands Grow Part 2
Byron Sharp and Jenni Romaniuk
Expands on the original with additional research on emerging markets, services, and B2B contexts.
Building Distinctive Brand Assets
Jenni Romaniuk
The definitive work on how brands become recognizable and why distinctiveness matters more than differentiation.
Better Brand Health
Jenni Romaniuk
How to measure and track brand health in ways that actually connect to business outcomes.
Eat Your Greens
Wiemer Snijders (editor)
Practical applications of marketing science principles. Essays from practitioners applying the research.
Systems Thinking
Thinking in Systems
Donella Meadows
The classic introduction to systems thinking. Essential for understanding how systems behave and why they fail.
The Goal
Eliyahu Goldratt
Theory of Constraints applied to manufacturing, but the principles apply broadly to any operational system.
The Design of Everyday Things
Don Norman
How to design systems that people can actually use. The principles apply well beyond product design.
Business Strategy
Good Strategy Bad Strategy
Richard Rumelt
The best book on strategy I have read. Clarifies what strategy actually is and is not.
The Effective Executive
Peter Drucker
Still relevant decades later. Focuses on what actually matters for getting things done.
High Output Management
Andy Grove
Operational management from someone who built and ran Intel. Practical and direct.
Research and Evidence
The Long and the Short of It
Les Binet and Peter Field
Analysis of IPA Effectiveness Awards data on what makes marketing work. Essential for understanding brand vs. activation.
Effectiveness in Context
Les Binet and Peter Field
Updated analysis with more recent data. Shows how the patterns have evolved.
Media in Focus
Les Binet and Peter Field
Analysis of media effectiveness. Useful for understanding how different channels actually perform.
This list is selective rather than comprehensive. These are books that have genuinely shaped my thinking, not everything I have read.
For how I apply these ideas, see the essays and marketing science sections.