Wow! So I’m a new student of marketing. I’ve taken courses, read other books, but I’m still new to the field. I need foundational material, so I checked out this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s simple, straightforward, and leads with practical advice.

Do I feel like a master marketer after this? No, it’s a book, not a master course, BUT, I do feel like it has incredible relevance to the field, and it shares its points with examples that actually help instead of confusing things (I’m looking at you, other popular marketing books).

Definitely check this one out!

R.E.D. Marketing is a must-read for anyone looking to excel in the modern marketing landscape. Some of it may be redundant for more seasoned marketing professionals, but I found it useful and especially appreciated all the illustrations.

With their experience in the industry, the authors provide practical and actionable advice to help businesses thrive. The book's clear and concise writing style makes it accessible to marketers of all levels, while its emphasis on relevance, engagement, and data-driven strategies sets it apart.

R.E.D. Marketing is a valuable resource that will empower marketers to adapt, innovate, and achieve success in today's competitive market.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC to review.

Despite the obvious lack of a good editor (or an editor at all?), R.E.D. Marketing makes a compelling case for using a three-pronged strategy to market commodities. The three parts are Relevance (is it relevant to culture and the marketplace?), Ease (is it easy to recall and access?), and Distinctiveness (does it stand out from the competition in an ownable way?).

As the authors dissect these concepts and illustrate them with entertaining real-life examples, they also knock down a lot of sacred cows. Forget marketer-favorite principles like emotional connection, purpose, segmentation, etc. They go as far as writing, “Don’t worry too much about understanding a consumer deeply, and don’t fret endlessly about what every nuance of their motivation for buying your product might be. It’s a red herring. After all, none of us know what we want. Humans are a mess of conflicting desires and shameful longings.”

Even if the examples they use are far from the work you do (they are from mine!), the essential concepts transfer, and the book offers a lot to think about. Just brace yourself for a lot of redundancies (like reading about their company’s origin story four times in close succession)—the ideas you’ll find in these pages will make the meandering journey worthwhile.

This is a typical business books in so many ways: written by a successful business person or two, traditional business topic (marketing), use of an acronym—but while typical, that doesn’t means it’s bad or without merit. Both authors write with authority, which is evident and explicit (they spend quite a bit of time detailing their resumes and explaining the Collider Lab as well as YUMs marketing history). Overall, the text espouses a useful strategy of creating effective marketing, in an easy to read and logical way.

I was given the chance to review the digital copy of this book, but around chapter 3, I ordered a hardcover copy for highlighting and taking handwritten notes - it was that good. This is the book every marketer needs to get out of the mindset that constant segmenting and optimization is the key to marketing return. First and foremost, you have to have a strong message that communicates your product’s value to your audience in an effective manner that is also consistent with current ideals and communication styles. Relying on outdated marketing tactics is going to eventually fail every time. Most marketing courses lean toward this approach, but once we’re applying our knowledge to the real world in the context of an organization that expects immediate and lucrative return, we tend to get lost in the minutiae of optimization. This book is the perfect reminder to steer marketers back on course.

Sidestep the other marketing books, courses, articles, and even TED talks that offer hypothetical explanations that sound sensible. Embrace the proven, systematic approach of RED Marketing, which the recent CEO and current CMO of Yum! Brands applied to lead Taco Bell and KFC to double digit growth—no PhD required! In 2011, Greg Creed had just been elevated from President to CEO of Taco Bell, a brand in deep distress at the time. It was on his shoulders to turn things around quickly along with co-author and CMO, Ken Muench. Together they developed the R.E.D (Relevance, Ease, Distinctiveness) method. It’s simple methodology does not require complicated terms and a PhD to understand, it’s actually quite simple—marketing works in three very different ways: Relevance—Is it relevant to the marketplace?Ease—Is it easy to access and use?Distinction—Does it stand out from competition?
Combining actual examples from Yum! and other recognizable brands of every size around the world; the latest findings in marketing, neuroscience, and behavioral economics; and the author’s own experience marketing three different brands across 120 countries—your brand can set and achieve a truly breakthrough marketing campaign utilizing R.E.D Marketing.

I learn a lot and enjoy it while also reading this book! Highly recommended!
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for giving me the ARC!

This book is ok. It’s not the worst book I’ve ever read on marketing, but it also kind of reads like a sales pitch, which is not really what I want from a book that claims to be educational. A lot of the examples are specifically Taco Bell (since that’s the brand the author worked on) so if you’re in a similar market, this would give you some good insights.

The book claims to throw out old marketing practices and replace them with the new R.E.D. method, but a lot of this method is just renaming and adapting the old methods to a more modern market. This is fine, but it’s not really bringing anything new to the table. For example, instead of focusing on a product’s purpose, we’re going to focus on how a customer uses it. However in the next section, we explore the how serving different purposes (called Category Use Ocassions) expands the markets we can target. It’s a nuanced change but not the overhaul the book claims. I also get a little hesitant when books use Nike, Apple, and Tesla as their main examples of cultural relevance. That’s the low-hanging fruit that anyone could talk about, I’m expecting something a little less mainstream from a CMOs and marketing experts.

The qualitative research section was interesting and gave some concrete ideas for how to get the right information out of focus groups. The section about choosing multiple Category Use Occasions was also interesting but depended a lot on instinct, which the authors concede can easily be wrong.

Overall, the book doesn’t really bring anything new to the table but it is nicely written and could be a good intro to someone who hasn’t worked in the marketing field for very long.

Interesting book on marketing strategy in FMCG sector. The good part of any marketing is the strategy of how you will implement and actions that will lead to the execution to the mail goal of growth of the business and increased brand awareness.