Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing, Drayton Bird

5th edition

Published by Kogan Page

Buy it now from Blackwell Books


Drayton is the man!


When it comes to direct (&digital!) marketing, Drayton Bird is the man. At £24.95 this is the bargain book of the century. At £249.50 it would still be a bargain. A top seller for 25 years, this is the definitive tome on the subject.

Why is it so good? Because Drayton knows more than anyone else about the topic, he is a very good writer and he is brutally honest - especially when it comes to his own mistakes.

At over 400 pages this is no lightweight volume. It is virtually a degree course in direct marketing and any reader would do well to treat it as such.

In the first three (of sixteen) chapters we are introduced to D&DM and what it can do for business. The following four chapters deal with the nuts and bolts of the subject; getting started, positioning, planning and the various media, then Chapter Eight covers digital marketing in depth.

Chapter Nine is all about lists (or databases, as they are now almost exclusively known) and Chapters Ten and Eleven will tell all you need to know about ideas and creativity.

From Twelve to Fifteen we learn about testing and agencies – including whether or not you need one – and what to do when it all goes wrong.

And so to the last chapter – predictions! As Niels Bohr once remarked, prediction is tricky, especially if it involves the future. So I will say no more than that his predictions are worth noting.

“No criticisms?” I hear you say, “That’s not like you, Jim.” Oh, okay; some of the plates could be better reproduced.

By the way, if you are interested in marketing training, you might like to Click Here! It will take you to an outfit called Marketing Sphere. I suggest you get the free report before you make any decisions!