Tom Messner's reading light...

Last year at this time, Euro RSCG New York partner and Adweek columnist Tom Messner shared a brilliant reading list with us, presenting his harvest of the best marketing and advertising books published in recent history. Among the 28 titles recommended, you may find the perfect gift for a business colleague or associate -- or perhaps something for your own stocking. Be sure to check-out the original story linked above for the footnotes....

. Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career in Advertising
. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
. The Future of Men: The Rise of the Ubersexual and What He Means for Marketing Today
. And Now a Few Words From Me : Advertising's Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and For All
. Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands
. Leap! A Revolution in Creative Business Strategy
. Absolut Sequel: The Absolut Advertising Story Continues
. The Brand Gap: Revised Edition (2nd Edition)
. Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning
. Whatever Happened to Madison Avenue: Advertising in the '90s
. Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth About Bullshit
. The New Positioning: The Latest on the World's #1 Business Strategy
. Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld
. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word: The Ultimate Resource on How to Write Powerful Advertising Copy from One of America's Top Copywriters and Mail Order Entrepreneurs
. Brand Portfolio Strategy: Creating Relevance, Differentiation, Energy, Leverage, and Clarity
. Brandscendence: Three Essential Elements of Enduring Brands
. Ordinary Advertising. And How To Avoid It Like The Plague.
. BRAND sense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound
. The Advertised Mind: Ground-Breaking Insights Into How Our Brains Respond to Advertising
. The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: How to Trigger Exponential Sales Through Runaway Word of Mouth
. The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers
. Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff
. Brain Tattoos: Creating Unique Brands That Stick in Your Customers' Minds
. Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising
. The Power of the Obvious
. The Pawnshop Chronicles
. The Breakaway Brand: How Great Brands Stand Out
. Knock the Hustle: How to Save Your Job and Your Life from Corporate America

Thank you for the recommendations, Mr. Messner!

Crushed over James Kim news...

I've "known" CNET's James Kim ever since I jumped into the high-tech news world at The Terpin Group in 1999. So many of us have been following the story since it was announced earlier this week that James and his family were missing. We learned that his wife and daughters were rescued... read about the ordeal and the moments before James took off to go try to find help... the rescue of the girls... the tracking of James... the pants.... Earlier today, we readers easily imagined James coming through, and then having one helluva story for the rest of his life -- which certainly would have been a joyous and spectacular one. And now, instead, I am left admiring this guy -- this solid father, husband and human being -- so greatly, and feeling his loss so poignantly. Mr. Kim -- you will be sorely missed, and forever admired. Please rest in peace, knowing that the many people around the world who knew and loved you will embrace your family in your honor....

Second thoughts....

When I set up a profile on MySpace earlier this year, I quickly found one of the more hip friends I have in the world, Steph Jorgl. When I sent her a note and a friend invite, she wrote back, "Welcome to MySpace! When will you be joining Second Life? I'm Steph Radio there...." With that introduction to Second Life (SL), although I have yet to join the fray, I have been watching the many developments inside the online 3D digital world with interest. And discussing SL with an 18-year-old friend over the Thanksgiving holiday, he had one word to describe it: "Crazy."


Thanks to MarketingVOX for their amazing recent story on how entrepreneur Anshe Chung has made over a million dollars from her initial $9.95 investment to open a SL account. That story, the May issue of Business Week it alludes to where Chung's avatar graces the cover , and the Nov. 17 Financial Times feature from James Harkin make it very clear that anyone interested in the intersections of marketing, science, entertainment and technology needs to bone-up on SL. With that in mind, I highly recommend this feature from Ian Schafer on ClickZ entitled "Second Guessing Second Life." Ian provides a great overview of SL's economics and key statistics, as well as a great user's guide written from a savvy marketing perspective. May we cross virtual paths again very soon, Steph Radio, before you ride off to the next next thing....

Let's change the world today...

Today is World AIDS Day... and as made clear in these words from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, today's mission demands that each of us take part: "Accountability -- the theme of this World AIDS Day -- requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that 'AIDS stops with me'... But accountability applies not only to those who hold positions of power. It also applies to all of us... And it requires every one of us help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death."


You may already know about (RED) -- the innovative, private-sector initiative launched in January of this year to enlist leading companies to channel a percentage of profits to assist in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which kills three million people every year. The money generated by the sale of (RED) products supports Global Fund-financed programs which positively impact the lives of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases. The Global Fund has so far committed US$4.6 billion to 385 programs in 131 countries. Around half of the funding is being spent on medicines, mosquito nets to prevent malaria and other products, while the other half is for strengthening health services. Already substantial results have been achieved, with 384,000 people having been supported with treatment for HIV/AIDS, 1 million people having received TB treatment and more than 7.7 million families having received insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria. For more information on the work of the Global Fund or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit www.theglobalfund.org.

(RED) sales in the US have so far raised enough money to: provide more than 40,000 men or women with ARV treatment for a year (note: these treatments are only a small portion of a person’s overall treatment and represent just one year of lifelong treatment); or provide more than 2 million peer educators with HIV training; or provide a year’s worth of school materials and daily hot meals for more than 86,000 children orphaned by AIDS; or provide more than 1 million Rapid Tests which detect HIV and deliver instant test results. Please visit (RED) to read about partners and take advantage of their offers, to learn more about the organization, Global Fund and World AIDS Day, and to watch Bono's message for World AIDS Day.

Today, please take at least one action to help turn the tide for those suffering from AIDS in Africa. We can make a difference!