Up front I will mention that this book really has nothing to do with online marketing, SEO, SEM, or anything else regarding the web. It’s really about understanding your marketing strategy and positioning against competitors.
That said, The Marketing Playbook was written by a couple ex-Microsoft marketing gurus. They were very involved in making Microsoft Windows and Office what they are today, which really gave them credibility and was the main reason I kept reading.
The Marketing Playbook gives an in-depth analysis on five difference strategic marketing “plays.” Each of the “plays” are unique marketing strategies, and companies may find that they fall into any of these five strategies.
The five “plays” are “The Drag Race,” “The Platform Play,” “The Stealth Play,” “The Best of Both Plays” and “The High-Low Play.”
Unfortunately, I won’t spoil it for you by giving a quick description of each because I honestly believe it’s worth the time to read. But I will say that this book was created for anyone looking to create a strategic marketing and sales plan. However, this book only touches on the competitive side of the marketing strategy.
Whenever I read a marketing or business book, I try to draw some assumptions about where I fall and how this information can help the company I work for (Xenium HR). This particular book helped me understand which type of marketing play makes sense for us and what I can do about it going forward.
No one in any situation should go forward without a road map or some sort of strategic plan; a marketing department especially. Read this book before developing next year’s marketing and business plan – I promise it will clarify which path to take if you were already unsure.
Bottom Line
As a fairly quick read, “The Marketing Play” was designed for the Chief Marketing Officer or for the small business owner who wants to understand which competitive marketing play they should use. What I found though, is that Xenium really fell into several “plays,” so don’t take it so literal to the point you feel that you must fall into one type of “play.”
Brandon’s Book Rating: 6.5/10