In 1988, on Stephen Kings retirement JWT published The King Papers a small collection of Stephen Kings published writings spanning 1967-1985. They remain timelessly potentially valuable but are an almost unexploited gold mine. This book is comprised of a selection of 20-25 of Stephen Kings most important articles, each one introduced by a known and respected practitioner who, in turn, describes the relevance of the particular original idea to the communications environment of today. The worth of this material is that, although the context in which the original papers were written is different, the principles themselves are appropriate to marketing communications in todays more complex media environment. The book will serve as a valuable reference book for todays practitioners, as well as a unique source of sophisticated, contemporary thinking. It is likely that the book will become a classic in the same vein as the best selling Ogilvy on Advertising. Reviews: I was lucky enough to know Stephen King for a barely believable 60 years. There are hundreds of us around the world who know how much we learned from him, how much we owe him and how much we relished his company. There are thousands more who heard him speak and who read his papers and who keep them still. Jeremy Bullmore, WPP In a world of greasers and drama queens, Stephen King was the still small voice of reason. Ever polite and ever intelligent, his analysis provided real insights. We all learned from him and this book should enable many more to do so. Tim Ambler, London Business School Martin Meyer, the well-known investigative journalist, described the present-day American advertising business more accurately than any other writer. He did this in his book Whatever Happened to Madison Avenue? Advertising in the 90s. I quote from page 191: Thompson in London had become what Ogilvy was the first to call a teaching hospital, where the researcher Stephen King developed philosophies of branding that were carried to America by John Philip Jones and Timothy Joyce. My first book, Whats In a Name? Advertising and the Concept of Brands (1st edition, 1987; 2nd edition, 2003), was derived essentially from Stephen Kings work. His concept of branding was seminal, and my book developed it in an American context. There is very little doubt today that branding is at the top of most marketing professionals minds in this country. John Philip Jones, Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, USA ‘What is a Brand?’ by Stephen King and Jeremy Bullmore, was one of the most influential pieces of work ever and has had a lasting influence on the way in which I think about brands. A few years ago I had the extraordinary experience of re-visiting the video in the company of its two protagonists and the stunning thing was how prescient they had been some thirty years previously. Indeed just about the only thing they had not foreseen was the internet – everything else they got right.” Hamish Pringle, Director General, IPA
Book Details:
- Author: Judie Lannon
- ISBN: 9780470468432
- Year Published: 2008
- Pages: 396
- BISAC: BUS058000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Sales & Selling / General
About the Book and Topic:
In 1988, on Stephen Kings retirement JWT published The King Papers a small collection of Stephen Kings published writings spanning 1967-1985. They remain timelessly potentially valuable but are an almost unexploited gold mine. This book is comprised of a selection of 20-25 of Stephen Kings most important articles, each one introduced by a known and respected practitioner who, in turn, describes the relevance of the particular original idea to the communications environment of today. The worth of this material is that, although the context in which the original papers were written is different, the principles themselves are appropriate to marketing communications in todays more complex media environment. The book will serve as a valuable reference book for todays practitioners, as well as a unique source of sophisticated, contemporary thinking. It is likely that the book will become a classic in the same vein as the best selling Ogilvy on Advertising. Reviews: I was lucky enough to know Stephen King for a barely believable 60 years. There are hundreds of us around the world who know how much we learned from him, how much we owe him and how much we relished his company. There are thousands more who heard him speak and who read his papers and who keep them still. Jeremy Bullmore, WPP In a world of greasers and drama queens, Stephen King was the still small voice of reason. Ever polite and ever intelligent, his analysis provided real insights. We all learned from him and this book should enable many more to do so. Tim Ambler, London Business School Martin Meyer, the well-known investigative journalist, described the present-day American advertising business more accurately than any other writer. He did this in his book Whatever Happened to Madison Avenue? Advertising in the 90s. I quote from page 191: Thompson in London had become what Ogilvy was the first to call a teaching hospital, where the researcher Stephen King developed philosophies of branding that were carried to America by John Philip Jones and Timothy Joyce. My first book, Whats In a Name? Advertising and the Concept of Brands (1st edition, 1987; 2nd edition, 2003), was derived essentially from Stephen Kings work. His concept of branding was seminal, and my book developed it in an American context. There is very little doubt today that branding is at the top of most marketing professionals minds in this country. John Philip Jones, Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, USA ‘What is a Brand?’ by Stephen King and Jeremy Bullmore, was one of the most influential pieces of work ever and has had a lasting influence on the way in which I think about brands. A few years ago I had the extraordinary experience of re-visiting the video in the company of its two protagonists and the stunning thing was how prescient they had been some thirty years previously. Indeed just about the only thing they had not foreseen was the internet – everything else they got right.” Hamish Pringle, Director General, IPA
Stephen King was a genuinely original thinker, as well known to practitioners in the field of advertising strategy as David Ogilvy was to a wider lay public. He began his career in JWT (J. Walter Thompson) in London in 1959, retired from the agency in 1988 and spent the next 4 yeas at WPP. In addition, he spent 7 years as a director of the Henley Centre and was a Visiting Professor of Marketing at the Cranfield School of Management. During his career, he pioneered an entirely new organizational structure to support his ideas and philosophy the role of the account planner and the account planning department – a structure that was copied by agencies around the world. Stephen died in February 2006, leaving a legacy of articles and books about marketing, advertising and brand communications written over a thirty year period, which have influenced advertising people around the world. He is remembered as the leading intellectual figure in the world of communications strategy.
· PLATFORM FOR THE BOOK: An introduction by Jeremy Bullmore, and edited by Judie Lannon, Editor of Market Leader (the Journal of the Marketing Society) and Merry Baskin, one of the advertising industrys top planning directors, trainers and commentators in the area of account planning. · CONTEMPORARY THINKING: Unique commentary from leading thinkers and practitioners from within the advertising industry, each chosen on the basis of their interest and reputation in a particular area of marketing communications, and each with significant reputations, credibility and influence. INTERNATIONAL APPEAL: Stephen Kings reputation travels worldwide. The content of his work is not only timeless, but boundary-less too.
About the Author
Judie Lannon is a Marketing Communications and Research Consultant, having set up her own planning and research consultancy in 1991. She is Editor of Market Leader, the journal of the Marketing Society and Features Editor of the International Journal of Advertising as well as being a frequent speaker/lecturer at international conferences and business schools (International Herald Tribune, CAPA, London Business School, INSEAD, Wharton Business School, Utrecht HEs top planning directors (including running the UKs largest planning department at JWT and Americas coolest at Chiat/Day New York), founded her own strategic planning consultancy, Baskin Shark (where brands move forward or die!) in 2000. She is a partner in Express Train, a group providing training for the advertising and marketing industry. She remains one of the leading lights behind the renaissance and expansion of the Account Planning Group (APG) both in the UK and overseas (UK Chairman 1998-2000). She is a winner of two consecutive IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Effectiveness Awards (96/98), the Market Research Society Conference/Incorporated Society of British Advertisers Best Paper in 2001 and several US Effies (86/88/97). She has been extensively published: as co-editor and contributing author to an APG book called Brand New Brand Thinking.