When the publisher asked me if I wanted to review "Profitable Marketing Communications: A Guide to Marketing Return on Investment" at first I declined the offer, fearing it could have been a book all about numbers and calculations. The publisher of course insisted and explained me the idea I was getting from the title was wrong. So in the end I accepted, and now I'm glad I did it.

Working in brand communications ROI is a word I almost don't know or better, I try to avoid as much as possible. It's a silly thing, as I always preach that it's important to have a 360 marketing approach, but when I see numbers and calculations I just can't help it, I don't know if you feel the same... it's a sort of allergy, an allergy I would have to cure if I want to improve in my job. Ok, but now let's talk about the book… First of all, I confirm that the idea I got from the title was wrong. I have no problem admitting it, but maybe I have the doubt the publisher didn't make the right choice in choosing it.

Reading Profitable Marketing Communications it's like doing your homework. It's not a ground-breaking book, but it sums up all the things you should keep in mind when you work in brand comm. Probably it's an obvious thing, but marketing it's not only about branding and awareness, and even if this is what we're asked to do in our daily jobs, it's important to stay open minded and remember that there are other tools to make our message stronger, more integrated or simply consistent.

I never studied advertising at university, and even if I did, I think nobody would have told me the history of the agencies who made the history of advertising. I'm not even sure there is a school book telling the history of this fascinating world. So I was very interested when Kogan Page sent me a copy of "Adland – a global history of advertising" written by Mark Tungate, a journalist and a copywriter I indirectly know through my friends in Diesel. It's a great reading, a book to sip a chapter a day, with no hurry.

It tells the story of the men (and a few women) who created the great agencies we all know about, from J. Walter Thompson to BBDO, Publicis, Ogilvy and BBH (just to name a few). And the story is told after an impressive research and with a real passion that involves us in the reading that pictures the human side of a business worth US$400 billion a year worldwide.

In business, "invisibility” is a fate worse than failure says Keith Ferrazzi, the author of "Never Eat Alone" a must read for guide to successful networking.

I read it over the week-end and I was impressed by the quality of the book, which represents an excellent reference for anyone who's looking to boost his/her career. "I learned that real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful. It was about working hard to give more than you get. And I came to believe that there were a litany of tough-minded principles that made this soft-hearted philosophy possible." I do spend much time "giving" at work, after reading this book, I (hope) know who are those I should concentrate my efforts on... :-)

BTW this is my profile on LinkedIn...

Books on mobile marketing are extremely rare, therefore I was very curious when Elsevier sent me a copy of "Mobile Marketing: Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Wireless Technology".

It's a sort of handbook, so I read it pretty fast, also skipping, I must admit, a few parts dedicated to the explanation of mobile technologies (e.g. chapter 12, Applications environments). As you know, I tend to have a very critic and/but pragmatic approach to everything I'm asked to evaluate, so forgive me if my judgement is brief and straightforward.

If you're new to mobile marketing, then this book is a good option to start understanding the potentials of marketing via cell phones. When I say marketing, I mean "marketing", and not just advertising or promotion, since the authors also tell us something about mobile content and m-commerce. I enjoyed the chapter dedicated to the wireless advertising models, and I appreciated the fact that also delicate issues such as planning & budgeting and the measurement of the results receive some attention.

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives