Upstream Marketing: Unlock Growth Using the Combined Principles of Insight, Identity, and Innovation

As a chief marketing officer, I read a lot of business books in an attempt to stay current on the latest thinking. These include titles that profile individual companies like: “Shoe Dog” from Phil Knight, creator of Nike, “The Ride of a Lifetime” from Disney CEO Bob Iger and “Working Backwards” about Amazon by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr.This book does a “deep dive” on seven companies (Apple, Amazon, Disney, Google, Nike, Southwest, Starbucks) distilling the insights into a common set of 'lessons learned'. It's like getting the cliff notes version of a bunch of business books best sellers, with upstream marketing serving as a wrap-around concept that ties them all together.Don't get me wrong -- it's not a quick read. There's a lot to unpack and it takes some time to get through it. Still, it's one of the best books I've read this year with a high learning ROI.

A tried and true approach to marketing strategy, that focuses on underlying principles. The author is obviously a practitioner with many years experience successfully helping companies find their path forward. The book is peppered with examples that help bring the principles to life, so you get a good feel for the practical application of the approach.

This is a well-researched, well-written book on corporate strategy, viewed from a marketing lens. If you're new to marketing, there are other books that provide a better introduction, including Donald Miller's "Business Made Simple". Upstream Marketing goes a step further, going deep on the "whys" and "hows," includes a series of strategic frameworks. I've already applied a few of them on my own so can attest to their value.

I'm always seeking business book best sellers and came across this recently published one. It does a nice job describing marketing strategy and hits on a lot of relevant topics, classified under insight, identity, and innovation principles. Each marketing principle includes a series of how-tos across customer research, market segmentation, value proposition development, brand positioning, brand architecture, and related topics. It's one of the best marketing books I've read in some time and give it five stars.

The authors do a nice job weaving in their own experiences, case studies and quotes from business leaders into an overarching strategy framework . This book made me think . . . a lot. Like a good movie that occupies the mind, I found myself thinking about upstream marketing long after reading it. It's one of the best business books I've read this year and ended up buying the hardcover version for reference. Highly recommended!