I'm not sure who this book is aimed at. It's not basic enough to be considered a beginner text for university students (who will probably give up at the first mention of the World Wide Web ... capitalised and emphasised, as though it's the Next Big Thing). It's not detailed enough to be an intermediate text e.g. it says it's essential to have a marketing plan but doesn't give any guidance around how to write such a plan. It's not written for solo business owners or entrepreneurs, most of whom brand themselves as much as their product or service. It's not written for large businesses—I'd expect their employees to know all this and more. So who is the target reader?

The contents show the 26 "myths" this book aims to deconstruct. I have to say that while I hadn't necessarily thought of some of them, the ones I had considered seemed self-evident. For example, let's look at Myth 1: Marketing communications haven't fundamentally changed.

Surely anyone who has been paying any attention to the world knows that the rise of social media over the last ten years has fundamentally changed how people communicate, including marketers. Before that, the rise of email moved direct marketing out of the mailbox and into the realm of online spam.

Leboff points out:

By 1989, some of the largest commercial email services in the world ... had connected their respective email systems to the internet.

Well, yes, but 1989 is thirty years ago. Thirty. Years. So we have two groups of people: people who remember life before email and therefore know how much marketing communication has changed from personal experience, and people who don't remember life before email ... who are going to wonder at this point if they're reading a book about marketing, or a history text.

Leboff proposes an alternative to the familiar 4 Ps of the marketing mix (or 7 Ps or 9Ps, depending on who you're reading and what you're selling): CAVE. Communication. Access. Value. Experience. Yet most of his points could be equally well explained by the traditional 4Ps: Promotion, Place, Price, Product.

The Experience in CAVE does work better with services than with products (the assumption with the original 4Ps). But a savvy marketer can adapt the 4Ps to their specific product or services. It's a way of guiding thinking, not a set formula.

What most puzzled me was that while it mentions many of the historic marketing thinkers (e.g. David Oglivy), it doesn't mention modern marketing gurus like Seth Godin, and he doesn't appear to be a fan of Tom Peters and his views on branding (personally, I'm with Peters and Steve Jobs).

Yes, there were some interesting tidbits, like the Simester/Anderson experiment on pricing, which showed our preference for prices ending in 9 (the same item of women's clothing was advertised at three different prices, and sold more at $39 than at either $44 or $34). That was interesting.

Leboff also does an excellent job of referencing each chapter, and most of the references are online which means the keen reader can investigate further.

Overall, I didn't find this an engaging read (not in the way This is Marketing was an engaging read), and while it did raise some interesting points, I'm still at a loss to know who it's aimed at. That makes it hard to recommend.

Thanks to Kogan Page and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Marketing can hold different meanings to different people. Some people cringe when they hear it, afraid of having to navigate all the nuances of it. Others chalk marketing up to companies trying to get your money. Regardless of how you feel about it, there are many myths that people have bought into about marketing. These can keep your attempts from being successful, or give you the wrong impression about the concept in general. Myths of Marketing aims to address and correct these issues.

Many of the myths mentioned are widespread, such as a business being too small to need it. Each myth is described, then the reasons for it being false are given. Each entry is thoroughly explained and easy to understand. Myths of Marketing can be beneficial for anyone that is trying to get the word out about a business, product, or event. The book can help you better understand the importance of marketing and how to look at the whole process.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.