Michael Porter - General Marketing Theory

   "Here is a little selection of the marketing gurus we study and align our work with to improve the odds that your marketing efforts will hit a homerun.."

Marketing

Strategy

Michael Eugene Porter (born May 23, 1947) is the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at The Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, based at the Harvard Business School. He is a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states, and regions. Michael Porter's work is recognized in many governments, corporations and academic circles globally. He chairs Harvard Business School's program dedicated for newly appointed CEOs of very large corporations.

Seth Godin - Branding & Contagiousness

Martin Linstrøm - Branding & NeuroScience

Godin argues that the end of the "TV-Industrial complex" means that marketers no longer have the power to command the attention of anyone they choose, whenever they choose. Second, in a marketplace in which consumers have more power, he thinks marketers must show more respect; this means no spam, no deceit and a bias for keeping promises. Finally, Godin asserts that the only way to spread the word about an idea is for that idea to earn the buzz by being remarkable. Godin refers to those who spread these ideas as "Sneezers", and to the spreading idea as an "IdeaVirus." He calls a remarkable product or service a purple cow.[citation needed]

Advertisements on television and radio are classified by Godin as "interruption marketing" which interrupt the customer while they are doing something of their preference. Godin promoted the concept of "permission marketing" where the business provides something "anticipated, personal, and relevant"

Martin Lindstrom (Lindstrøm) is a Danish author and Time magazine Influential 100 Honoree. Lindstrom's books include Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday Business, division of Random House) and Brandwashed - Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy (Crown Publications, a division of Random House), his first title written for consumers, for which Lindstrom conducted a $3 million word-of-mouth marketing experiment – inspired by the 2009 film,The Joneses – to study the effects of social influence on purchasing decisions.

Lindstrom is a columnist for Fast Company, TIME Magazine and Harvard Business Review and frequently contributes to NBC's Today show. Lindstrom has written six books on brands and consumer behavior. He is the founding partner and Chairman of the Board of Buyology Inc. and Director of Brand Sense Agency. In 2011, Lindstrom appeared in the Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) movie documentary. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and on America’s Next Top Model.

Jonah Berger - Social contagion and trends

Jonah Berger is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is an expert onword of mouth, viral marketing, social influence, social contagion, and trends. His 2013 book Contagious: Why Things Catch On is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Kevin Allocca - YouTube's trends manager

What makes a video go viral? It's a question filmmakers and marketers alike are constantly trying to crack. As the head of culture and trends at YouTube, Kevin Allocca has the answers. (In fact, he gave a TED talk about it.) Kevin tracks what's trending across YouTube, and studies how global culture and online video intersect. We caught up with the digitally obsessed Mr. Allocca to talk about inbox zero (or in his case, non-zero), workspaces, apps, and more.

Art & Copy - World best advertisment agencies and the power of great advertising..

Art & Copy is a 2009 documentary film, directed by Doug Pray, about the advertising industry in the U.S. The film follows the careers of advertisers, including Hal Riney, George Lois, Mary Wells Lawrence, Dan Wieden, and Lee Clow. The documentary covers advertising campaigns such as "Just Do It", "I Love New York", "Where's the Beef?", "I Want My MTV", "Got Milk?", and "Think Different" (Apple).

Although reviews were generally favorable, some reviewers chastised the film for presenting an uncritical view of advertising.

Richard Brandson - Virgin Inc. - Personal Branding Genius

Virgin is one of the world’s most irresistible brands and has expanded into many diverse sectors from travel to telecommunications, health to banking and music to leisure. There are now more than 100 Virgin companies worldwide, employing approximately 60,000 people in over 50 countries. 

Understanding your user is key to a good product and returning clients.

Design isn't something you would normally associate with a VC firm. But as more firms are adding value-added services, Google Ventures has created an all-star team of designers from Google, Mozilla and more to help portfolio startups create beautiful and easy-to-use products. Leena Rao takes a look at Google Venture's Sprint with one of their startups, CircleUp.

Google - Inside Goodle, Understand your clients