Sergio Zyman, the former head of marketing at Coca Cola wrote this popular marketing book back in 1999.

His main point in the book: Marketing is not some mysterious black art, but rather a scientific activity that should be directly tied to sales results. Rather than a cost, marketing should be seen as an investment in future sales. Accordingly, when times are lean, marketing is the last, not the first, thing that should be cut back.

The new 'Principles of New Marketing:
- The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often, and at higher prices. There is no other reason to do it.
- Marketing is serious business ­ and increasingly, serious business is about marketing.
- Marketing is not magic, and marketers do themselves no favour when they pretend that it is. There is nothing mysterious about it.
- Marketing is a professional discipline. You can¹t leave it to your Uncle Willie or anyone else who isn¹t a trained professional.
- The marketplace today is a consumer democracy. Consumers have options, so marketers have to tell them how to choose.
- Plan your destination. Make it where you want to be, not where you think you can get.
- Once you have your destination, develop a strategy for getting there.
- Strategy is the boss. Never forget it. Strategy is what controls the "everything" in "everything communicates". You can decide to change your strategy, but you can¹t deviate from it.
- Marketing is a science. It is about experimentation, measurement, analysis, refinement, and replication. You must be willing to change your mind.
- Figure out what is desirable and make that what you deliver; or figure out what you can deliver and make that desirable. But remember, the former is a lot easier than the latter.
- Measure each brand and each marketing region. Do it regularly and often, at least monthly. Marketing must create results.
- Ask questions. Be aware, insatiably curious, and creative. Creativity is really a process of destroying old ideas, but that¹s OK. Every day is a new day.
- Sameness doesn¹t sell. The value of your product will be determined by its differentiation from the competition in ways that are relevant to the consumers.
- Build your brands by using all the elements of image: trademark image, product image, user image, usage image, and associative image.
- Use the right yardsticks: focus on profit, not volume; on actual consumption, not share of market; and on share of future purchases, not brand awareness.
- Keep giving your customers more reasons to buy. You need them to come back more often and to buy at higher prices. [A concept Zyman calls dimensionalizing]
- Market locally. You have to give all your customers something that appeals to them personally. Global brands are built out of many strong local brands.
- Fish where the fish are. Concentrate your sales efforts on consumers who are willing and able to buy your produce. Segment the market to identify your most profitable targets.
- It is significantly easier to increment behaviour or broaden behaviour than it is to change behaviour.
- Think S.O.B. ­ Source of Business; where will your next sale and dollar of profit come from?
- Don¹t be blinded by visible demand. Preference is perishable. Keep selling the sold.
- Make sure everybody on your organization understands the strategy, the destination, and the business objectives. Then let them execute.
- Find the best available marketing professionals and create jobs around them. You¹ve got to have the best people, not the best organization chart.
- Reward excellence and punish mediocrity.
- Strategy is your job. The job of the ad agencies is to communicate it effectively.
- No one single agency can satisfy all the needs of your brands. One size definitely doesn¹t fit all.
- Pay well so your agencies have the resources to attract good talent ­ but demand results that are clearly measurable.
- Have a sense of urgency, and work with passion. Otherwise, what¹s the use of getting up in the morning?"

[From the Great Books Series. Also see The Success Manual  - Encyclopedia of Advice, which contains summaries of 100+ Most useful books.]