Spin is an extremely enjoyable read. A talented communicator, Clive Veroni writes in a simple and clear style and does not hold his dry wit back from the narrative – making the book much more fun (particularly when it follows Ellul in the reading list.)
Veroni presents numerous real world examples of strategic communications successes – and failures – analyzing each case for strengths and weaknesses. While drawing from the techniques used in political campaigning, Spin showcases work from a variety of fields, recommending tactics all communicators and organisations should be adopting in a Digital Age.
There is much to gain in the reading of Spin, but in particular the following stands out:
- Operating on tighter deadlines, or in a sort of “war room” manner enables communicators to react with the speed required in a Digital Age. Most marketers have not caught up;
- Build agile and diverse teams that have decision-makers built-in; and
- For better or worse, people are involved in your brand. Finding ways to harness that engagement must go beyond crowd sourcing ads or new logos.
Love this line from @CliveVeroni on the “unofficial soundtrack” for most ads today – “This bland is your bland, this bland is my bland.”
— Alicia Wanless-Berk (@lageneralista) December 30, 2015
Spin: How Politics Has the Power to Turn Marketing on Its Head is available for purchase at Amazon.
