Campaigns that Shook the World: The Evolution of Public Relations

by Danny Rogers, Martin Sorrell (Foreword)

Campaigns that Shook the World provides the inside story on a selection of the greatest campaigns of the last four decades, while narrating the development of the PR and communications business. The book provides the definitive case studies of nine campaigns - political, corporate and entertainment - from the 1970s to the present day. It explains their strategies and tactics, looks at the imagery and icons they created and interviews the powerful, flamboyant personalities who crafted and executed these seminal projects.

The book examines Thatcherism, New Labour, Britain's royal family, the Rolling Stones, David Beckham, the London 2012 Olympics, Product (RED), Obama for America and Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. In addition, Campaigns that Shook the World :

- contains exclusive interviews with campaign gurus such as Alastair Campbell, Matthew Freud, Simon Fuller and Lord Tim Bell
- investigates the relationship between communication techniques, the media and evolving public opinion, using real-world examples
- features campaigns by Saatchi & Saatchi, Edelman, Bell Pottinger, Ogilvy, Freuds and other well-known marketing consultancies

Campaigns that Shook the World grapples with PR's uneasy place at the nexus of politics and celebrity, holding the best campaigns up to scrutiny and showcasing just how powerful PR can be as an instrument of change. It contains insights from Alan Edwards, Paddy Harverson and many others.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2015

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Kogan Page Ltd for an eARC copy of the book to read and review.

Let me start off by saying that it wasn't the book, it was me. I personally view PR, marketing and advertising as lying. I didn't realize I hated the topic so much until I started to read this book and dreaded each time I picked it up. I knew I didn't like the topic, but I was hoping that this book would help to educate me more about the topic, and through education, help to dispel any misconceptions that I had that were driving my dislike.

All it did was cement my dislike of the whole kit and caboodle.

A little background. I don't watch much TV. I have a TV to watch videos/DVDs with my friends. It has rabbit ears and gets one channel. I rather be reading. I don't go online other than NetGalley, Goodreads and my personal email. Occasionally I will Google or Wiki something and come Christmas time, I rather shop online for the convenience if nothing else. My cell phone is a flip phone, which will be pried out of my cold, dead hands, thank you very much. I don't want a phone smarter than me.

I'm not a complete hermit by any stretch of the imagination, but I also don't live and breathe advertising like many people do. So most of this book just went over my head when it was describing (RED) and Dove's campaigns. I have had little to no exposure to any of it.

The British political stuff is what grabbed my attention mostly, since I knew nothing about any of it. The history behind what went on was what I found interesting. The advertising for political office I found to be stomach turning. They were selling an "idea". And people BUY it. Ideas don't do beans, there needs to be more substance to get things done, and one hopes those things would be positive. Not saying those who were discussed didn't do positive things, just that if one wins office, they better have more than just "ideas".

So yeah, I don't buy what advertising is selling, at least, not the merchandise of the particular campaigns this book is describing. That doesn't mean it's a bad book.

It has very good information, laid out in a clear, easy to understand manner. The objectives are clearly explained and the author does impart a wealth of information. At times it feels a little shallower than I would have liked, but it did have a broad range of different types of PR campaigns, from British politics and royalty, to celebrities, celebrity charities and American politics.

So four stars for the writing and information it imparts. Two stars because I really don't like the topic at all. Three stars combined. I would recommend this to someone who is into PR, marketing, advertising, etc. It may not be in-depth enough for a specialized class in it, but it would be a good starter book I think.

[Nikusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

წიგნი საუბარია მარკეტინგის, პიარ კამპანიებისა და მათ შორის უკვე სოც. მედიის მნიშვნელოვან როლსა და გავლენებზე როგორც კერძო სექტორში, ასევე სპორტსა და პოლიტიკურ ცხოვრებაში.

დასახელებული კამპანიებიდან თითოეულზე გაცილებით მეტი ინფორმაციის მოწოდება იქნებოდა სასურველი, თუმცა, ამ შემთხვევაში წიგნის მოცულობა სულ ცოტა გაორმაგდებოდა. მშრალი ინფოსთვის მიეკუთვნა კიდეც 3 ვარსკვლავი, სხვა შემთხვევაში ცალსახად საინტერესო მასალაა მოცემული, განსაკუთრებით, PR-ით და მარკეტინგით დაინტერესებული ადამიანებისათვის

[Pranit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrative in the book is exactly what the title says: Evolution of PR. If you are looking for anything new, this may not be the best option. But it is interesting for someone who wishes to know how we reached this stage of PR through different examples like Beckham, Thacher & Obama.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative but slightly brief. Good intro.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Bianca Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rita Skeeter came to mind often while reading Campaigns that Shook the World by Danny Rogers. Maybe my expectations were out, but I was expecting an in-depth look at some amazing public relations campaigns. Instead, I got a who’s who of, primarily British, PR people.

Campaigns that Shook the World did include campaigns that shook the world. It starts with some UK politics, with Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair’s electoral campaigns. Obama’s “we can change it” campaign added international politics. Non-political campaigns included Product (red), and Nivea’s Real Beauty.

As you can see these are amazing campaigns to learn from. I really wanted to hear more about how Obama engaged America’s moms and dads generating the highest volume of donations, but the smallest per donation amount. I suppose I was looking for the why and how of the campaigns. Instead, I got a lot of the who, and a bit of the what. The Product (red) case study has more pages dedicated to the comms team members’ resumes than what happened in the campaign. Did you know Matthew Freud, comms lead for Product (red), was married to Rupert Murdoch’s daughter and they hosted parties in their home? I’m still trying to work out how that tidbit relates to his performance in the campaign. Oh, he’s also related to Sigmund Freud. Again, relevance? At least his being related to Edward Bernays was included, and relevant to PR.

If you haven’t guessed it was the biographies that first irked me. Then it was the inclusion of birth years (not really needed). Finally, it was the sexism. Michelle Obama’s name and birth year were tagged on to Barack’s headline, but no more of her. Obviously despite a comment that her inclusion was integral to the campaign, she wasn’t worthy of a bio. Silvia Lagnado is called the bright star of the Nivea Real Beauty, and her bio starts with saying that it’s fitting she’s a woman.

I haven’t counted the pages of biography versus campaign case study but suspect it’s at least 50%. So, less than the 3/4 JK Rowling said of Rita Skeeter. The book appeared to be well-researched and was coherent. They were definitely world-shaking campaigns, so I can’t question that. It’s not a bad book, Campaigns that Shook the World just didn’t shake my world.

Who Is Campaigns that Shook the World for?
The number of Murdoch references and how much the book focuses on people versus campaigns, the book looks like either the early research on a series or biographies or an application to join a gentlemen’s lounge. For the first time ever, I think I’m stumped on finding the actual audience. The people in the who’s who set wouldn’t need a book, but I’m not sure there’s enough campaign substance to learn from.

Have you read Campaigns that Shook the World? Am I being unfair with my comments? Let me know because I want to be fair and honest with my reviews.

My copy of Campaigns that Shook the World was compliments of NetGalley and Kogan Page. As you can see, they don’t influence my reviews.

Published at: http://tapdancingspiders.com/book-rev...

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, one of those that you might not think you need if you see it momentarily at a bookstore, yet once you open it up and start reading you will soon get hooked and the information just begins to flow. A number of public relations campaigns from the past four decades have been examined, which have undeniably helped shape popular culture and influence public opinion.

Naturally, a book of this kind can only give a superficial overview, yet it manages to provide an excellent, engaging summary of what happened, how it happened and perhaps more importantly highlights some of the key takeaway points and skills that can be deployed in other situations. The only real criticism is that it ended too soon and there were too few campaigns under the author’s magnifying glass. One can hope that a volume two, volume three and so on are under consideration, since the concept appears to work very well and it could be extended to become a broader franchise, taking in successful campaigns from other countries.

So what campaigns did the author focus on? Margaret Thatcher’s first election, the Tony Blair New Labour years, a fourteen year “repositioning” of the Monarchy, reinventing the Rolling Stones, establishing David Beckham the brand after football, the 2012 Olympic Games, Bono’s Product (RED), Barack Obama’s Presidential dream and a ten year campaign for Dove and “real beauty”. An interesting mix for sure.

There’s not a lot more to say. The book is as giving as you let it be. It is not going to necessarily be a “big bang” change-your-life thing, but neither does it promise that. It is much more subtle. It is clearly aimed at those with communications-based professional responsibilities, yet even the curious generalist will get a fair bit out of it.

Autamme.com

[Kate Vane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes a number of successful brands of recent years and breaks down what made them so effective. These range from political parties to sport and entertainment to a certain brand of soap.

It’s very readable but it’s more descriptive than analytical, with a long narrative about each campaign followed by a short, bullet-point summary of what was new or significant about it. It is largely uncritical of the key personnel or the messages and feels like much of it is taken from cuttings, though it does include original interviews and comments from some of the key players.

I’m not quite sure who the target audience is for this book. It feels too basic for the PR professional. I would describe myself as the ‘intelligent general reader’ but much of the material in the book was already very familiar to me – particularly on the political campaigns and the rehabilitation of the Royal Family. (Ironically, the one brand I hadn’t heard of was (RED) which apparently has worldwide recognition.)

I imagine it might be useful background reading for someone who is considering studying or working in PR. I suspect it’s aimed at senior business people from other backgrounds who will receive essentially quite a basic overview but one that makes them feel they’ve learnt something important because of the big names who are quoted.

For these groups it’s probably useful but if you’re after something with a bit more depth and critical analysis it may not be for you.
*
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating book and one of the best pieces of non-fiction I have read in a long time!
Each chapter is dedicated to a different campaign split out by political “old school” campaigns, new approaches focuses on entertainment and sport and marketing campaigns. Campaigns such as the “New Labour” campaign, the London Olympics and the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty are all assessed in detail. For each campaign it covers the context, the strategy and the people that are involved. Although a lot of detail is given, it’s not an overwhelming amount and is written in a clear and engaging manner.

I learnt absolutely loads from reading this book and would highly recommend it anyone interested in marketing or PR!

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley. Despite it's claim that it's directed at a lay audience and not those in the marketing industry the book is highly specialized and largely inaccessible to the public. It's very dry and lacks any humor or excitement. It lays out a string of facts more than it tells a story. It provides a good look at how PR campaigns work. However, it focused too heavily on British campaigns that questionably had any impact outside of Britain. It also focuses too heavily on the PR team instead of the campaign itself and how the campaign changed PR. This book would've been better had it been edited more to focus more on the campaigns and the impact they had.

[Jacob Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review and others at:
http://eyesandbooks.weebly.com/review...

Pretty good book though I question the selection of the campaigns used for examples.