This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence

by Terry O'Reilly

Canada's most famous adman spills a career's worth of marketing secrets, so anyone can compete with the best in their business--whatever that business might be.
Big companies spend a fortune marketing their wares and services. Can yours? Invariably people ask advertising veteran and CBC Radio host Terry O'Reilly one question more than any other: How does a little business compete with the big guys? After decades at the helm of an award-winning advertising production company, and over a decade exploring the art and science of marketing for CBC Radio, O'Reilly delivers all the answers they--and anyone with something to sell--ever wanted to know.
Following his bestselling Age of Persuasion, O'Reilly collects a lifetime of marketing wisdom into an indispensable guide to competing for your customers' attention. From understanding what business you're really in and foregoing the extra mile in favour of the extra inch, to the benefits of counterintuitive thinking and knowing an opportunity when you see one, This I Know will help anyone understand the fundamentals of good marketing strategy and building the relationships that turn good marketing into great results, no matter how big or small your budget."

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Canada, Audiobook, Reference, Biography, Leadership

320 pages, Hardcover

Published February 28, 2017

About the author

Terry O'Reilly, the winner of hundreds of international advertising awards, is the bestselling author of The Age of Persuasion and This I Know. He is also an in-demand speaker. His highly awarded radio programs O'Reilly on Advertising, The Age of Persuasion and Under the Influence have been broadcast on CBC radio since 2005, and his podcasts have been downloaded over forty million times. Terry O'Reilly lives near Huntsville, Ontario.

Reviews

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence by adman Terry O’Reilly is a tool that all companies, large or small, could benefit from. The author is an expert in the field of attracting customers to most businesses, sometimes simply by dedicating their energies toward the smallest details. Also, keeping customers is key by showing honest appreciation and letting them know that you know how valuable they are to your company. You may think that Terry O’Reilly’s advice is mostly common sense. However, so many companies neglect to follow the simplest of advice which would go a long way to improving their customer service and retention. Big or small, businesses should be cognizant that they are nothing without repeat customers. This audiobook, read by the author, was entertaining and informative. Anyone with anything to sell should pick this book up. Simple and sound advice.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zig don't zag. Hone an elevator pitch. And remember that customer service is the best form of marketing. This I Know is a vivid, energizing book. It's supposed to help small and medium sized business market products.

But everyone is in the business of selling ideas to customers or partners. And this is a great tool to help focus your thinking. And your pitch.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Full of great insights to effective advertising and marketing of products, services and people. I bought the hard copy as a resource, because I plan to incorporate some of this genius advice into my own work.

[Karen Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could listen to or read Terry O'Reilly all day. He's one of the best storytellers there is, especially because his research is extensive and his anecdotes are coming from an astounding career.

The book is aimed at small business owners. Most of the teaching examples however are from larger than life brands that can afford TV and radio advertising. O'Reilly extrapolates the learnings from case studies that are applicable for small businesses.

I'm probably going to read it again. First time through it just left me wishing I had the dough to hire HIM!

Worth it just because of all the great stories and knowing that he succeeded because his motivations were always pure: he wanted to created the best advertising so that companies would succeed. His ability to capture the essence of a company is second to none.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you listen to Terry's podcast on CBC radio called Under the Influence, you may have heard some of this before. But it's still an entertaining, anecdote filled book on marketing with some key points on the dos and donts of marketing. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Taveri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been a fan of Terry O'Reilly's Age of Persuasion radio show on CBC i looked forward to reading this book. It offered interesting anecdotes on every page and gave the history of some interesting findings related to consumer advertising and approaches to problem solving. Noted below are some of the intriguing items mentioned. Perhaps it will lead you to look into it for what other insights are offered.

P18 People buy Benefits: Not Products. Not Features. And these buy those solutions from companies they relate to.

P20 Every effective advertisement or commercial should sell one thing well. Nine tenths of wasted copywriting comes from having to write copy before we determine what we are trying to sell.

P21 We are exposed to 3,000 adverts a day; people notice six and retain two. How to get into the exclusive country club of two ads? - Simplicity. A single-minded advertisement, founded on a compelling strategy and expressed creatively has the greatest chance of penetrating and persuading. Simple, clear messages win.

P25 Founders of the magazine "Wired" were funded immediately based on their elevator pitch "Wired was going to feel like a magazine mailed back from the future." Combining 'mailed back" with 'the future' was a stroke of brilliance. So simple,
So memorable, So full of potential.

P27 The movie "Twins" was successfully pitched by just saying "Twins separated at birth are meet later in life. One is Arnold Schwarzenegger and the other is Danny DeVito" The studio exec said "I'll take it."

P28 ...if a writer can't sum up their story in one intriguing line, they haven't thought the story through.

P35 "You Know Buckley's Cough Mixture 'Tastes Awful. And it Works' " How many specific commercials can you actually remember? "Coffee Crisp Makes a Nice Light Snack."

P37 The Sex Pistols had a short time to make an impression in America. So their manager crafted the strategy of offending small southern cities and letting the resulting press become the advertising.

P82 Until you identify your greatest area of opportunity, you will be wasting money and vastly underachieving. Marketeers with limited budgets try to do too much with too little. They go a mile wide and only an inch deep. No one thing gets the proper attention.

P93 It takes twelve exposures to a commercial message for it to be noticed and registered by a viewer or listener.

P113 The colour purple is not appetizing to birds of prey. They don't recognize purple as food. Farmers in Kenya developed a purple paint that is biodegradable and wears off in ten weeks and is harmless to chicks. By painting new born chicks purple survival rates have gone from 20% to 80%.
That solution has also led to a sub industry of chicken painters.

P115 Chicago has dangerous winding S curves along the lake waterfront. When curve warning signs were made bigger that didn't slow drivers down. Neither did adding flashing lights. So they painted lines across the line of traffic and put them closer and closer together creating the illusion of speed resulting in drivers slowing down having less accidents.

P150 In Britain, the government tried to encourage homeowners to insulate their attics to save energy costs. They put forward compelling economic arguments with monetary incentives and subsidies. The public wasn't buying. The gov't stumbled on the reason for the resistance > people didn't want to clear their attics to allow installation of the insulation. They got a local home improvement company to offer affordable attic cleaning that became the "nudge" to get people to jump at preventing heat loss.

P153 People buy high marked up items while waiting in line, just before check out. [I am aware of this tactic and refuse to purchase such items. I am already being punished by having to wait and won't reward the store by spending more money for making me wait.]

P155 Nine out of ten shoppers follow arrows in grocery stores ... [doesn't seem to work too well in days of Covid]

P157 Political elections are compressed marketing campaigns ... very few voters are undecided ... Canadian election advertising is aimed at swaying voters but the real key is mobilizing existing supporters - a high percent of people are infrequent voters - they don't make the effort to vote

P158 People were not swayed by postcards nor phone calls but there was a massive response from live door knocking.

P161 a city in California gave residents power bills showing users' consumption compared to average in their neighbourhood. It resulted in high users lessening their consumption but also led to low users raising their consumption. So they switched to emoticons. A frowning emoticon led to lower consumption; a smiling emoticon to low users kept their usage low.

P174 Companies are twice as likely to regain lost customers as they are to gain new ones. Also it cost less to reclaim a lost customer than to generate a new one. Yet companies don't seem to learn this is so and give up on lost customers making no effort to get them back.

P179 Disney has a philosophy that it's staff practice "it may not be my fault, but it is my problem" once something is brought to an employee's attention.

P180 Zappos have 40% of shoes returned. That stat would scare most companies away but the biggest returners are their most loyal high spending customers. It's all about creating relationships because happy customers are repeat customers.

P181 Zappos job application is unusual. The first question is a crossword puzzle because they want problem solvers - they are searching for untrainable skills.

P211 Creativity loves constraint and the constraint of a deadline fuels creativity. The tension of a deadline seems to unlock neural pathways ...

P230 All advertising is an interruption but humour can open a lot of sticky doors. Using humour is a welcome way to make that intrusion polite and entertaining.

P232 Canada has one of the worst organ donation rates in the world. To counter that a commercial was devised with six seconds of silence that the audience was to check with their family if it was okay to donate organs. Radio stations refused to play it because of the silence. O'Reilly personally called national radio Presidents and walked them through the commercial. It has been playing for twenty years now and runs every April during Organ Donation Month.

P234 Groups are not good at coming up with ideas. G.K. Chesterton said "I searched the Parks in all your cities, and found no statues to committees.

P235 The advertising industry needs more female creative directors. Women control over 80% of spending yet only 3% of Creative Directors in North America are women. If the golden marketing rule is know thy audience why aren't their more women in agencies?

P236 People over 55 have the most money and buy the most products (including cars, computers and soft drinks) yet the advertising industry is infatuated with 18-34 year olds. And boomers are more than willing to switch brands - it is a robust market.

P236 Most men don't window shop. They rarely go home without buying something. Retailers should design stores to help men shop quickly and efficiently.

Women generally speaking like to graze. They can shop for a full afternoon and not buy anything. [I can attest to this. When on a course in Edmonton three fellow female students asked me to take them to West Edmonton Mall. We were there three hours and I was the only one to buy anything.]

P238 The use of the word "impossible" has dropped 50% in the last 100 years.

P239 Unless you have big ambitions you will have small outcomes. 4% of ads are remembered positively. 7% are remembered negatively and 89% are not noticed at all. Ninety percent of advertising money is wasted. Only big ideas breakthrough. The biggest risk in complacency.

P240 When Thomas Edison was asked about rules at his lab he said "There are no rules here. We are trying to accomplish something."

[Alexander K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I just finished the best book I'll read in 2017. I was lucky to receive an advanced copy as a member of NetGallery.

The approach: The marketing guide for small businesses who cannot afford to work with agencies.
The result: An amazing explanation of complex art that is marketing and advertising. Without question, I will be ordering a few copies to distribute at work.

Well researched and beautifully presented, Terry O'Reilly's voice leaps off the page as you go along. One thing that always happens when I listen to or read from Terry O'Reilly is that my book list of "to read" grows substantially. My Amazon wishlist grew as I read this book as well!

[Francisco Arizmendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book you must savour slowly. So insightful! Terry has made marketing a fun, relevant and intriguing topic no matter who is reading. I will be reading this book many times more! :)

[Jodie Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never thought I would enjoy a book about marketing, but I thoroughly did. Very good and relevant stories to explain marketing ideas. I will likely reread this book!

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a marketing genius now, thank u !

[Garth Mailman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advertising makes me thankful that CBC was formerly ad-free. Since I’ve given up broadcast TV my life is remarkably free from it. I use ad-blockers online as much as possible but now encounter web pages that refuse to display their content unless you allow their ads. I’m particularly annoyed that when I read e-Mail the ads download before the content.

Advertising equates in my mind with snake-oil salesmen, sleaze, and charlatanism. It is ironic that an ad-free public broadcaster embraced this author’s idea of a program about advertising. In line with the concept of understanding the enemy I have enjoyed listening to Under the Influence and reading this book which is a summation of a professional’s theory of selling influence. The philosophy behind the generation of advertising can be useful in examining an individual’s own goals in life or those of any organization, profit or non-profit.

When it comes to the debate over Coke vs Pepsi I remember a statement that averred that they found unpalatable any beverage that looked like in ran off the end of the manure pile. I have never had an interest in either but Coke’s tentacles are so immense it is impossible to avoid its greater product line. Branding is so important that Coke will win out 99 to 1 in a taste test against an unknown competitor even when the competitor is Coke itself.

Reading these pages brought to mind the process of generating a new mission statement for the church I attend each winter. Crass as it may seem evangelism boils down to advertising. In that context I find it ironic that Christianity which espouses love of god and fellowman as its basic tenants long used fear of hell-fire as motivation for seeking pie in the sky bye-n-bye--heaven. Scaring people into heaven with the threat of hell. Worse, for decades the faithful were told from the pulpit that members of other denominations that didn’t accept our take on matters were headed there. Declining attendance and membership suggests the church may need the services of a good advertising agency.

The more I read the sleazier I find the business of advertising. The moral line between honest practice and dishonest machinations is very thin. A new product-line seeks to steal business from its competitors. It all begins to sound very Machiavellian.

[Katie Lo]

I greatly enjoyed this book, and wish I had read it earlier when I was just starting my business courses in university. I was intrigued by this book when the mom of the children I was babysitting at the time introduced me to it. She recommended it for anyone who is in the business of selling and marketing. I've only recently begun reading business books, and I admit I wasn't really sure what to expect. After years of being forced to read stuffy business books told in the typical 'preach-y' tone, I was hopeful that this book would be awesome. I was not disappointed.

This covers so many important aspects of business, especially marketing and managing others. It is also loaded with incredibly helpful tips about life in general, from writing resumes to presenting big, crazy ideas. I think I'm going to buy this book because it is great reference and guide; not only did Terry O'Reilly talk about his extensive experience in the marketing industry, but also backs up a lot of what he discusses with examples (both good and bad) from real-life companies. He even uses UFC fighters to describe branding, something that is would not be found in a regular business book. I hesitate to even call it a business book because of how applicable I feel like this is for everyday people. Even if you're not in business or marketing, I'm sure you will find something interesting and learn a new concept about the world around you. The topics are out-of-the-box thinking and creativity, a unique type of inspiration that we don't generally associate with advertising. Terry's talkative, easy-going tone throughout the book is easy to read; it's no wonder he created brilliant advertising for radio, TV and everything in between. I highly recommend this book! (And he's Canadian - even more reason to love it!!)

[Elizabeth Shih · Rating 4 out of 5]

Host of CBC radio's award-winning program, "Under the Influence," Canadian adman, Terry O'Reilly, provides 245 pages of marketing advice to small- and medium-sized companies, which couldn't otherwise afford a consultant.

The book consists of chapters that amount to a "crash course in marketing thinking, strategy and execution," each resolved with O'Reilly's own wisdom and experience. Some topics include determining one's niche, formulating an "elevator pitch," recognizing golden opportunities, working creatively, and many more.

O'Reilly spent over three decades leading an award-winning advertising company (Pirate Media) and more than 10 years in broadcasting over the CBC (an earlier version of "UTI" was "The Age of Persuasion"). The book is a useful antidote to common marketing problems and is all the more helpful, since "UTI" airs only about six months of every year. (The remaining months of the year are spent by O'Reilly and his team, researching and writing the next season's material.)

If you're looking for some of the highlights, turn to O'Reilly's 15th chapter, which consists of cases of "This I Know." My favourite moment of the book arises here, when O'Reilly warns against assigning a creative task to a committee or group of people: in such a scenario, creativity flees and logic dominates: "Big groups are excellent at implementing a creative idea. They're just not good at coming up with one. As writer G.K. Chesterton once said, 'I searched the parks in all your cities, and found no statutes of committees'" (234).

'Nuff said.

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the #ReadHarderChallenge: A business book

Well I don't know if I'm energized so much as terrified of marketing and its influence but hey. I've been listening to Terry O'Reilly for years now so I jumped on the super long Canadian library waitlist for this audiobook.

This is written in a way that is for sure aimed at those looking to market a business or products but there's some valuable stuff for artists in here too. Terry says "Marketing is theatre" and as someone who is studying to work in theatre - particularly production management - there's certainly things to be learned from marketing as well.

This is a book that very much accepts and lives in capitalism. The chapter essentially congratulating company's for being twitter darlings (coorporations are not your friends!) is pretty...well its something. And good customer service often comes at the expense of the emotional labour of underpayed workers BUT it would foolish of me to fault a book or the author ABOUT MARKETING for not talking about that.

Terry O'Reilly has been teaching me to spot marketing tactics from a pretty young age, through his accessible way of talking and genuine respect for campaigns that do things effectively. Perhaps, in another life, one where I don't want to burn the whole system down, I would enter marketing as it is both goal oriented and creative field. And damn now that I know how few women are currently in the field vs the amount of women who make spending decisions maybe I should have....nah....

[Kate Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an avid listener to Terry O'Reilly's podcast - Under the Influence. This I Know is written with the same dry wit that he uses in the podcast. With his 30+ years in advertising, Terry teaches us valuable lessons in how to do advertising and marketing well. Having founded Pirate Toronto, a production house that specialized in radio commercials, he even convinced me of using radio for certain marketing ads. He knows his subject well and shares stories from the industry as well as his own stories.
The focus of the book is to help small and medium-sized businesses develop marketing strategies and campaigns without the big budgets of the big companies. He does this by showing what's been done in the past and why and how successful campaigns have worked.
The stories he relates are the best part because they are interesting - but so are the takeaways from the stories themselves. Not only does he highlight why campaigns have worked, he will point out when ad campaigns have been colossal failures and figure out why.
If you own a small business or don't have a large marketing budget, this is a great book. It will help you figure out the best approach to communicating with your target market.
I have worked (and continue to work) for many small companies without any ad budgets whatsoever. I have found this book incredibly useful.

[Alison Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most enjoyable business books I've read. O'Reilly is smart, funny and gets his point across clearly and easily. He uses examples without falling into the Malcolm Gladwell-paint-by-numbers style so many authors use. (It works for Gladwell, but the style has been used to death by too many other writers.) Even the notes were interesting! He practices what he preaches by being genuine in his tone.

I liked that he made sure to include customer service as an important part of marketing. It's generally way easier, and cheaper, to keep the customers you have than attract new ones.

He also made me want to be a regular listener of Under the Influence so I too can be part of the "in crowd" who pays attention!

[Melissa Hartfiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Terry O'Reilly's radio program/podcast, Under the Influence, and his knack for storytelling (like any good advertising person!). After hearing him speak in person I knew I had to read this book and it didn't disappoint. Terry takes everything he has learned in his advertising career and packaged it for the small business owner who needs help marketing but may not have the budget to hire that help.
The book is engaging, useful, full of entertaining but practical examples and I learned so much from it. It really helped me crystallize how to think about my business from a marketing perspective. And it genuinely made me laugh out loud several times. Any business book that can make you do that deserves at least an automatic three stars!

[Charles Northey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the little anecdotes that are peppered throughout this book. O'Reilly really knows his stuff and some of this reads like his radio show (big fan), but there were moments when I was not quite sure what the ultimate audience for this book was... at times I felt like I was being coached to be a candidate for the Dragon's Den (not a fan)... the tension of it all caused me to pick-up and put-down this one several times, this discontinuity might have brought on my flagging interest toward the end.

[Glenn Schmelzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title has a double meaning. In addition to an autobiographic reference, O'Reilly uses it for the values that prompted the founding of the business. These core elements of what the company stands for should be externalized in every part of it's marketing.

The rest of the book dwells on how buyers' perceptions are influenced by branding messages, customer experiences and the packaging (mechanics) by which they receive what they buy. It's got fantastic stories that you'll remember when you need reminders of why each element is important.

[Jessalyn King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this, but it wasn't terribly useful. (Mostly because I've heard the messages many a time in other books and articles.) The stories were entertaining though.

Unfortunately, I think what made me not love it was the standard examples that always come up in marketing books... Zappos, Apple, IBM, Nike, etc. They're kind of stale. I get it, they are good at marketing and we all know them, but everyone uses them as examples. I preferred his small or random examples, and especially the ones of his own experience.

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terry O'Reilly, one of Canada's most successful advertising and marketing men and host of the CBC Radio show Under the Influence, distils a career's worth of knowledge in this entertaining and informative volume. For business owners, marketing people or advertising copywriters, This I Know is practically a textbook. For others, like me, it's an enlightening look at advertising, copywriting, marketing, and business. Lots in here for anyone interested in business and the psychology of marketing.

[Jason Machinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read this year. If you want advice on branding, marketing and how it relates to our lives everyday this is the book to read. If you are starting a new business or applying for a job there is advice, anecdotes and a great deal of storytelling in here to entertain and teach.

Also take a listen to Terry O'Reilly's CBC shows and read his first book, also very enlightening.

[Kbeckermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you listen to Under the Influence much of this will be familiar but none-the-less, a good refresher. Terry writes like he talks so it is engaging, thought provoking and filled with examples. I found the many references to how wonderful Pirate Radio was, annoying by the end of the book.
The key lessons at the end were great, if you read nothing else, read that part.

[Sue Mosher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for people who are interested in marketing something, or just understanding how people's minds work. Most of the information was on Terry O'Reilly's show "Under the Influence" on CBC radio, but it was great to read it again, all in one place. Terry has a way with words and he makes everything he says fascinating.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to marketing (at least the promotion part of marketing) and advertising, although I felt most of the book was relevant to consumer companies looking to do traditional advertising. The two chapter on customer service however are exceptional and unexpected.

A good companion to Seth Godwin’s recent This Is Marketing.

[Tom Greentree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Terry’s book, even though I’m not in formal marketing. I love his stories and insights, and take away from his book insights that transfer to my own life and work. I’ve been a fan of his podcasts for a long time, and was surprised to find this most of the stories included in the book were new to me. Thanks, Terry.

[Vikki VanSickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got me all fired up in the best possible way. O'Reilly has curated a wide range of anecdotes about smart (and some not so smart) marketing campaigns through the ages. Easy to read, quotable, and helpful for people who work in marketing or those who are interested in how branding works.

[Danielle Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone in the marketing industry. Lessons told through riveting stories and jokes. Definitely a page turner! I want to read it again in a month to keep honing in on what makes your brand who you are and how to rise above the completion without price cutting!

[Sheryl Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book for anyone in any kind of business, especially entrepreneurs. I've read it twice now, cover to cover, on my Kindle - and have placed an order for the physical copy because I'm sure it'll be dog-eared in no time.

Phenomenal read - entertaining AND super-useful.

[Jim Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book! Well written and easy to follow.
All of the great examples demonstrated that just as his radio show, this was well researched.
The number of revelations I came across while reading this book were numerous. I now have a lot of work to do.