War in the Boardroom: Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don't See Eye-to-Eye--and What to Do About It

by Al Ries, Laura Ries

Renowned business gurus Al and Laura Ries give a blow-by-blow account of the battle between management and marketing—and argue that the solution lies not in what we think but in how we think There's a reason why the marketing programs of the auto industry, the airline industry, and many other industries are not only ineffective, but bogged down by chaos and confusion. Management minds are not on the same wavelength as marketing minds. What makes a good chief executive? A person who is highly verbal, logical, and analytical. Typical characteristics of a left brainer. What makes a good marketing executive? A person who is highly visual, intuitive, and holistic. Typical characteristics of a right brainer. These different mind-sets often result in conflicting approaches to branding, and the Ries' thought-provoking observations—culled from years on the front lines—support this conclusion, Using some of the world's most famous brands and products to illustrate their argument, the authors convincingly show why some brands succeed (Nokia, Nintendo, and Red Bull) while others decline (Saturn, Sony, and Motorola). In doing so, they sound a clarion to survive in today's media-saturated society, managers must understand how to think like marketers—and vice versa. Featuring the engaging, no-holds-barred writing that readers have come to expect from Al and Laura Ries, War in the Boardroom offers a fresh look at a perennial problem and provides a game plan for companies that want to break through the deadlock and start reaping the rewards.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alfred Paul Ries was an American marketing professional and author. He was the cofounder and chairman of the Atlanta-based consulting firm Ries & Ries with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries. Along with Jack Trout, Ries is credited with resurrecting the idea of "positioning" in the field of marketing.

Reviews

[Sepideh Saied · Rating 4 out of 5]

توی این کتاب تفاوت دیدگاه‌های بازاریابان و مدیرعاملان رو مطرح می‌کنه، بعضی موارد خیلی جالبن چون در دنیای واقعی هم باهاشون برخورد داشتم، علاوه بر این درگیذ داستان‌های خیلی کوتاه از برندهای دنیا هم می‌شید که جذابه.

[Duchess_Nimue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've already read Al Ries' marketing books, The 22 immutable Laws of Marketing, and The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. What he does is repeat himself in a slightly different way. He is using the principles he developed, and writing them again and again. I don't see any difference between his other works and this one. The content is solid enough, but familiar to anyone who read his other work.
It would have work more to have a better way of bridging the difference between marketers with the management. The examples were plentiful, although not enough IMHO.

[Luís Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't a waste of time reading this book. The way how the book is written allows to easily read it and the examples given were indeed interesting to understand the message of the author. The only thing that I did not like was the continuous repetition of the comparation between left-brained people and right-brained people. Other than that I highly recommend it 👍

[Mike Phung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a lot of case study of big companies, you always learn something from the past and if you‘re looking for an opinion/advice you‘ll will see it in this book!

It really opens my mind about how is important a brand, how marketing really decides the and has a huge impact on the consumer!

It‘s a must read for CEO, CTO, COO, startup and the rest!

[Liu Hung · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very infomative. It helped me know more about CEO and CMO all over the world.
I love it !!!!!

[Vida Mulher aos 40 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice perspective of brands successes and unsuccesses at the light of marketing and management. Or right vs left brain brand´s analyses.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ini buku kedua Al Ries yang saya baca setelah "The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR". Di buku ini Al dan Laura Ries masih menyoroti masalah-masalah pemasaran dengan beragam contoh kasus yang ada (kebanyakan dari industri otomotif di Amerika Serikat), namun kali ini mereka lebih menekankan pada perbedaan kecenderungan pola pikir antara dua tipe organisasional perusahaan.

Mereka menulis, selalu ada dua macam persaingan abadi di dalam setiap ruang-ruang rapat di seluruh dunia. Pertama, manajer-manajer bertipe manajemen yang banyak menggunakan belahan otak kiri. Mereka cenderung bersikap rasional, hati-hati, analitis, dan sangat memuja riset, data dan fakta. Kedua, manajer-manajer bertipe pemasaran yang sering menggunakan belahan otak kanan. Mereka cenderung eksentrik, kreatif, berani mengambil risiko, dan banyak menggunakan intuisi. Contoh manajer bertipe manajemen adalah hampir semua CEO perusahaan. Sedangkan Steve Jobs disebut-sebut merupakan contoh manajer bertipe pemasaran yang paling ideal.

Sebagai salah satu tokoh pemasaran kelas dunia, tentu saja kita bisa menebak bahwa buku ini cenderung memihak kepada manajer bertipe pemasaran. Ya, Al Ries menyajikan banyak kisah gagal yang ditenggarai karena perusahaan lebih memilih strategi yang bertipe manajemen dibanding pemasaran. Tetapi saya melihat semuanya masih disajikan dengan cukup proporsional, bahkan Al Ries juga memasukkan sebuah cerita anomali dimana ada sebuah perusahaan kelas dunia yang membuatnya terheran-heran karena justru makin berkembang pesat sekalipun menggunakan cara-cara dan pola pikir bertipe manajemen.

Ini buku yang menarik dan pasti akan membuka persepsi Anda. Seperti buku sebelumnya, Al dan Laura Ries menulis buku ini dengan bahasa yang mudah dimengerti dengan contoh kasus-kasus yang menarik. Hanya saja, saya pribadi masih lebih menyukai buku mereka sebelumnya, "The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR" :-)

Buku ini menulis, para manajer bertipe pemasaran lebih cocok memulai sebuah bisnis baru karena mereka memiliki mental seorang entrepreneur. Sementara, para manajer bertipe manajemen lebih cocok untuk meneruskan sebuah bisnis yang sudah berjalan mapan.


Sekilas seperti: bingung mau memilih sebuah BlackBerry atau sebuah iPhone.

[Reza Rizky Muttaqin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini memberikan pencerahan (walaupun singkat) bagaimana cara seorang pemasar (berotak kanan) dalam merencanakan strategi pemasaran yang bertujuan untuk menanamkan dalam pikiran konsumen dan berbagai perbedaan cara berpikir antara para pemasar (berotak kanan) dan para manajemen (berotak kiri). Secara inplisit buku ini menggambarkan bagaimana sebenarnya cara berpikir konsumen dalam mengingat suatu brand yang berujung kepada proses pembelian (jaman sekarang).
Dengan menggunakan data2 dan contoh2 kasus yang lengkap membuat buku ini sangat bagus untuk dibaca oleh setiap orang.

[Arthur Charlez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just started reading the book and already I am not regretting any cent spent on the purchase. Al's foray into automobile marketing makes complete sense and brilliantly illustrates what is wrong with marketing across th board, especially in the FMCG sector.

Nobody that purports to work in branding actually bothers with branding. It's sick

[Arpita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stopped reading in between, because the chapters sort of start running into each other. They are too similar and although they make different points each, the tone is the same. I have understood the gist of it and if at all needed to study from an academic perspective, you could directly jump to the chapter or brand you need info on.

[Pahroni Kamil]

War in the Boardroom: Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don't See Eye-to-Eye--and What to Do About It

[Ferdi Anggriawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome insight from Al Ries.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

meskipun setiap poin tidak ditulis secara rinci,namun al ries menerangkan perbedaan pola pikir management Dgn sanngat sederhana Dan menarik.

[Kaloyan Roussev · Rating 5 out of 5]

The battle of left and right brain thinking, management and marketing, logical vs counter-intuitive approaches in business, and the amazing breakthroughs that came as a result.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get much out of this. It felt like the marketing team's last laugh against management. Even so, as a manager I want to be sensitive to my right-brain colleagues. We need each other.


Notes:

Stick to what you're good at. No "mushy middle"

A specific word is more memorable than a general one (94)

Don't try to be better, be different (151)