The greatest benefit of reading biographies is that they integrate brands with people, methodology with practice. By this standard, the industry-renowned "Steve Jobs" biography is already beyond mention; besides that, you might start with Richard Branson's "Screw It, Let's Do It" or Howard Schultz's "Pour Your Heart Into It." Compared to the latter, the former appears more sincere and more "self-media." What Virgin brings us is a brand personality that is consistent inside and out: seemingly cynical and challenging tradition, yet actually bold, meticulous, and full of entertainment spirit, committed to viewing brand value through the "lifelong relationship" between brand and user. On this basis, Branson, as a successful hip-hop capitalist, can still not take himself too seriously, daring to "run naked," always maintaining a zero-based mindset, reflecting that the spiritual core advocated by his brand is "youthfulness" rather than simply "youth." "Youth" does not equal "young people"; youth can be seen in any age group. Only brands that perceive this mature beauty of mind can be called truly "young" brands. ▎ NO.2: MINI China "Secret Realm - Urban Micro-Travel" When it comes to developing a lifelong relationship with users and what "youthfulness" means, I think MINI is definitely one of the few brands that knows exactly what it wants to do. The "lifelong best friend" advertising precisely interprets this. MINI strives to avoid the trap of advertising that "sees only the product, not the person." "NOT NORMAL" serves as an emotional bond tightly connecting both ends, building an intimate sense of identity. Whether it's a watch or a car, when this emotional recognition is strong enough, and competing brands lose relevance in the flood, competition between products is no longer on the same dimension. MINI knows a lot about this. To delve into this approach, flipping through "Secret Realm - Urban Micro-Travel" can offer insights: a group of high-end car owners, each with unique skills but never mentioning them, busy taking you through towns and villages to discover little-known travel secrets, narrating the cultural stories and emotional origins along the way, with subtle inner monologues appearing and disappearing... This is not a marketing book; it's a lifestyle reader about rediscovering the city, yet it hides cleverness in simplicity, embedding itself invisibly, precisely reflecting MINI's far higher understanding of "content marketing" than its peers. ▎ NO.3: Al Ries "Marketing Warfare" "50 years ago I opened an advertising agency in New York. At that time, the advertising world was influenced by three thinkers: first, Rosser Reeves; second, David Ogilvy; third, Leo Burnett. Reeves' method was called USP (Unique Selling Proposition). If Pepsi-Cola were his client, Reeves would emphasize Pepsi's taste. Ogilvy emphasized that advertising is a long-term investment in brand building; this was the era of product image. Leo Burnett brought us a creative era; he believed advertising must be distinctive and fully creative. In fact, they all focused on one point: the 'product.' But positioning theory does not position on the product; it aims at the minds of potential customers." This was the opening remark of Al Ries, known as the "father of positioning theory," during a speech in China not long ago. With this speech, the 88-year-old Ries announced his retirement, which sparked my interest in revisiting the "Positioning" series. Like his core viewpoint, a brand must occupy a unique position in the consumer's mind. As seen from the opening remark, "positioning" theory always strives to highlight its differences from other schools. I recommend that everyone read at least one book from the "Positioning" series with a spirit of skepticism. The reason for mentioning "skepticism" is that, in the decades this theory has swept the globe, the core theme of marketing has always been advertising, advertising, and more advertising. Today, although advertising remains mainstream in marketing, the rise of mobile internet has brought information abundance and point-to-point communication, fostering experience economy, fan economy, community marketing, etc. Advertising is no longer the only option. However, if we return to "methods of influencing consumer minds," the Positioning series still offers much to learn from. ▎ NO.4: Philip Kotler "Marketing 3.0" Continuing from the "positioning" theory, if time permits, you might also read David Aaker's "Brand Relevance." The thinking is consistent, but the latter focuses more on category innovation, with newer cases, language, and ideas. If time is tight, I suggest directly picking up Philip Kotler's "Marketing 3.0." In this book, Kotler divides the evolution of marketing into three distinct eras: "Product-centric 1.0," "Consumer-oriented 2.0," and "Value-driven Marketing 3.0," emphasizing that in the 3.0 era: "Marketers no longer view customers merely as consumers, but as complete human individuals with independent thoughts, hearts, and spirits. Today's consumers are increasingly concerned about various inner anxieties and hope the world becomes better." Simply put, Kotler's so-called '3.0 era marketing' is to build marketing on 'value output.' This value is not only functional value but should also include the emotional and spiritual value of the brand and service. As he says, 'Marketing 3.0 combines emotional marketing with humanistic spirit marketing.' What is "humanistic spirit marketing"? Is there really such a trend? Talking about Apple phones is cliché; mentioning New Balance's collaboration with Li Zongsheng on "To the Craftsman" is somewhat interesting, but perhaps Starbucks' "Meet me @Starbucks" is the best example. Considering the information anxiety and mental closure that smartphones bring to young people, Starbucks' ability to create a sincere, friendly, and fashionable "third space" for face-to-face communication becomes even more valuable. ▎ NO.5: Jin Yong "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" With information flooding, every brand, every school, every theory has its followers and critics. This is very much like the martial arts world, where sects are scattered like stars and conflicts never cease. Masters can spar, compare skills, appreciate each other, and bow in respect, but if one insists that one's own school is the best in the world, with no room for others or new knowledge, then one can never become a true grandmaster. So I've always felt that "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" is actually about "breadth of mind." Whenever I see people arguing fiercely over whether product or marketing is more important, whether advertising or community building is key, I'm reminded of the "Qi Sect" and "Sword Sect" in Huashan Sect. The two factions fight to the death, yet what they hold onto is merely a glimpse of the vast martial arts. From a certain perspective, emphasizing product is like the "Qi Sect," focusing on using qi to control the sword, requiring deep "internal strength" in the product; while emphasizing marketing is like the "Sword Sect," focusing on free-spiritedness,不拘一格, adapting to circumstances, and winning without moves. But from a practical standpoint, focusing on only one side can lead to going astray. One should not neglect the other; "you have me, and I have you," only then can martial arts improve and cultivation deepen. ▎ NO.6: Bruce Lee "Artist of Life" However, "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" is after all a novelist's tale; whether it's credible is a matter of opinion. In this regard, "Artist of Life," which condenses Bruce Lee's deep insights into "Kung Fu," is more likely to bring you tangible gains. "To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is the right way. Martial arts is not about fancy moves; it's about expressing oneself directly with minimal movement and force. Each movement has its own character, without any artificial embellishment that complicates it. The closer to the essence of martial arts, the less redundant expression." From this perspective, the so-called "Jeet Kune Do" pursues neither ferocity nor aesthetics, but rather intercepting the opponent's punch in the simplest, most direct, and effective way. You can understand this in Ogilvy's logic: "Good advertising is not about creating memorable phrases, but about truthfully pointing to the product." You can also compare it to Jobs' logic of Apple's "extreme simplicity." Similarly, martial arts have forms, but true martial arts require forgetting forms; good marketing is also "anti-marketing." So-called technology, content, creativity, and channels are all details of "whether to punch or kick," which should change with time, situation, and person, and should not become a burden or obstacle to the smooth transmission of brand value. ▎ NO.7: Ken Segall "Insanely Simple" In Wu Jun's "The Wave of Rise and Fall," there's an episode where Jobs, deeply influenced by Eastern mysticism, once sought management advice from Sony's Akio Morita. Let's set aside that story for now and just say that this "Eastern mysticism" of "great sound is silent, great form is shapeless" indeed fostered Jobs' pursuit of "extreme simplicity," leading him to say words almost identical to Bruce Lee's above: "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." What impact does pursuing "extreme simplicity" as a philosophy across product, marketing, management, and all other aspects have? This is the answer Ken Segall attempts to provide in "Insanely Simple." One major reason to recommend this book is: Segall served as creative director for BMW, IBM, NeXT, and Apple, and was an advertising madman who worked with Jobs for years. He not only witnessed Apple's successful marketing but also practiced it himself. Segall played a key role in Apple's revival, helping create the crucial "Think Different" campaign and participating in naming the iMac, which laid the groundwork for the "i" series product boom. Segall has deep ties with Apple, and his mentor and former boss Steve Hayden (former vice chairman of Ogilvy, creator of the 1984 Super Bowl Apple ad) also wrote a recommendation for this book with Ogilvy-style flair: "Ken Segall has managed to capture lightning in a bottle..." ▎ NO.8: Kenya Hara "Designing Design" If there is any work today that dares to uphold the "right mindfulness" of returning to simplicity for people, things, and objects, using confident life wisdom and elegant, penetrating design to care for humanity, it must be Kenya Hara's "Designing Design." Is this a marketing book? It doesn't seem so, but its inner subtlety connects with marketing thought, mutually confirming, with an indescribable beauty. Although it's indescribable, we can still try to concretize the value of this book, which may include:

  1. "Understanding something is not about defining it or describing it, but rather taking this thing we think we know, making it unknown, and arousing our fresh sense of its reality." — Ex-formation, the design principle of turning the known into the unknown.
  3. On this basis, "Creativity is discovering a question that has never been asked." (Naoto Fukasawa designed the wall-mounted CD player for Muji that, when you pull the string, immediately brings a "spring breeze.")
  4. Alongside software and hardware, there is "senseware" — "referring to any familiar thing that stimulates our sensory perception" (like the old-fashioned resort in Bali with pebble paths that delights our soles and thus delights our souls.)
  6. What is design? — "Design is not a subordinate of media; design explores the essence of media."

▎ NO.9: David Ogilvy "Confessions of an Advertising Man" Classics are like old songs; they always remain fresh over time. If the last slot isn't for my repeatedly recommended "The Business Show," it must be reserved for this book by David Ogilvy. "Confessions of an Advertising Man" was written in the last century. As a pioneering thinker in advertising, it's sometimes hard to imagine that Ogilvy only started Ogilvy & Mather at the "advanced age" of 38, after nearly half a lifetime of trials and refinement, and thereby gained worldwide fame. Whenever I think of this, I'm reminded of his similarity to Jobs, who took the helm again at 42: It seems that only when men have been repeatedly tempered by harsh reality, with all pretense stripped away and no trace of artifice left, do their words gain the power to strike directly at the heart. Long press the QR code below to follow and reply with number 1 to browse related articles by category.