Months before his best-selling book “The CEO’s Guide To Marketing” earned the Axiom Business Books Silver Award in Marketing, CEO Lonny Kocina sat down with Forbes Books Radio host Gregg Stebben to discuss who will benefit from reading it. This interview aired in 200 U.S. radio markets.
What’s it like for a marketing thought leader, whose agency has arranged tens of thousands of media stories, to be interviewed? “We arrange so many media stories that it should be second nature. But when you have to do one yourself and stay on point, it’s a whole different ballgame,” Kocina admitted, slightly tongue in cheek. “It’s a good reality check.”
In this interview, Kocina revealed his love for helping businesses sell products, and why he felt compelled to write this book. “It exposes a problem within the marketing industry, the scope of which is unimaginable, and gives some solutions,” he said.
After 30 years of working with clients, Kocina is warning that, “Most marketers don’t know basic marketing terms and concepts, and don’t follow a good process … It’s unimaginable how much money is lost and wasted by marketers not knowing this stuff.” He likened this revelation to a CEO discovering that the accounting department is stumped when asked to define basic accounting terms.
“The CEO’s Guide to Marketing” is a money maker for readers
Stebben commented, “So this book will be a money maker for anyone who picks it up and reads it because it’s going to make their marketing more effective, and therefore greater ROI.”
Kocina confirmed, “I wrote this book because I think it can really help people.” The book outlines the Strategically Aimed Marketing (SAM 6®) process, which starts with understanding marketing concepts and principles, then builds the process that will bring structure to your marketing program.
He likened the creative team, which is brought in as the last step of the SAM 6 process, to thoroughbred racehorses who love to run. “Most companies just put them out in a pasture and tell them to go nuts. They need clear direction. If you give them that, they will produce amazing results.”
Media Relations now offers trainers to help companies integrate SAM 6® into their businesses.
Kocina acknowledged that this book, priced at $29.95 for hardcover and $9.99 for Kindle, won’t make him a lot of money. Instead he believes, “If you help everybody, some will become clients … that’s what I’m trying to do. Some people will say, ‘This guy wrote the book. It seems pretty practical. It makes a lot of sense. Obviously, the people in his company are practicing this. Maybe we should use them.’”
But he’s also happy if readers simply implement these six steps for themselves. He concluded, “This book will make you the smartest marketer in the room.”