It was hard to pass this book on the shelves at the bookstore. Its title spoke directly to the onlookers saying “Your marketing sucks.”  On the front soft cover of this book, these words are placed in bold black on a white background.  There is nothing else on the cover, other than a small font “(see details inside)” statement, printed in red at the very bottom. Then, at the very top, there is a simple small font quote from Time Magazine, calling the book “clear, sensible suggestions for making money through marketing.”  With this simple cover concept, Mark Stevens is proving to readers that he uses his own medicine, which he calls “extreme marketing” in marketing his own book about the subject.
  
What a bold statement the writer is making when he sends a clear message to his reader that his marketing “sucks”!  If for nothing else, one feels inclined to buy the book even if only as a credit to the creative way the writer marketed it by one simple, but intimidating statement.

The book is exactly what the title suggests.  The author’s point is that most organizations do not approach their marketing properly. Stevens cites examples of organizations worldwide that are spending millions on advertising without making sure that the money spent will yield sales, as a direct result of marketing expenditures.

The acid test for an organization to determine whether their marketing sucks or not is simple.  As the author puts it, in his straight-shooting style, “if the moola [slang for money] you spend on marketing isn’t growing your business and bringing more moola in return, then you have marketing that… sucks.”

Instead of the traditional marketing approach, which does not work according to the author, Stevens proposes what he calls “extreme marketing” to replace the ad-hoc way organizations are spending money on this important function. While not one single recommendation seems new to marketing science, the way the author integrates all his techniques together into one cohesive methodology is powerful.

Throughout the methodology, there are powerful themes that stand out. One of them is to approach marketing in an integrated fashion, where one form of marketing feeds another.  A simple example of that is using ads to promote the company website, or when sending letters to prospects and telling them in the letters that someone from the company will follow up with them with a phone call.

The author seems to also believe in going to extremes to get the attention of prospects.  This means being genuine, and not just follow the crowd in the way they market, then making one’s self and ads stand out in a positive, but different way.  He displays some of the ads his company designed for clients, and through them, this theme of drawing attention with the unfamiliar stands out very clearly. One ad shows the head of a bald person in profile screaming the value proposition of the company in few simple words.  This ad was so successful that the author’s firm got an award from Forbes Magazine for it.

Another important subject presented in the book is the relationships among marketing, sales and the professional team that delivers the service in an organization.  The author proposes a way to integrate all three functions as part of the marketing strategy.  He believes a skilled and aggressive sales team is key to the success of a marketing campaign.  He also believes that professional people in the firm can support a marketing campaign by making presentations on the value of the services they provide without coming across as salespeople.

The book is one of the most enjoyable and clearest books out there on marketing.  It provides readers with a practical way to approach marketing properly.  It is around 250 pages in soft cover, and the conversational and sometimes provocative style of the author prompts readers to read the whole book, without getting bored. The book, published in 2005, has received positive reviews from famous best selling business authors like Tom Peters, the author of “In Search of Excellence,” and Seth Goden, the author of “Purple Cow.”

Stevens is the president of a marketing company, and a leading expert on what is called ROI (Return On Investment)-based marketing. He has other books including the Big Eight and Extreme Management.