We asked our ScreenBytes Executive Interview guests for the #1 book they would want their team to read right now. Their recommendations make for a compelling and wide-ranging holiday reading list: see their suggestions below!
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing – Jack Trout and Al Ries
“This book was written a long time ago, and it talks about the very simple principles of marketing. I urge everyone to get a copy online on their device that they read. Their preachings of a long time ago, decades ago, I think are very current today on how we do more, how we move markets with less and how we should think about positioning and advertising.”
– Bill Livek, Comscore CEO
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff
“[It’s] a book which is clearly to the extreme, but we’re paying a lot of attention to the world of identity and the world of data tracking.”
– Tal Chalozin, Innovid CTO
Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time – Ian O’Connor
“If you read Bill Belichick’s book about how to look at a team, how to grow a team, how to start and really look at the specifics. How to start small and scale up as a business is one thing. But how Belichick’s looking at his team is different sectors or different groups, the receivers, the running backs, and then how to work in harmony and together, which is so much about business, but also in a growing, scaling, exciting, fast-paced business that we’re in right now, how we can all work together and get everybody on the same page?”
– Adam Lowy, Magnite Head of North American Sales
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
“I think that it’s one of those novels that was ahead of its time. That’s certainly what a great science fiction novel should be. I think it will open a lot of people’s eyes to a world that seemed unattainable probably in 1993 when it came out, but today in 2020 is pretty extraordinary and has probably half of the story that we see today.”
– Dave Morgan, Simulmedia CEO
The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan
“Fifteen years old and still as relevant as ever. Nothing to do with advertising; everything to do with how business decisions can affect the world.”
– Justin Evans, Samsung Ads Global Head of Analytics & Insights
The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants – Tim Wu
“That’s the order that I would read the books in. The Master Switch is about the early telco boom days that led that to the current media landscape, the cable media landscape, let’s say, and then The Attention Merchants picks up there and really looks at what we’ve done with attention since in the digital realm.”
– Ana Milicevic, Sparrow Advisers Principal and Co-Founder
The Memo – Minda Harts
“The Memo talks about women of color and some of the challenges they face in the business marketplace and things like that to really get people talking and thinking in a way about diversity. A lot that’s happened with the social unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s gotten everybody to really look in and want to learn more.”
– Mark Rotblat, Tubi Chief Revenue Officer
Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy
“[It] was instructive in highlighting the clarity of understanding your audience and clarity of the message that you put back in front of that audience. Applying these principles is probably more important now and possibly more challenging now than ever, despite how challenging it was back in the sixties when the book was written.”
– Jordan Rost, Roku Head of Ad Marketing
Restoring The Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data – Rishad Tobaccowala
“I was fortunate to work for Rishad for a very long time. And so I know a lot of his wisdom firsthand, and man, that guy is awesome at the one-liners that really make you think differently. And so I would say, Restoring the Soul of Business is a must-read.”
-Tracey Scheppach, Matter More Media CEO
