Top Best Books to Read as a Marketing Undergrad

If you’re just at the beginning of your marketing journey in college, it’s time to check your campus or some online library to get the books that will upgrade your knowledge. It doesn’t really matter if you’d like to know more about the corporations like Gucci or Starbucks or simply polish up the basics of marketing skills, we have some of the best books in the niche for you. Whether you’re assigned to write a marketing research proposal or are on the lookout for a weekend reading, we have something for you.

“How Brands Become Icons” (Douglas B. Holt)

Have you ever thought about how actually world-known brands like Budweiser and Coca-Cola were created? In “How Brands Become Icons” written by Douglas Holt, you get to learn how exactly the iconic trademarks became known. According to an associate professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, the brands like the ones mentioned above were never created by means of standard branding strategies. Instead, the owners of the companies used the so-called principles of “cultural branding.”

“Marketing For Tomorrow, Not Yesterday” (Zain Raj)

According to the author of the book “Marketing For Tomorrow, Not Yesterday”, all the old marketing rules like building a successful business on the preferences of the clients should be forgotten. A former CEO, Zain Raj insists that together with tech progress and consumer education advancement, the approach to marketing should be changed as well. In his book, the author informs people on how to benefit from the modern channels in order to hook clients and talks about the new strategies to succeed. If you catch yourself thinking about the future of the chosen field of study, this book is a must-have.

“Introduction to Marketing: Theory and Practice” (Adrian Palmer)

When it comes to the book written by professor Adrian Palmer, it delivers a broad approach to learning marketing as well as takes important aspects from other fields, such as business, psychology, and sociology. If you’re a beginner looking for some useful materials to understand all aspects that shape today’s marketing, “Introduction to Marketing: Theory and Practice” could be an option.

There are detailed sections about marketing and annotations for future reading in the book.  

“Epic Content Marketing” (Joe Pullizzi)

The author of the book is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) – one of the fastest growing and leading content marketing educational companies. In other words, Joe Pullizzi knows very well what the field of marketing is all about, as well as how to succeed in it.

In his book, Joe Pullizzi takes his readers through the process of creating stories that educate and motivate them to act without directly asking them to.

“Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE” (Phil Knight)

Looking for some professional advice on leadership? The work “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE” by Phil Knight includes some recommendations together with stunning strategies in the field of marketing. The founder of Nike shares some of the most significant decisions that were part of the foundation of the global economy, as well as focuses on how his company gained publicity through athletes.

“Marketing: An Introduction” (Gary Armstrong and Philip T. Kotler)

If you’ve just started learning marketing in college, focusing on “Marketing: An Introduction” by Gary Armstrong and Philip T. Kotler will help you to learn all the marketing processes and strategies faster. The book includes four parts, each helping readers to get a better idea of how one should analyze and interpret information in the marketing environment. At the same time, you will learn about the promotion and sales techniques in the field. 

“Buy.logy” (Martin Lindstrom)

Do you know everything about the things that you buy every day? What are the aspects that really influence your decision to put this or that item in the shopping basket? Is it an attractive slogan, a catchy ad, or your friend’s recommendations? In the book “Buy.logy” written by Martin Lindstrom, you get an opportunity to check the three-year study performed by the author. A cutting-edge exploration cost $7.000.000 and engaged 2000 volunteers from all over the globe. People who participated in the experiment were required to deal with various commercials, ads, products, and brands. As a result, the author investigated the subconscious minds of the customers to see what exactly sparks their interest and motivates them to buy this or that product.

Marketing by Roger A. Kerin

The other good option for beginners in the field – “Marketing” by Roger A. Kerin – includes 20 chapters of techniques and principles of a winning marketing campaign. At the beginning of each chapter of the book, the readers have to deal with a case study or example that helps to get a better idea of the theory put into practice in the situations that occur in the real world.

If you’re interested in the field of marketing, it’s never too late to learn or upgrade your skills. We hope the books listed above will elevate you and motivate you to keep working toward success in your chosen area.