In today’s digital-centric media landscape, TV advertising is often pushed to the side as social, digital, and search take the spotlight. But consumers are still watching plenty of TV.
In fact, Linear TV ad spending is expected to be bigger in 2024 than this year. And Linear TV remains the most effective brand-building marketing channel. TV’s opportunities aren’t diminishing. They’re simply changing as consumers’ viewing habits shift.
We’ve curated a list featuring some of our favorite marketing and strategy books. They’re not all about TV. They’re about building successful brands and businesses. But each presents principles supporting TV’s ability to fuel meaningful business growth.
1. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
In one of the best marketing books ever, Al Ries and Jack Trout slash misconceptions and provide actionable advice for building winning brands. Based on years of research spanning numerous industries, the book offers 22 marketing laws, supported with stories from companies that followed (or violated) the laws.
Ries and Trout explore how brands that lead categories generate greater profits and staying power than those that follow. But category leaders only become leaders when they stand out from the crowd. Launching TV is a bold way to stand apart from the competition and reach wide audiences while raising awareness.
2. Influence by Robert Cialdini
A leading expert in psychology and marketing, Dr. Cialdini details six principles of persuasion and expands on how they can be leveraged (ethically) in business leadership. Influence: The Science of Persuasion explains why marketers cannot ignore the principle of authority. The more trustworthy a person or brand is, the greater influence they hold. The impact of credibility is so great that even the perception of authority influences consumers during the buying process.
TV is a great way to foster authority. In fact, TV is considered a more trustworthy source of information than either digital video or social media. Just being on TV legitimizes your brand in the eyes of consumers and puts you in the same league as well-known, major brands.
3. Subprime Attention Crisis by Tim Hwang
In Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet, Google alum Hwang discusses digital advertising’s increasing risk of collapse, citing its diminishing effectiveness, rampant fraud, and lack of transparency in the ad exchange process. It's a frightening prospect for small to medium-sized businesses heavily reliant on digital for customer acquisition.
To alleviate these risks while still reaping digital’s undeniable benefits, consider pairing it with TV. Together, TV and digital form a mutually beneficial relationship that helps you gain better returns overall. For example, TV helps drive traffic to your website, and in return, paid search encourages consumers to respond after seeing your TV ad.
4. Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick by McKinsey
Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick presents empirical evidence that bold strategic moves are required to become and remain a top industry performer. Long-term, meaningful growth doesn’t come through small, safe steps or watered-down marketing efforts. Instead, it requires bold action.
Offering mass reach, high visibility, and an immersive brand experience, TV is the classic big marketing move. It beautifully balances your short- and long-term goals by driving sales response while building your brand. It’s a dramatic investment, but one that drives lasting momentum and unbeatable brand impacts.
5. All-Inclusive TV by Chuck Hengel
This list wouldn’t be complete without including our very own book about TV advertising. Through client stories and firsthand experiences spanning over two decades in the constantly changing advertising industry, All-Inclusive TV: How Booming Brands Are Reimagining TV Advertising provides practical advice for transforming your business through TV advertising—and why it absolutely matters. If nothing else, this book will convince you to rethink TV’s role in the digital era.
