Works by Jean-Marie Dru, Marian Salzman, Stefan Sagmeister and Nina DeSesa all receive stellar reviews
How Disruption Brought Order. The Story of a Winning Strategy in the World of Advertising
by Jean-Marie Dru
"In 1984, Dru cofounded the international advertising agency BDDP, which merged in 1998 with TBWA Worldwide; today he serves as president and CEO-international with responsibility for all markets worldwide. His innovative Disruption techniques that force companies to look at what they are doing under a new light have created fresh advertising campaigns for Apple, Nissan, and Adidas in the United States and in France for McDonald's and the French railways. In his two previous books, Dru has outlined the techniques his agency uses to shake up the industry and bring radical new thinking to revitalize product perception in the marketplace. This time he takes the reader on a worldwide tour of Disruption, demonstrating how the disruptive process has been so successful for his clients while further expounding on the methodologies to produce a practical guide for others to follow. All great breakthrough business ideas have involved breaking with convention, but Dru's penchant for articulating the need for creative destruction brings decisiveness and encouragement to a field that constantly searches for ways to bring renewal to the process."
-- David Siegfried, Booklist
"You can't do big things in business if you're content with doing things a little better than everyone else. In an era of hyper-competition and non-stop innovation, the most successful competitors are the most disruptive competitors--companies that reshape the sense of what's possible in their industry. In this honest, fast-paced, and endlessly useful book, Jean-Marie Dru, a disruptive thinker who has helped so many great companies redefine their brands and marketing messages, explains how his one-of-a-kind company works--and how his ideas can help you rethink how your company works and wins. Business is too exciting (and too demanding) for business as usual. This book shows you what comes next."
--William C. Taylor, Founding Editor of Fast Company and co-author of Mavericks at Work
"Quite simply and without a shadow of a doubt the best book about advertising ever written. Jean-Marie Dru, the giant brain of our business of our time, divulges the trade secrets of Disruption in full. And the work is a treasure trove of brilliant examples and anecdotes--every page you turn is an inspiration and a joy."
--Donald Gunn, Founder, The Gunn Report
The Future of Men
by Marian Salzman
The two genders have converged, and men—individually and collectively—must now embark upon a search for a new identity. The authors placed themselves at the center of the debate over the future of men when they launched the media shots (New York Times, Economist, Time, etc.) that set off a global buzz about metrosexuality, or straight men who are "just gay enough." In The Future of Men, they explore cultural, social, biological, and economic changes, as well as media influences, that have fundamentally altered the roles, relationships, and identities of the sexes. While the authors are American and domiciled in the U.S., their view is global—and for this work, they tapped interview subjects and reference materials from around the world, with considerable input from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, India, The Netherlands, and Turkey.
The Future of Men is a provocative survey of gender relations and roles, and includes consumer-focused market research findings on the blurring of the traditional attitudes and behaviors of the sexes. Where once men were securely and incontrovertibly "on top," the authors have uncovered clear evidence that modern man is now doggedly trying to stake claim to any position in which he’ll find comfort and sustenance, with the ultimate goal having more to do with being a good person, a good lover, and a good citizen than a domineering force within society, the workplace, or the home.
The Future of Men looks at this topic through two perspectives, sociological and commercial, examining causes and implications through the eyes of experts in consumerism and pop culture. It is a unique and media-savvy take on the near future of gender relations, with an emphasis on men.
The authors wrote this book because they have been deeply involved in the public debate about the evolution of the sexes, and they recognized a distinct void in the available literature. So much has been written about women and their revolution and evolution in recent years, but what about men? How has the male of the species responded to the empowerment of the female? This book provides the first comprehensive overview of what has taken place over the past three decades, as the Women’s Lib movement has increasingly marginalized men into the "second sex," while turning women into "the sex in the spotlight"—and the sex more worthy of the benefit of the doubt.
-- from The Future of Men web site
"The trend-spotting authors who popularized the term 'metrosexual' have decided that the two-year-old phenomenon is, well, so two years ago. The new ideal is the 'übersexual'…reading Esquire or Sports Illustrated, shopping less but more discriminatingly, and favoring men over women as their closest friends."
-- Andrew Adam Newman, The New York Times
"Written with great élan and hyperbolic vigor, the book features a liberal dose of media and pop-cultural references....Targeted at readers looking to connect with the elusive male consumer, the book should stimulate more than its share of water cooler conversations and trend-forecasting magazine articles."
-- Publishers Weekly
"There's more to men these days than NASCAR Dads and Metrosexuals. In The Future of Men, Marian Salzman unlocks the secrets of marketing specifically to men with the kind of fresh insight and business savvy that proves the phrase 'If you want to know what a man really wants, ask a woman.' Anyone looking to transform their business will find not only an entertaining read here, but loads of practical advice."
--Faith Popcorn, author of EVEolution and the upcoming In Culture
Things I have Learned in My Life So Far
by Stefan Sagmeister
This book began as a list designer Stefan Sagmeister made in his diary under the title Things I have learned in my life so far, which includes statements such as “Worrying solves nothing” and “Trying to look good limits my life.” The list reveals something that is profoundly true: Although human beings have been pursuing happiness for countless generations, it is not so easily achieved. And we need constant reminders to keep us on the right path.
With the support of his clients, Sagmeister transformed these sentences into typographic works, from billboards in France to sign-toting inflatable monkeys on the streets of Scotland. Accompanied by essays from design historian Steven Heller, Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector, and UK psychologist Daniel Nettle, as well as Sagmeister’s own words, the series is revealed as a complex blend of personal revelation, art, and design—an eclectic mix of visual audacity and sound advice.
Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top
by Nina DeSesa
"Chairman of McCann Erickson New York, part of one of the largest advertising networks in the world, DiSesa delivers a one-on-one mentoring session on working with, competing against and managing both men and women. Confirming that her nature is to nurture, she is thoughtful and confessional as DiSesa looks back at how she learned to defy her own bad habits—including in-office meltdowns—and to substitute charm in their stead. DiSesa also readily shares insights gained from such nongender-based blunders as letting clients take a break in the middle of a presentation (the clients failed to return to the conference room). Though she refers to manipulating and seducing and learning to exhibit male behavior throughout, DiSesa's hard work, talent and insight into human nature appear to be the real drivers behind her success. That DiSesa has managed to package her experiences into accessible form creates a welcome opportunity for both women and men hoping to duplicate her success."
-- Publishers Weekly
In Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top DiSesa asserts that women need to meld their feminine characteristics (nurturing, compassion, listening) with the traits of their male counterparts (competitiveness, decisiveness, combativeness) to expand their professional horizons.
Fact #1: Forty years after the feminist revolution, fewer than 2 percent of Fortune 1000 CEOs are women.
Fact #2: The playing field is not level.
Fact #3: You need to get over this.
From the woman who became chairman of the flagship office of the largest advertising agency network in the world comes a wry reality check on how to get ahead and thrive in the testosterone-driven business arena.
Nina DiSesa is a master communicator, a ceiling crasher, and one of the most successful women in the corporate world. She is also a big-time realist who has figured out that S&M–seduction and manipulation–is the secret to winning over (and surpassing) the big guys. In Seducing the Boys Club, DiSesa shows that you can, in fact, leave your male colleagues in the dust–but not by following the rules you learned in business school.
By playing the roles of den mother, fraternity brother, little sister, and hard-nosed boss, DiSesa navigated the choppy, macho-minded waters of the workplace. All the “bad boys” in her life–and there are many–have provided a wealth of devilishly amusing stories and cautionary tales that DiSesa is only too happy to pass on. Ah, revenge can be sweet, but the truth is that she came to love those boys as much as they love her–which is the whole point.
In Seducing the Boys Club, DiSesa shares her practical, outrageous, and even controversial maxims for making it, including:
• Learn to appreciate men. Men like women who like them.
• Remember that women are biologically wired to succeed.
• If you want to make a name for yourself, find a mess and fix it. A secure and comfortable job only holds you back.
• Don’t assume that men never listen. They listen like a dog does.
• Don’t be a quiet achiever.
• Act brave and you will look brave.
• Screw the rules. Make up your own.
Whether dead-on funny or deadly serious, DiSesa is always on her game, always on message, and absolutely on target as she arms women with the can-do confidence and no-compromises attitude they need to climb as high as their ambition can carry them–while keeping their standards impeccable and their integrity intact. Not for women only, this book should be read by men, too . . . though it won’t give them any defense against a woman who can truly seduce a boys club!
back to list
