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If You Could Only Have Five Marketing Books…

Packing for the next trip to the Space Station? You know how tight those weight restrictions must be. Virgin Galactic has your first-class ticket booked, but you might be a little lonely if the weather is overcast. Thankfully, Richard Branson made the restrictions a little looser than what the folks over at Boing Boing uncovered here: TSA screener: 2-Book Max On Flights, you can take five books with you.

What would your five must-read Marketing books be?

Here are mine (in alphabetical order):

– The Cluetrain Manifesto – The End of Business as Usual by Christopher Locke – Rick Levine – Doc Searls and David Weinberger.

There’s no doubt that this still proves to be a seminal piece of Marketing literature. Weinberger’s other books rock as well – Everything Is Miscellaneous and Small Pieces Loosely Joined.

– Life After the 30-Second Spot – Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising by Joseph Jaffe.

Jaffe has his latest book, Join The Conversation, out now as well.

– Purple Cow – Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin.

Godin’s latest, Meatball Sundae, would have made the cut if there was room for six.

– Re-imagine – Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age by Tom Peters.

Not a Marketing book so much as a general business book, but it’s chock full of marketing insights.

– Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? – Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing by Bryan Eisenberg and Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Because, ultimately, this book describes what Marketing does – it creates a scent that gets consumers to buy.

What’s in your space pack?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.