I recently changed jobs. I was in Business Intelligence, I have moved to be our Database Marketing Manager. My background is very strong technically, but I am new to the marketing world. I need some resources to help me understand the assumptions/method/paradigm that makes this new world operate. I am looking for a few books that can clue me in. Marketing in general, Marketing Research, and Database Marketing are the areas I need to explore.
(Please note, I am not looking for posts from Dopers with their own experiences in these areas, I want something permanent I can keep on my desk.)
If you want a marketing overview and don’t want to showcase a paperback copy of “Marketing for Idiots” on your desk, I’d recommend heading to the local college bookstore. Find the textbook(s) used in the Marketing 101 class(es), keeping in mind that there may be several to choose from. The one used by the business college will probably be very in-depth. The one used by the night school/A&S crowd will probably be more of an overview. The former may look better on your desk, the latter may be closer to what you’re looking for.
DB Marketing and Marketing Research books will be available at the same place. All will be expensive. (If they aren’t on the shelves, then the classes aren’t being taught at the moment. Ask the staff to pull them for you. It helps if you know the class number, which is listed in the course guide, or the book title and author, which is available from the professor and/or his web site.)
Depending on how current and comprehensive the Marketing 101 book is, it may contain enough info to fill you in sufficiently on DB marketing and marketing research, in which case you may not need to invest the time and money on these other texts. And with sufficient grounding in the basics, you’ll probably be able to pick things up as you go, or by reading more reader-friendly books from the business section at Barnes and Noble.