You have to love a business book that opens by quoting a scene for The Godfather Part II movie and then uses it as the platform for a serious point about business. Milligan & Smith's book is crammed full of media references and entertaining brand anecdotes, all used to make a compelling point. As modern marketing becomes ever more sophisticated, they argue, it threatens to get lost in a maze of complicated analytical techniques which try to second guess what will work and what will not. Focus groups, econometric modelling, feasibility studies and other wholly objective consultative tools have a place, but they should be used as reference material only, not as the blueprint for a course of action. When it comes down to it, say the authors, the underlying secrets to any good business (whether it is Richard Branson's or that of the Corleone family) are largely gut instinct and a big spoonful of daring. In other words, See Feel Think Do.

Marketers, argue Milligan & Smith, must first get thorough first-hand knowledge of their customers (See), test that understanding against their own common sense and gut emotions as fellow human beings (Feel), consider how to deliver the perfect experience to the target market with no pre-conceptions of what can or can't be done (Think), and then make it happen (Do). To illustrate their argument, they set out well over 200 different brand stories from successful companies and individuals who followed a hunch not a focus group and came up with a winner. These range from entrepreneurial start-ups (including Amazon, Carphone Warehouse, Innocent Smoothies and of course Virgin) to already established companies, which overturned traditional thinking in order to take control of a particular sector (including Tesco, Sony, Apple, Clifford Chance and Progressive Insurance).

The key factor in all these examples of course is bold leadership, and the authors end with another well-chosen illustration, as idiosyncratic as the Godfather anecdote that opens the book. If you've ever wondered how Admiral Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar might equate to modern brand marketing, here’s the place to find out! Highly recommended.

Simon Tesler, adbrands.net, January 2006

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