The Strand Review of Books

Hosted by Toby Chapman-Dawe

Business Marketing

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Oct 2026

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Should you buy the book? Given just ten minutes, authors explain their ideas! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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60 recent

October 27, 20269 min

Burn Bright, Build Slow, with the author, Sandhya Sabapathy

Hello and welcome to the Strand Review of Books. Today I am delighted to be joined by Sandhya Sabapthy, author of Burn Bright, Build Slow – How to build a just climate future . Sandhya is founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, which describes itself as a sustainability and business resilience foundry that helps scale profitable, purpose-driven products and services. The style of the book is both polemic and story. For example, Sandhya writes the Chief Sustainability Officer, and how in many ways the title shows failure rather than success – and Sandhya also comments that a successful Chief Sustainability Officer could be seen through the lens of driving commercial strategy, capital allocation and operating decisions. The three main sections of the book - Business, Planet and Human - cover enormous ground, from carbon credits to marketing and margins. Burn Bright, Build Slow – How to build a just climate future : a thought-provoking book written in a very different style – constantly challenging thought patterns woven in with stories and properly referenced sources. Burn Bright, Build Slow was beautifully published by Epic on 1st July this year, available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 20, 20269 min

Authentic Marketing, with the author, Visha Kudhail

Hello and welcome to the Strand Review of Books . Today I am delighted to speak with Visha Kudhail, author of Authentic Marketing – Combining human thinking and creativity with technology to inspire audiences . Among other things, Visha hosts the Behind the Face of Success podcast and chairs the Data and Marketing Association Media Council, and is currently global brand and advocacy director at Talon One, the platform that powers loyalty, promotions, and gamification for brands of every size. You could probably find many of the chapter headings in what I might call a ‘standard marketing book,’ for example ‘Audience-first thinking’ and ‘The power of brand voice.’ What makes Authentic Marketing different? How is AI impacting marketing, and in particular the struggle to balance clickbait and fakery against authenticity? Thank you so much to Visha Kudhail, author of Authentic Marketing – Combining human thinking and creativity with technology to inspire audiences . There’s plenty to like, based on real-world stories of business experience from Pinterest, Google, YouTube and more, combined with sky-blue thinking. Part of a marketing strategy series published by Kogan Page, available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 13, 20269 min

SuperSkills, with the author, Rahim Hirji

Today I am delighted to speak with Rahim Hirji, author of SuperSkills – The seven human skills for the age of AI . Rahim is in high demand for keynote presentations on human judgement and capability in the age of AI. There is actually relatively little in the book about AI, and much more about human approaches to thinking. Will AI out-think us or will the SuperSkills always be the human advantage? For people in jobs said to be under pressure from AI, how might SuperSkills help? Thank you so much to Rahim Hirji, author of SuperSkills – The seven human skills for the age of AI , and intriguing and wide-ranging look at our own skillsets, full of experience-based examples and thought-provoking systems and strategies, very nicely published by Kogan Page, available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 6, 20269 min

The Pricing Sprint, with co-author Ann Padley

Hello and welcome to the Strand Review of Books. Today I am delighted to speak with Ann Padley, co-author with Jenny Millar of The Pricing Sprint – 12 steps to unlock the power of pricing . Ann is senior partner at Untapped Pricing, a boutique consultancy that helps organizations design and implement pricing strategies that better reflect the value that they create. Jenny is the founder and CEO of Untapped Pricing, and former eBay executive. The book blurb says that companies lose out on millions, not because their product is wrong or their costs are too high, but because they’ve misjudged something far more complex: what people value.Pricing occurs at the ‘uncomfortable intersection of money, value and human behaviour.’ Why is pricing such a challenge? Thank you so much to Ann Padley, co-author with Jenny Millar of The Pricing Sprint – 12 steps to unlock the power of pricing , designed to help you create a commercial pricing strategy, nicely published by Bloomsbury Press, available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 29, 20269 min

Leading the Culture Journey, with co-author Natalie Johnson

Hello and welcome to the Strand review of Books. Today I am delighted to welcome Natalie Johnson, co-author with Rebecca Johnson of Leading the Culture Journey: Elevating Everyday Actions to Create Extraordinary Workplaces . The book aims to demonstrate the proposition that, at work, culture shapes everything – your energy, your wellbeing, the relationships your team members have with one another, and your company’s performance – and how to build a culture that transforms your organization into a dynamic, vibrant, and healthy place to work. Leading the Culture Journey – Elevating Everyday Actions to Create Extraordinary Workplaces , published by Wiley, is full of examples, references and calls to action with some thought-provoking action plans and reviews, available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 22, 20269 min

The Art in Marketing Book, with the author, Anthony 'Tas' Tasgal

Hello and welcome to Anthony Tasgal, possibly better known as Tas, author of The Art in Marketing Book – Why we need less science and more art in marketing . Tas is author of seven other books, including the best-selling The Storytelling Book , and The Classical Marketing Book - – Marketing Lessons from the Greeks and Romans and is a self-described ‘man of many lanyards’ as a trainer, author, TEDx speaker, brand strategist and lecturer. In a book with section headings such as How’s your mayonnaise and The Greeks had a word for it and The monstrous worship of facts , what’s The Art in Marketing Book about, and why should Percy Punter purchase it? The Art in Marketing Book – Why we need less science and more art in marketing is absolutely packed with gems from art, science, the classics and the antichrist of marketing, a cracking read at 140 pages and an absolute steal at £9.99, published by LID Publishing and available of course, from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 15, 20269 min

The Z-Curve, with the author, Alberto Torres

Alberto Torres lives on the fault lines of technological change; he has a PhD from Stanford in computer science, and among many senior roles has worked at Bang & Olufsen, Hewlett-Packard, McKinsey, Nokia and now latterly as a member of Adobe’s International Advisory Board. The Z-Curve: Navigating your business through technological disruption ... If like me you enjoy great tech stories with a good splash of film references to bring the storytelling alive – for example, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Another Day, and even a little William Blake – The Z-Curve is a gripping read that, dare I say it, even made me think. Highly recommended, beautifully published by LID Publishing in hardback at £19.99 and available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 8, 20269 min

Navigating Data Standards in Business Strategy, with co-authors Daniela Molta and Tiffany Johnson

Hello and welcome to the Strand Review of Books. Today I am delighted to be joined by Daniela Molta and Tiffany Johnson, co-authors of Navigating Data Standards in Business Strategy – How Applied Data Principles Drive Trust and Business Growth . Pleasingly, the book is published today , which brings us neatly to the point: Daniela, why write this book and why now? Why does trust – or lack of it – continue to be such a big issue and are the steps to restore it technical or emotional? Is there a trade-off between the commercial value of data and the trust impact? Two chapter-heading quotes really struck me: Deming’s comment “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion,” and Tim Cook’s remark “Privacy is a fundamental human right.” OK, and did Mark Twain really say “Data is like garbage. You’d better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it”? Thank you so much to Daniela Molta and Tiffany Johnson, co-authors of Navigating Data Standards in Business Strategy – How Applied Data Principles Drive Trust and Business Growth . Five sections packed with 12 chapters, full of strategies and actions, published today by Anthem Press, available from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 1, 20269 min

Counterintuitive, with the author, Naveen Jain

Welcome to Naveen Jain, irrepressible entrepreneur and author of Counterintuitive, Unconventional Principles for Success in Life and Business. If the heart of advertising is promise, large promise, the title says it right there! For anyone reading the book, what stops them from being counterintuitive? How do you deal with the anguish when a home truth (page 151) smacks you right between the eyes? What does Counterintuitive thinking offer? Thank you to Naveen Jain, author of Counterintuitive, Unconventional Principles for Success in Life and Business and winner of, among other awards, the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Published by Harriman House, a modest 210 pages, change your outlook on life at a snip at £16.99 and available of course from Amazon and all good bookshops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 28, 20269 min

The Persuasion Engine, with the author, Roger Dooley

Hello and welcome to the Strand Review of Books. Today I am delighted to welcome Roger Dooley, author of The Persuasion Engine, How any business can use AI-powered neuromarketing to understand and win customers . Roger looks at the challenge faced by every marketer: how to figure out why customers make the decisions they do when 95% of their thought processes occur at an unconscious level. Full of actionable marketing strategies, the aim is to create compelling marketing campaigns that work on real people in the real world. Published by Wiley and, of course, available from Amazon and all good bookshops. Thank you for listening, and good-bye. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.