Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of June 2018: With a trillion dollars of business at stake, the question of what advertising will look like in the future is not a trivial one. The Mad Men days are gone forever, replaced in large part by quants and algorithms. The goal is to reach a new generation of consumers, one that is technologically literate and one that does not like being sold to—and the result today is lots of industry flux. To explore the current state of advertising, as well as its likely future, Auletta profiles a number of players in the arena, both old and new, and in doing so gives human faces, approaches, and opinions to a complex topic. According to Auletta, we encounter an average of 5,000 marketing messages daily. This number might even seem reasonable to you, given the world we live in, but in recent times almost all of the new business has gone to digital. The smartphone has changed how advertising works, and in doing so it has placed the power of choice literally in the hands of the consumer. Our relationship with our phones has only grown stronger over time; but the relationships on the other end are fraught and fragile and constantly shifting. --Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review Review
“A brightly readable, cinematic tour through the seismic changes currently altering the face and the very nature of the marketing and advertising professions. . . . the most vivid account to date of what may be the most crucial moment in advertising history – the moment when data went from servant to master.” — Christian Science Monitor
“[A] timely dive into an industry in tumult. . . . Auletta, a veteran New York writer who has covered both Wall Street and the media for decades, does a remarkable job of digging into the personalities and the covert deals.”—Financial Times
“Auletta masterfully maps the rapidly evolving topography of the advertising industry. . . . Perhaps most prescient is Auletta’s spot-on analysis of the interplay between traditional and social media. . . . Other fascinating topics include how efforts such as Citibank’s Citi Bike bike-sharing program in New York City and YouTube Red represent new forms of advertising; how Facebook fell prey to Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election; and how smartphones have revolutionized advertising. Intelligent and well researched, Auletta’s lively survey serves as an excellent primer to a brave new world.”—Publishers Weekly
“Auletta delves into how disruptions are impacting the most powerful agencies and personalities in the business and changing the way advertising is bought, sold, and created. With journalistic precision, the author profiles the executives and companies that have dominated the advertising, marketing, and media industries over the past decade before pivoting to describe how relatively new influencers such as Facebook and Google have overturned conventional thinking.”—Library Journal
“However distant, even repugnant, the advertising and marketing business might seem to the average consumer, it is the fuel that drives a First World economy, Auletta argues. . . . Astute, colorful, fully informed. . . . an important if utterly disquieting book.”—Booklist, starred review
“In this well-researched, personality-packed account, [Ken Auletta] examines the baffling choices facing advertisers (hundreds of media channels, billions of smartphones, etc.) and the technological threats to agencies, from ad blockers to targeted, computerized ad-buying. . . . [A] lively narrative, which delves into the major agencies and most corners of the business. . . . A bright, informative take on an industry in turmoil.”—Kirkus, starred review
“Now more than ever, advertising is the lifeblood that sustains most journalism, television, and entertainment. But with the advent of Google, Facebook, and other digital players, the advertising industry is being fundamentally disrupted. Ken Auletta brilliantly chronicles this drama with his usual combination of behind-the-scenes reporting filled with colorful characters, surprising revelations, and judicious insights. This riveting book shows again why Auletta is the premier reporter of our era on the fascinating and ever-changing worlds of communications and media.” — Walter Isaacson
“Ken Auletta is a wizard at deconstructing the advertising business of yesterday today and tomorrow. If you’re in or interested in media, toss this book at your peril…” —Barry Diller
“Frenemies really goes deep in examining the complexities of our industry from multiple points of view. You feel like you have a ringside seat in an industry that is going through enormous disruption. Well done!” — Bill Koenigsberg, chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies
"For any Madmen fan who wants to know what happened next, Ken Auletta's book is an entertaining, insightful and occasionally terrifying dive into the heart of 21st century advertising. Auletta is the Bob Woodward of the media industries; his access to the inside story is unparalleled, and his story-telling is a treat." — Tim Wu
About the Author
Ken Auletta has written the Annals of Communications column for The New Yorker since 1992. He is the author of twelve books, including Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way; Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman; and World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies. In naming him America's premier media critic, the Columbia Journalism Review said, "no other reporter has covered the new communications revolution as thoroughly as has Auletta." He lives in Manhattan with his wife.
