Powers of Persuasion - Winston Fletcher

Not another book on negotiation! This is, in fact, subtitled 'The Inside Story of British Advertising'. Caroline was interested in advertising, so I looked on Amazon for a book with good reviews, this was it, and she got it as a present, a couple of years ago. She read it and recommended it to me, and I've finally read it.

Winston Fletcher is an advertising big-wig, so it really is an inside story. However, he doesn't seem to have any major chips on his shoulder, and wants to keep his friends, so it's a polite and well-mannered inside story! Unsurprisingly, he is pro-advertising, but he covers arguments for and against, as part of the political climate, as well as how the industry changed over time, the people, the companies, the groundbreaking campaigns, etc.

It would be a bit dry, but it's very well written - as I guess you'd hope you'd get from someone in advertising! It's not a book of advertising - there are a few colour plates, but that's really not the aim. Fortunately, Google and YouTube fill the gaps nicely. It's organised chronologically by decade, but willing to break out of that structure when it helps cover a theme. It's not a whizz-bang book, but rather enjoyable nonetheless.

Posted 2013-04-10.