The Brand Gap: Revised Edition, by Marty Neumeier

Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature, by Mark Earls

Disruption, by Jean-Marie Dru

Truth, Lies and Advertising, by Jon Steel - (If you're going to read one book about planning, read this one, it'll tell you what the job is and whether you might like it - russell)

 

How Customers Think by Gerald Zaltman (focused on concensus maps and very customer centric)

 

 

Perfect Pitch, by Jon Steel (how to be better at presentations generally and pitches in particular)

Eating the Big Fish, by Adam Morgan - provides 8 key strategic principles for aspiring challenger brands

The Pirate Inside by Adam Morgan

Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson

Brand Innovation Manifesto, by John Grant - (A blueprint for "new marketing", and the place where the idea of a "brand molecule" was introduced. Best book on branding from 2006).

 

After Image, by John Grant

Culture and Consumption, by Grant McCracken

Culture and Consumption II, by Grant McCracken

Flock and Flow, by Grant McCracken

Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim

The Book of Gossage, by Howard Luck Gossage

Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Mediated, Thomas de Zengotita

Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt

The Mental World of Brands by Giep Franzen

The Advertised Mind by Erik Du Plessis

Brand Hijack by Alex Wipperfurth

Brands and Branding, by Rita Clifton, John Simmons, Sameena Ahmad, The Economist

Nation of Rebels, by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter - (Essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between subcultures and consumerism. And really, who isn't?).

 

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

Convergence Culture, by Henry Jenkins

The Long Tail, Chris Anderson

The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki

How Brands Become Icons, Douglas A. Holt

Hoopla, Crispin, Porter and Bogusky and Warren Berger

Juicing the Orange, Pat Fallon and Fred Senn

The Gift, by Marcel Mauss

Under the Radar, by Jonathon Bond and Richard Kirshenbaum

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, by Luke Sullivan

Mind of the Strategist, Kenichi Ohmae

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (why its important to learn to trust your instincts)

Watching the English by Kate Fox

We think - The Power of Collective Creativity by Charles Leadbeater

Advertising is dead, long live advertising, by Tom Himpe

Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds

 

A Technique For Producing Ideas by James Webb Young (because creative is not a department)

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden

Under The Radar -Talking To Today's Cynical Consumer by Jonathan Bond & Richard Kirshenbaum

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher (inspiration information)

 

Communication Strategy a best practice guide to developing communication campaigns available as a free PDF download, produced by the IPA, ISBA, MCCA and PRCA. You need to register and login to download the guide, but registration is free too.

 

Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernhoff (Forrester Research) Must read book about creating and successfully using social technologies strategies

 

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell looks at how people at the top of their respective fields get there, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky." 

 

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky looks at social dynamics in a digital world - contextualizes the digital networking age with philosophical, sociological, economic and statistical theories and points to successes and failures.