Customer Reviews
EXCELLENT HISTORY OF ADVERTISING - By: Brendan Bruce, 09 Nov 2008 
This that rarest of books, one that educates & informs whilst being entertaining. Fletcher's wit & wisdom are not to be missed. His encyclopaedic knowledge & extensive personal experience of advertising mean that both the student & the general reader will be very pleased with their purchase whether for themselves or as a gift.
A must-read for all 'adlanders' and wannabes - By: Hamish Pringle, 26 Jul 2008 It's not often that I read a business book cover-to-cover &in just a few days, & Winston Fletcher's 'Powers of Persuasion' is a rare pleasure as one of those. Although it is a history it's anything but dry, & that's because the author was one of the insiders as an agency owner, President of the Institute of Practitionersin Advertising & Chairman of the Advertising Association. So he brings to the narrative not only his personal knowledge & copious research, but also his own insights & observations - occasionally barbed, but that only adds to the enjoyment! The phrase 'must read' is an over-used one, but that shouldn't prevent it being employed when truly deserved, asin this case. Anyone already workingin an agency or aspiring to do so, should buy this book, & the marketing & procurement professionals who are the clients of agencies will find it a rewarding read too.
Much more than a history - By: Trevor J. Morris, 14 Jul 2008 This is so much more than a history of advertising- though it is a very good history.Students will appreciate the way Fletcher captures the colour & flavour of the industry whilst advertising insiders will revelin reading about their strange genetic roots.A right riveting read.
Refreshing the parts... - By: S. Marquis, 13 Jul 2008 You couldn't make it up, as they say. A chippy adman tries to buy a high street bank; a supermarket trolley maker becomes one of the world's biggest ad agency groups & a bunch of chimps sells all the teain China. Winston Fletcher, one of British advertising's most astute practitioners & observers didn't need to make it up because the true story of British advertising is as colourful, quirky & thrilling as some of its most famous advertisements. Fletcher tells the tale with fine attention to detail & an insider's knowledge of many of the larger than life characters who led the ad industryin the late 20th century & early 21st. The meteoric growth of Saatchi & Saatchi through the 1970s & 80s is perhaps the most astonishing strandin the story. The agency's trauma at losing its founders & their re-emergence as the highly successful M&C Saatchi is the stuff of TV melodrama. Fletcher's touch is pacy & humourous but his message is serious. Amidst all the high drama, British advertising for many decades led the worldin creative flair & proven effectiveness. It is to be hoped it will continue to do so without being bled to death by unwarranted & unworkable government intervention.
