Soffront’s blog is one of the more interesting ones available, frequently touching on areas not of direct profit to the company, which makes it more worthwhile than most kept blogs.

One of its latest entries of interest is five of the best books for marketers. In addition to these, this reporter heartily recommends the 1995 book Where The Suckers Moon: The Life And Death Of An Advertising Campaign, by a New York Times advertising columnist, Randall Rothenberg. It details, step by painful step, the marriage of an old and decrepit automaker, Subaru, and a (then-) young, hip ad agency, Wieden & Kennedy.

Wieden & Kennedy won one of the most hotly-contested contracts of the year, despite the fact that their creative director hated car companies. The subsequent ad campaign was not successful -- it was one of those intensely despised ad campaigns that won fawning admiration in the advertising community but failed to actually sell cars.

A most instructive case study, the book is as good an introduction to the street-level nitty-gritty of real-life advertising and marketing as we’re aware of.

Right, on to Soffront’s list:

Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, by Jim Lecinski. Explains the Zero Moment of Truth and how it has become an essential, if not THE essential element in successful marketing: “The first moment of truth is when a consumer is presented with a selection on the store shelf and must make a choice. The second moment of truth is the experience the consumer has after the purchase.”

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini. Based on extensive research conducted to determine what makes people say “yes.” Highly readable despite its academic nature.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Provides useful information to marketers even though it isn’t about marketing. The authors present their analysis of successful change agents and the remarkably similar strategies used by those agents of change.

Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders, by Adam Morgan. Second edition released in 2009, Admap called this a “must read for anyone in marketing.” The book explains “how to compete when you are not a market leader.”

Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant, by David Aaker. Shows how to make competitors irrelevant by creating new categories or subcategories and effectively creating barriers to competitors entering and competing in the new niche.