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Marketing Outrageously: How to Increase Your Revenue by Staggering Amounts!
Jon Spoelstra, one of the country's best sports marketers, contends there is less risk and more payoffs in creating outrageous marketing.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2001
26 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Jon Spoelstra
35 books136 followers"I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man. I can't believe it. I was young just minutes ago."
I wish I had uttered that. I didn't, but I feel it. (Attribute that quote to an American illustrator, Maurice Sendak.)
So, not accepting that I've turned into a typical old man, I wrote a mystery involving some nifty old guys, "Who's Killing All My Old Girlfriends."
I sent the manuscript to a bunch of test readers—all old men and a few old women. They loved it. They wanted to read the sequel. Even before publishing "Who's Killing All My Old Girlfriends," I wrote a sequel. "Who's Killing the Fountain of Youth."
More rave reviews came from my test readers, all oldsters.
If you're over 50 years old, I suspect that you'd enjoy these two novels. If you're under the age of 50 and have a favorite grandpa, you'd also probably like these adventures.
You might as well get started. I'm now writing the third book in the series, "Who's Killing All the Good Old Bank Robbers." So, get crackin', you'll have fun.
Happy reading,
Jon Spoelstra
I wish I had uttered that. I didn't, but I feel it. (Attribute that quote to an American illustrator, Maurice Sendak.)
So, not accepting that I've turned into a typical old man, I wrote a mystery involving some nifty old guys, "Who's Killing All My Old Girlfriends."
I sent the manuscript to a bunch of test readers—all old men and a few old women. They loved it. They wanted to read the sequel. Even before publishing "Who's Killing All My Old Girlfriends," I wrote a sequel. "Who's Killing the Fountain of Youth."
More rave reviews came from my test readers, all oldsters.
If you're over 50 years old, I suspect that you'd enjoy these two novels. If you're under the age of 50 and have a favorite grandpa, you'd also probably like these adventures.
You might as well get started. I'm now writing the third book in the series, "Who's Killing All the Good Old Bank Robbers." So, get crackin', you'll have fun.
Happy reading,
Jon Spoelstra
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 17, 2023
(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
Я решил перечитать эту книгу спустя 10 лет. Я думал, что смогу посмотреть на эту книгу с другой стороны. Увы, этого не произошло. Как и тогда, когда я прочитал книгу впервые, я считаю, что эта книга одной идеи - если вашему бизнесу нечем выделиться и у вас небольшой бюджет, реализуйте какую-нибудь безумную идею, которая будет не дорогой и достаточно безумной чтобы на вас обратили внимание, как СМИ, так и потенциальные клиенты. Всё. Больше в этой книге нет никакой другой идеи или идей, которые были бы интересны маркетологам.
Вся книга состоит из историй. Точнее, это небольшие зарисовки маркетинговых решений принимавшихся авторов, когда он работал в разных спортивных командах. И да, все эти истории будут связаны со спортом. Не знаю почему, ибо автор этого совершенно не объясняет, но все места, где автор работал, были связаны со спортом. Преимущественно это были небольшие, местные спортивные команды. Я не знаю, кем автор был, т.е. был ли он маркетологом, который чуть ли не каждый год переходил из одной команды в другую или он быть консультантом или просто директором отдела, ибо автор ничего о себе не пишет (возможно, и пишет, и я просто этого не увидел, ибо никогда не читаю предисловие у книг). В любом случаи, трудно понять, исходя из текста всей книги, кем является автор. Поэтому как я понял, он что-то типа нанятого на пару лет консультанта с довольно широкими полномочиями. Я совершенно не разбираюсь в должностной иерархии спортивных команд ни в США, ни в целом по миру. В любом случаи, не в этом суть. А суть в том, что во всех история, которые описывает автор, как он поднимал явно убыточные спортивные команды, мы видим по большому счёту, только истории, т.е. примеры его работы в той или иной спортивной команде. Что это даёт читателю? С моей точки зрения, кроме вышеназванного совета, ничего. Совершенно.
Истории. Во-первых, все истории связаны со спортивными командами и не просто спортивными командами США, а небольшими местными спортивными командами в США. Во-вторых, книга была издана в США в 2001 году. Пусть это не критично, но всё же многое с тех пор изменилось, что означает, что слепо копировать книгу явно не стоит. В-третьих, мы не знаем контекст историй, что описывает автор. Нам приходится верить автору на слово, что те действия, которые он произвел, были действительно эффективны и эффективны именно из-за его действий, а не из-за действий конкурентов или иных причин. В-четвёртых, проблема историй в том, что они не могут по своей сути быть подтверждением или опровержением чего-либо. Да, в его случаи это сработало, но нет никаких гарантий, что то же самое сработает где-то в другом месте. В-пятых, по существу, это просто забавные истории и ничего более. Как я сказал, кроме одного совета в книге нет ничего. Ну, за исключением, когда автор в самом конце пересказывает суть книги «Дифференцируйся или умирай!» (Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition) Траута.
Всё это подводит к выводу, что книга была актуальна в момент её издания и для тех, кто жил в США в то время и кто увлекался спортивными мероприятиями, о которых пишет автор. Так как я не являюсь поклонником спорта (любого) и я не жил в то время в США, книга оставила меня совершенно равнодушным. Я ждал, что автор расскажет о том, что такое агрессивный маркетинг в целом, т.е. не зависимо от области его применения и как такой маркетинг проводить. В реальности же оказалось, что всё сводится к реализации безумных идей на практике. Да, суть не только в том, что нужно реализовать какую-нибудь безумную идею, а в том, чтобы эта безумная идея подходила. К примеру, автор применял безумные идеи, которые вносили элемент развлечения, ибо спортивные мероприятия, это сама суть развлечений. Разница как раз в том, что от просто безумной идеи предлагаемой автором, эффективная безумная идея должна как бы быть дополнением, которое дополняет спортивное мероприятие, делая его более увлекательным. С этой точки зрения подход автора выглядит довольно перспективным, жаль, что сам автор не стал развивать эту мысль, сведя всё к простому описанию своей деятельности в бытность работы в разных спортивных командах. В общем, потенциал у этой книги был, но, увы, реализовать автор его не смог. Причём он даже не попытался это сделать, сведя всё к «забавным историям из своей практики».
I decided to reread this book ten years later. I thought I would be able to look at this book from a different perspective. Alas, that did not happen. Just like when I first read the book, I think this book has only one worthwhile idea - if your business has nothing to stand out and you have a small budget, pursue some crazy idea that is not expensive and crazy enough to get you noticed by both the media and potential clients. That's it. There are no other ideas or insights in this book that marketers would be interested in.
The whole book consists of stories. More precisely, they are little sketches of marketing decisions made by the author when he worked for different sports teams. And yes, all of these stories are related to sports. I don't know why because the author doesn't explain it, but all the places where the author worked were related to sports. Mostly they were small, local sports teams. I do not know what the author was, i.e., whether he was a marketer, who almost every year moved from one team to another, or whether he was a consultant or just a department director because the author does not write anything about himself (He may have mentioned it, and I just didn't see it, because I never read the foreword of books). In any case, it is difficult to understand, based on the text of the entire book, who the author is. So my understanding is that he's some kind of consultant hired for a couple of years with a pretty broad mandate. I am not versed in the job hierarchy of sports teams, neither in the U.S. nor in the rest of the world. In any case, that is not the point. The point is that, in all the stories, the author describes how he raised unprofitable sports teams. We see, by and large, only stories, i.e., examples of his work on this or that sports team. What does this give the reader? From my perspective, other than the aforementioned advice, nothing. Completely.
Stories. First, the stories are all about sports teams, not just U.S. sports teams, but small local sports teams in the United States. Second, the book was published in the United States in 2001. It is not critical, but still, a lot has changed since then, which means that it is not a good idea to blindly copy the book. Third, we do not know the context of the stories that the author describes. We have to take the author at his word that the actions he took were effective and efficient precisely because of his actions, not because of competitors or other reasons. Fourth, the problem with stories is that they cannot inherently be a confirmation or disproof of anything. Yes, it worked in his case, but there is no guarantee that the same thing will work elsewhere. Fifth, basically, these are just funny stories and nothing more. As I said, there is nothing in the book except one piece of advice. Well, except when the author, at the very end, retells the gist of Trout's Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition.
All this leads to the conclusion that the book was relevant at the time of its publication and to those who lived in the United States at the time, and who were passionate about the sporting events about which the author writes. Since I am not a fan of sports (any sports) and I was not living in the U.S. at the time, the book left me completely indifferent. I was expecting the author to talk about what aggressive marketing is (in general), i.e., regardless of the area of application, and how to conduct such marketing. In reality, however, it turned out that it all comes down to putting crazy ideas into practice. Yes, the point is not just to implement some crazy idea but to make that crazy idea fit. For example, the author applied crazy ideas that introduced an element of entertainment because sporting events are the very essence of entertainment. The difference is that from just a crazy idea suggested by the author, an effective crazy idea should be like an addition that complements the sporting event, making it more entertaining. From this point of view, the author's approach looks quite promising, and it is a pity that the author himself did not develop this idea, reducing everything to a simple description of his activities while working in various sports teams. In general, this book had potential, but alas, the author was unable to fulfill it. Moreover, he did not even try to do this, reducing everything to "funny stories from his practice."
Я решил перечитать эту книгу спустя 10 лет. Я думал, что смогу посмотреть на эту книгу с другой стороны. Увы, этого не произошло. Как и тогда, когда я прочитал книгу впервые, я считаю, что эта книга одной идеи - если вашему бизнесу нечем выделиться и у вас небольшой бюджет, реализуйте какую-нибудь безумную идею, которая будет не дорогой и достаточно безумной чтобы на вас обратили внимание, как СМИ, так и потенциальные клиенты. Всё. Больше в этой книге нет никакой другой идеи или идей, которые были бы интересны маркетологам.
Вся книга состоит из историй. Точнее, это небольшие зарисовки маркетинговых решений принимавшихся авторов, когда он работал в разных спортивных командах. И да, все эти истории будут связаны со спортом. Не знаю почему, ибо автор этого совершенно не объясняет, но все места, где автор работал, были связаны со спортом. Преимущественно это были небольшие, местные спортивные команды. Я не знаю, кем автор был, т.е. был ли он маркетологом, который чуть ли не каждый год переходил из одной команды в другую или он быть консультантом или просто директором отдела, ибо автор ничего о себе не пишет (возможно, и пишет, и я просто этого не увидел, ибо никогда не читаю предисловие у книг). В любом случаи, трудно понять, исходя из текста всей книги, кем является автор. Поэтому как я понял, он что-то типа нанятого на пару лет консультанта с довольно широкими полномочиями. Я совершенно не разбираюсь в должностной иерархии спортивных команд ни в США, ни в целом по миру. В любом случаи, не в этом суть. А суть в том, что во всех история, которые описывает автор, как он поднимал явно убыточные спортивные команды, мы видим по большому счёту, только истории, т.е. примеры его работы в той или иной спортивной команде. Что это даёт читателю? С моей точки зрения, кроме вышеназванного совета, ничего. Совершенно.
Истории. Во-первых, все истории связаны со спортивными командами и не просто спортивными командами США, а небольшими местными спортивными командами в США. Во-вторых, книга была издана в США в 2001 году. Пусть это не критично, но всё же многое с тех пор изменилось, что означает, что слепо копировать книгу явно не стоит. В-третьих, мы не знаем контекст историй, что описывает автор. Нам приходится верить автору на слово, что те действия, которые он произвел, были действительно эффективны и эффективны именно из-за его действий, а не из-за действий конкурентов или иных причин. В-четвёртых, проблема историй в том, что они не могут по своей сути быть подтверждением или опровержением чего-либо. Да, в его случаи это сработало, но нет никаких гарантий, что то же самое сработает где-то в другом месте. В-пятых, по существу, это просто забавные истории и ничего более. Как я сказал, кроме одного совета в книге нет ничего. Ну, за исключением, когда автор в самом конце пересказывает суть книги «Дифференцируйся или умирай!» (Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition) Траута.
Всё это подводит к выводу, что книга была актуальна в момент её издания и для тех, кто жил в США в то время и кто увлекался спортивными мероприятиями, о которых пишет автор. Так как я не являюсь поклонником спорта (любого) и я не жил в то время в США, книга оставила меня совершенно равнодушным. Я ждал, что автор расскажет о том, что такое агрессивный маркетинг в целом, т.е. не зависимо от области его применения и как такой маркетинг проводить. В реальности же оказалось, что всё сводится к реализации безумных идей на практике. Да, суть не только в том, что нужно реализовать какую-нибудь безумную идею, а в том, чтобы эта безумная идея подходила. К примеру, автор применял безумные идеи, которые вносили элемент развлечения, ибо спортивные мероприятия, это сама суть развлечений. Разница как раз в том, что от просто безумной идеи предлагаемой автором, эффективная безумная идея должна как бы быть дополнением, которое дополняет спортивное мероприятие, делая его более увлекательным. С этой точки зрения подход автора выглядит довольно перспективным, жаль, что сам автор не стал развивать эту мысль, сведя всё к простому описанию своей деятельности в бытность работы в разных спортивных командах. В общем, потенциал у этой книги был, но, увы, реализовать автор его не смог. Причём он даже не попытался это сделать, сведя всё к «забавным историям из своей практики».
I decided to reread this book ten years later. I thought I would be able to look at this book from a different perspective. Alas, that did not happen. Just like when I first read the book, I think this book has only one worthwhile idea - if your business has nothing to stand out and you have a small budget, pursue some crazy idea that is not expensive and crazy enough to get you noticed by both the media and potential clients. That's it. There are no other ideas or insights in this book that marketers would be interested in.
The whole book consists of stories. More precisely, they are little sketches of marketing decisions made by the author when he worked for different sports teams. And yes, all of these stories are related to sports. I don't know why because the author doesn't explain it, but all the places where the author worked were related to sports. Mostly they were small, local sports teams. I do not know what the author was, i.e., whether he was a marketer, who almost every year moved from one team to another, or whether he was a consultant or just a department director because the author does not write anything about himself (He may have mentioned it, and I just didn't see it, because I never read the foreword of books). In any case, it is difficult to understand, based on the text of the entire book, who the author is. So my understanding is that he's some kind of consultant hired for a couple of years with a pretty broad mandate. I am not versed in the job hierarchy of sports teams, neither in the U.S. nor in the rest of the world. In any case, that is not the point. The point is that, in all the stories, the author describes how he raised unprofitable sports teams. We see, by and large, only stories, i.e., examples of his work on this or that sports team. What does this give the reader? From my perspective, other than the aforementioned advice, nothing. Completely.
Stories. First, the stories are all about sports teams, not just U.S. sports teams, but small local sports teams in the United States. Second, the book was published in the United States in 2001. It is not critical, but still, a lot has changed since then, which means that it is not a good idea to blindly copy the book. Third, we do not know the context of the stories that the author describes. We have to take the author at his word that the actions he took were effective and efficient precisely because of his actions, not because of competitors or other reasons. Fourth, the problem with stories is that they cannot inherently be a confirmation or disproof of anything. Yes, it worked in his case, but there is no guarantee that the same thing will work elsewhere. Fifth, basically, these are just funny stories and nothing more. As I said, there is nothing in the book except one piece of advice. Well, except when the author, at the very end, retells the gist of Trout's Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition.
All this leads to the conclusion that the book was relevant at the time of its publication and to those who lived in the United States at the time, and who were passionate about the sporting events about which the author writes. Since I am not a fan of sports (any sports) and I was not living in the U.S. at the time, the book left me completely indifferent. I was expecting the author to talk about what aggressive marketing is (in general), i.e., regardless of the area of application, and how to conduct such marketing. In reality, however, it turned out that it all comes down to putting crazy ideas into practice. Yes, the point is not just to implement some crazy idea but to make that crazy idea fit. For example, the author applied crazy ideas that introduced an element of entertainment because sporting events are the very essence of entertainment. The difference is that from just a crazy idea suggested by the author, an effective crazy idea should be like an addition that complements the sporting event, making it more entertaining. From this point of view, the author's approach looks quite promising, and it is a pity that the author himself did not develop this idea, reducing everything to a simple description of his activities while working in various sports teams. In general, this book had potential, but alas, the author was unable to fulfill it. Moreover, he did not even try to do this, reducing everything to "funny stories from his practice."
December 6, 2018
I read this book because it was recommended by a friend. Although I do own a company and am not into marketing, I found this book to be quite interesting. Spoelstra takes a different approach to marketing that makes you consider elements to enhance your success. The big question and take away from this book is "What is it going to take?". Marketing outrageously takes a unique approach to marketing by going from bland to spicy with changes and ideas that anyone or any company can do in a heartbeat. The rubber chicken method (Chapter 12). is quite interesting as well.
July 21, 2025
A charming book about marketing, which suggests that a politically incorrect, daring, and effortful attempt to differentiate your business in the marketing world will lead to success. While the book features very little empirical data about the effectiveness of outrageous marketing techniques, Spoelstra tells many stories from his lifetime of working in the sports marketing industry that lend the book a wizened-conversational vibe.
More on the conversational vibe that the writing has, each chapter gives you questions to think about and a few tasks to immediately apply yourself to. I liked this, as it wasn't too much to feel like drudgery or homework, but it still added to my engagement with the book.
I picked this up at the thrift store only because of the weird cover, which is kind of a testament to the book's message itself. I'm excited to apply Spoelstra's marketing philosophy to my own business, and while it's not life-changing, it's worth checking out for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about marketing. I'm personally working in the game industry, so I could immediately find parallels between Spoelstra's work in sports with trying to sell tickets to events or try to think of any funny and outrageous way to increase revenue.
More on the conversational vibe that the writing has, each chapter gives you questions to think about and a few tasks to immediately apply yourself to. I liked this, as it wasn't too much to feel like drudgery or homework, but it still added to my engagement with the book.
I picked this up at the thrift store only because of the weird cover, which is kind of a testament to the book's message itself. I'm excited to apply Spoelstra's marketing philosophy to my own business, and while it's not life-changing, it's worth checking out for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about marketing. I'm personally working in the game industry, so I could immediately find parallels between Spoelstra's work in sports with trying to sell tickets to events or try to think of any funny and outrageous way to increase revenue.
June 19, 2018
Clearly a great book for sports marketers from one of the thought leaders in the area, but a great read for any marketer/business person in my opinion. It reframes the marketing thought process, and pushes the reader to rethink the norms of marketing. Even though dated, I believe the way Spoelstra presents marketing and displaying value is only becoming more important in the current consumer landscape.
October 7, 2018
Ready to get more outrageous just in time for the start of hockey and hoops.
June 9, 2020
Well worth reading especially if you want to be different then your competition
July 3, 2024
Interesting read. Hope to use some of the concepts in the near future. S/o Dr. P again for assigning it. Had fun in class.
July 9, 2025
Another book read for work, some quirky and unconventional methods of marketing.
August 26, 2013
No doubt, This is one of the best outside-the-box-thinking books I've read to date. It should be noted that Im writing this book after having read, "I'm feeling lucky" by Douglas Edwards.
I mention this because I felt that Google's founders, Larry and Sergey, must have read this book prior to launching their backed startup. I recommend reading this book then going on to reading about an outrageous little startup with a quest to dominate the world while doing no evil. You'll see the outrageous beat out traditional, corporate thought and see why Marketing Outrageously is the way to go.
I mention this because I felt that Google's founders, Larry and Sergey, must have read this book prior to launching their backed startup. I recommend reading this book then going on to reading about an outrageous little startup with a quest to dominate the world while doing no evil. You'll see the outrageous beat out traditional, corporate thought and see why Marketing Outrageously is the way to go.
December 21, 2008
This book is a good example of thinking outside the box, though it does not show very many failure ideas. I liked that often times he used humor in his marketing ideas. Humor allows people to relate well with the product or service being rendered.
February 24, 2020
I have read this book twenty or more times. It is a "must own and consume" for entrepreneurs. Period.
I bought it based on the cover art and topic. Who said that you cannot tell a book by its cover? It was not Jon Spoelstra.
Best take away phrase: What's it gonna take?
I bought it based on the cover art and topic. Who said that you cannot tell a book by its cover? It was not Jon Spoelstra.
Best take away phrase: What's it gonna take?
June 30, 2010
The book is a bit dated and as much memoir as it is actually about marketing - but still an enjoyable read that has some very cool concepts. The writing is also easy to follow and never dry - using nice personal example and anecdotes to emphasize points.
September 6, 2010
I really enjoyed reading this book. The ideas presented were very interesting and really got my brain moving. It made me rethink some of the marketing I have be doing. I will be trying to think a little more out of the box.
October 12, 2010
A must-read for anyone involved in sports marketing. It's actually a great book for anyone involved in marketing, period. Spoelstra provides so many creative ideas and new ways to think about reaching potential customers.
February 9, 2016
Incredible- prepare to have your entire marketing strategy changed
Finally- a marketer who cares about results and gets them with creativity. This is an excellent book on marketing! Think outside the box and stand out.
Finally- a marketer who cares about results and gets them with creativity. This is an excellent book on marketing! Think outside the box and stand out.
August 23, 2007
Definitely a fantastic book...combined two of my favorite things....brilliant marketing and basketball...loved it.
December 17, 2008
Good book for some creative marketing ideas. It's an easy read w/ some easily applicable ideas, especially for sport marketing.
August 9, 2008
I liked this book because it incorporated sports with marketing-2 subjects I like. Has great stories and good ideas to get people's attention through marketing.
October 7, 2008
So far I have really liked this book. As I'm reading it my mind is racing with marketing ideas.
August 22, 2011
Fantastic workbook style book. Jon pushes you to think outside of the box and beyond. After all, when you're selling the NJ Nets in the 90s you have to be a genius marketer.
April 22, 2013
Another marketing book with a lot catch-phrase content, can be good for inspiration.
July 31, 2013
Read this book years ago. One of the best business reads I can remember. His marketing strategy for the Knicks was brilliant.
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January 27, 2016totally different way of looking at increasing revenue. This man can truly "think outside the box!"
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