Lessons from the Boot of a Car: For Entrepreneurship, and for Life

by Reg Lascaris

Reg Lascaris, one of South Africa's most celebrated marketers, literally started out from the boot of an old car. The road leading from the one point to the other has been long, uneven and often difficult, but in one respect it never there was always a lesson to be learnt. Lascaris, together with his partner John Hunt, sparked not only some of the most iconic ad campaigns in the world, but the transformation of the South African advertising industry into a twenty-first century powerhouse. This is where the famous Nando's campaign was born, these were the men the ANC turned to for their first election campaign. They were the first to inject human emotion into financial services for South Africa's best loved bank, Standard Bank ... And who can forget the BMW mouse?

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2014

Reviews

[Keryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. After a slow start (juggling a few books at the same time,) I didn't want to put it down. Ok, I am passionate about marketing so it's a relevant and timeous book to have read, but I also found it a fascinating story of marketing through South Africa's growth from the conservative 80's business culture through democratic change and globalisation in the 90's, to reinvention in early 2000, to the current online media transformation affecting us all. Some fun stories on cross-cultural misunderstandings in taking the business international, as well as harsh learnings - I especially enjoyed the chapter on 'the crash'; while it was clearly difficult to write on those tough times during the business decline, the learnings are extremely valuable. Good graphics and QR codes for YouTube links to view the ads online. My best was the BMW mouse ad and the Trillion Dollar campaign for The Zimbabwean newspaper that became the most highly awarded ad campaign in 2011. Recommended.

[Heather Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about the growth, fall and rebound of a company and the people behind it. I loved the humor, but there were a couple of times I felt a little bored. Yes to the lessons, those I will take with me, thank-you.