Helpful ads: 5 books to understand the history of advertising

Did someone say “helpful ads”? Most haven’t heard the expression, but know “irritating ads”. Helpful and ads are two words not easy to combine, but if you’re marketing a brand, results can be positive or negative — in non-obvious ways.

To be innovative in advertising and understanding how to be most “helpful” for an audience, it helps to know history. I’ve compiled a list of 5 notable books, describing the history of advertising in engaging ways. These books have given me an understanding of pitfalls, success stories and audience psychology (in no set order).

1. Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads

2. Thinking in Systems: A Primer

3. Adland: A Global History of Advertising

4. Ogilvy on advertising

Gustaf Lundberg Toresson: here is a review of Ogilvy on advertising by David Letterman

5. Runner-Up, Best Overall: Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands