**Author:** [[3. Resources/Authors/Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer|Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer]] **Readwise highlights:** [[3. Resources/Readwise/Books/The Book of Business Awesome the Book of Business UnAwesome]] # Book Overview ![[The Book of Business Awesome the Book of Business UnAwesome Visual.excalidraw]] ## About the Author Scott Stratten is a marketing speaker and author known for his "UnMarketing" brand and philosophy. Alison Kramer is his co-author and business partner. Together they focus on the intersection of customer experience, social media, and authentic business practices. Stratten's approach emphasizes that the best marketing isn't marketing at all -- it's creating experiences worth talking about. ## Central Thesis The book presents a dual structure: "Business Awesome" examples of companies getting customer experience right, and "Business UnAwesome" examples of companies failing at it. The core argument is straightforward -- marketing gets people through the door, but experience is what keeps them coming back. Companies that confuse acquisition with retention, or that treat customer service as a cost center rather than a growth engine, consistently underperform. The limited highlights captured here distill the book's thesis to a single, potent line: great marketing creates awareness, but great experience creates loyalty. ## Why This Book Matters In a business culture that often prioritizes acquisition metrics over retention and experience quality, the reminder that customer experience is the actual product carries weight. The book was published in 2012 but its core argument has only become more relevant as social media amplifies both positive and negative customer experiences at scale. --- # Key Themes and Highlights ### Experience Over Marketing The book's central insight is the distinction between what gets customers in the door and what keeps them coming back. Marketing is the promise; experience is the delivery. > "People may come in because of great marketing, but they come back because of the experience." This single highlight captures the book's entire thesis. The implication is that companies over-investing in acquisition while under-investing in experience are building on sand. Every dollar spent attracting a customer who has a mediocre experience is a dollar partially wasted. ### Customer Service as Marketing The book positions customer service not as a support function but as the most powerful marketing channel available. When service is exceptional, customers become advocates. When it's poor, they become vocal detractors -- and in the age of social media, those voices carry. ### The Awesome/UnAwesome Framework The dual-book structure itself is the methodology: learn from both positive and negative examples. What makes a business "awesome" isn't complexity -- it's consistent attention to the customer experience at every touchpoint. --- # Analytical Reading - **Central Argument:** Customer experience, not marketing, is what drives long-term business success and loyalty. - **Key Evidence:** The book uses case study examples (positive and negative) to illustrate how companies succeed or fail at experience delivery. - **Methodology/Approach:** Dual-structure case study format -- "Awesome" examples paired with "UnAwesome" counterexamples. Conversational tone aimed at business practitioners. - **Strengths:** The core message is clear and defensible. The single highlight about marketing vs. experience is one of the most concise formulations of this principle available. - **Limitations:** Very few highlights were captured, suggesting either light reading or a book that makes its point early and repeats it through examples. The case studies may have dated since 2012 publication. --- # Personal Reflection The marketing-vs-experience distinction maps directly to developer relations and community work. In DevRel, the equivalent truth is that conference talks and blog posts get developers aware of your platform, but the documentation quality, API design, and support responsiveness determine whether they stay. The same principle applies to community building: launch events create initial interest, but sustained engagement depends on whether members find genuine value in participation. The book's brevity in highlights suggests it's a "one big idea" book -- which isn't a criticism. Some of the most useful business books are the ones that make a single argument persuasively and memorably. This one-liner about marketing vs. experience is worth keeping in the permanent notes collection. --- # Action Items - [ ] Audit current projects for the marketing-vs-experience gap: where is acquisition strong but retention weak? - [ ] Apply the awesome/unawesome framework to community touchpoints -- identify one "unawesome" experience to fix this quarter - [ ] Revisit Stratten's "UnMarketing" for more depth on experience-first business philosophy