Here is Marketing Minds' list of the top 20 Marketing Gurus and the books

and articles they have written.

These people are the most influential contributors to the field of

marketing, sales and related strategy. Reflecting marketing's importance
in business strategy, the list includes many of the greatest management
thinkers of any type.

The Marketing Minds Top 20 Marketing Gurus list includes links to other
websites which will help you to research these marketing thought-leaders
a little further.

Where possible, we have also linked to the Marketing Guru's own websites
and other contact information - in case your business might be interested
in consulting with them.

Philip Kotler

Philip Kotler is Professor of Marketing at J.L.Kellog Graduate School of

Management, Northwestern University, Illinois. Marketing thought leader
for over three decades. Popularised the "4 Ps of marketing". Author
ofMarketing Management, The New Competition, Marketing Models,The
Marketing of Nations , and Kotler on Marketing. 
Biography: www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/bio/Kotler.htm
Kotler's Homepage: www.kotlermarketing.com

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy is the man who virtually invented advertising as we know it

today. His book Ogilvy on Advertising is pretty much a "how to" book on
print advertising copy writing and is an absolute "must read" by anyone
who wants to learn the art of advertising. 
See reviews and read a couple of chapters of the book on Amazon.com. 
www.marketers-hall-of-fame.com/1-david-ogilvy-marketing.html
www.ogilvy.com/history

Michael Porter

A highly esteemed Professor at Harvard Business School, Michael Porteris

a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness and
economic development of nations, states, and regions. Author
ofCompetitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and
Competitors, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior
Performance, and The Competitive Advantage of Nations (which
developed a new theory of how nations, states, and regions compete and
their sources of economic prosperity).
Also author of numerous articles and papers, including: Strategy and the
Internet, The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy,Industry
Transformation, What is Strategy?, From Competitive Advantage to
Corporate Strategy, End Game Strategies for Declining Industries (with
Kathryn Harrigan), How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, and Note on
the Structure of Industries

Overviews of some of Porter's work:

Many Worlds knowledge network
Fast Company

Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, led

by Porter: http://www.isc.hbs.edu/ 
Harvard Business School's Profile of Michael Porter

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Derek F Abell

Derek Abell is founding President of European School of Management and

Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. Not so well known, but an HBS
contemporary/precursor of Michael Porter. Established leading insights
into the business fundamentals driving marketing strategy.

Great analysis of how to answer the very basic question of "what business
are we in?" in his book Defining the Business - the Starting Point of
Strategic Planning, and the techniques described here which has been
widely adopted. Also wrote Strategic Market Planning - problems and
analytical approaches (with John Hammond). 
ESMT Profile of Derek F Abell

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James (Jim) Collins

If you believe a company's mission is intimately correlated with the

company's marketing strategy, then Jim Collins has had a huge impact on
the way corporations approach the marketing big picture. Author ofGood
to be Great, and of the earlier book Built to Last - Successful Habits of
Visionary Companies (with Jerry Porras). Built to Last, based on 6 years
research, argued that long lasting companies share a common trait: an
almost cult-like devotion to a "core ideology" or identity, and active
indoctrination of employees into "ideological commitment" to the
company. The emergence of senior management roles with titles such as
"Director of People and Brand" and "Director of Organisational Renewal"
has resulted from this work. Good to Be Great continues this idea, and
mixes it with insights about how existing and aspiring executive managers
sometimes evolve into becoming great leaders. Links to many other
publications and ideas on his website:
www.jimcollins.com

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Gary Hamel

Gary Hamel is an influential business strategist and a visiting Professor of

Strategic and International Management at the London Business School.
Author of Competing for the Future, Leading the Revolution,
andCompetence Based Competition (with Aimé Heene). His company
Strategos consults on business innovation. Gary Hamel currently writes
the Wall Street Journal blog: Gary Hamel’s Management 2.0 
www.garyhamel.com 
www.strategos.com

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Regis McKenna

Considered the marketing guru of Silicon Valley, Regis McKenna is a well-

known technology marketing consultant, advisor to entrepreneurs,
venture capitalist and author. Over the past 30 years, he advised and
consulted many of the leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs helping them
develop their marketing infrastructures.

Regis McKenna helped launch some of the most important technological

innovations of the last thirty years including the first microprocessor (Intel
Corporation), the first personal computer (Apple Computer), the first
recombinant DNA genetically engineered product (Genentech, Inc.), and
the first retail computer store (The Byte Shop). His book,Relationship
Marketing, was a pioneering work in the concept of one-to-one
marketing. Regis McKenna was the author of the Apple Macintosh Product
Introduction Plan in 1983.

His most recent book, TOTAL ACCESS, Giving Customers What They Want
in an Anytime, Anywhere World, published by Harvard Business School
Press in March 2002, addresses the future of marketing as computers and
the network do most of the work, from data gathering to customer care
and response. The marketing function disappears into a network of
relationships and responsibilities between man and machine throughout
the value chain. Total consumer access to-and interaction with-the
marketplace replaces the archaic broadcast model.
www.regis.com

Clayton Christensen
Clayton Christensen is a thought-leader for his work on innovation and its
ability to disrupt successful business strategies or create competitive
advantage, particularly in mature markets. The themes of his original
work are the impact of disruptive technologies and innovation waves.
Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and
principal of consulting firm Innosite. Author of: The Innovator's
Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, Innovation and the General
Manager, and Seeing What's Next (with Scott Anthony & Erik Roth).
Disruptive innovation principles are summarized
at:www.innosight.com/template.php?page=basics 
Christensen page at Harvard Business School Publishing website
www.claytonchristensen.com 
www.innosight.com

Theodore Levitt

Theodore Levitt was Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at the

Harvard Business School and former editor of the Harvard Business
Review. Most recently an "ally" at consulting firm Hamilton Co. Professor
Levitt was at his most prolific 20 years ago, but is still vastly influential.

Author of The Marketing Imagination, and numerous thought-leading

Harvard Business School articles including The Globalization of
Markets(link to recent seminar), Marketing Myopia, Marketing Intangible
Products and Product Intangibles  ("Brand" starts here, if you think about
it), Marketing Success Through Differentiation - Of Anything , Exploit the
Product Life Cycle. Credited with coining the phrase "globalization", in
hisThe Globalization of Markets  article. 
Theodore Levitt's obituary in Business Week June 2006
Theodore Levitt's obituary and profile at Harvard Business School

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Geoffrey Moore

Geoffrey More is the author of Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado,

The Gorilla Game, and Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies
Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution. He is the leading thinker and
practitioner on marketing and selling technology products, currently
consulting to many absolute industry leaders. Articles include Darwin and
the Demon: Innovating Within Established Enterprises and Bridging the
Chasm Between Volume and Complexity.
Geoffrey Moore's biography
www.tcg-advisors.com
www.chasminstitute.com
www.chasmgroup.com

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Al Ries

Al Ries is the author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (with Jack
Trout), Marketing Warfare (with Jack Trout), Bottom Up Marketing (with
Jack Trout), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (with Jack
Trout),Focus, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, and The Fall of
Advertising and the Rise of PR. With Jack Trout, Al Reis is commonly
thought of as the father of "Positioning". Both are thought leaders in
marketing strategy. 
www.ries.com

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Jack Trout

With Al Reis, Jack Trout is commonly thought of as the father of

"positioning". Both are thought leaders in marketing strategy. Came up
with original concept of "positioning" in 1969. Books includeThe New
Positioning, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (with Al
Ries),Differentiate or Die – Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition,
Marketing Warfare (with Al Ries), Bottom Up Marketing (with Al
Ries), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (with Al Ries), Big Brands Big
Trouble.
www.troutandpartners.com

Neil Rackham

Neil Rackham is widely credited with bringing research and analytical

methods to the field of sales force management. Founder and CEO of
Huthwaite, Inc, a leading sales consulting, training and research firm.
Author of:Spin Selling, Major Account Sales Strategy, Managing Major
Sales, Getting Partnering Right (with Larry Friedman and Richard
Ruff),Psychology of Negotiating, and Rethinking the Sales Force (with
John De Vincentis). 
http://gtmpartners.com
www.huthwaite.com
www.neilrackham.com

Larry Friedman

Larry Friedman is widely credited with establishing go-to-market strategy

as a corporate focus. He is a pioneer in multi-channel integration, and an
expert on sales channel strategy. Managing Consultant at LGF Group.
Author of Go To Market Strategy, The Channel Advantage, and of Getting
Partnering Right (with Neil Rackham and Richard Ruff).

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David A. Aaker

David Aaker is Vice-Chairman of Prophet, Professor Emeritus of Marketing

Strategy at the Haas School of Business, University of California at
Berkeley, Advisor to Dentsu, Inc., and a recognized authority on brands
and brand management. Author of Strategic Market Management
, Building Strong Brands , The Lure of Global Branding ,Building Brands
Without Mass Media , Brand Leadership, and Managing Brand Equity .
Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley's profile of David Aaker
www.davidaaker.com

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Jay Conrad Levinson

Jay Conrad Levinson is widely regarded as being the "inventor" of

Guerrilla Marketing (or at least of putting a name to certain strategies and
tactics). He has written a series of books on the subject, includingThe
Guerrilla Marketing Handbook (Guerrilla Marketing) , Guerrilla Marketing
Excellence: The 50 Golden Rules for Small-Business Success (Guerrilla
Marketing) , Guerrilla Marketing, 4th edition: Easy and Inexpensive
Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business, and  Guerrilla
Marketing for the Home-Based Business  
www.gmarketing.com

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Edward de Bono

He of the six hats, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step  , valufacture

and much more. Edward de Bono is included in this list because of his
huge impact in the area of creative thinking - a key ingredient of
marketing.
Edward de Bono main website: www.edwarddebono.com
De Bono Institute (Melbourne): www.debono.org
deBono Thinking Systems (his training
business):www.debonothinkingsystems.com

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John Kenneth Galbraith

J K Galbraith was not a marketer, but his work as one of the world's
leading economists over many decades exemplified absolute thought
leadership in business areas that impacted all marketplaces. Author
(amongst many other publications) of The Affluent Society (1958), The
New Industrial State (1967), The Age of Uncertainty (1977), and The
Culture of Contentment (1992). 
Harvard University's profile of John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith remembered at Harvard University's Nieman
Foundation for Journalism 
J K Galbraith's obituary in the New York Times

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Stafford Beer

Professor Dr Stafford Beer created the field of managerial cybernetics -

the science of effective organisation. Cybernetics can be applied to most
situations where an enduring viable enterprise is sought. It has much to
teach us about how businesses can survive in an ever more complicated
world, and how to economically manage the complexity of delivering
value to customers in markets which seem to dissolve in to an increasing
variety of segments and customer needs.

Although not on his CV, Stafford was one of the few people ever to
consult to McKinsey (on their organisational design), as well as to
governments and major corporations. His best known books are Brain of
the Firm , The Heart of Enterprise , Designing Freedom  and Diagnosing the
System for Organizations . Warning - nearly all of Stafford's work is hard
reading.

A quote on the art of communication: "It isn't what is said, it isn't how it
is transmitted. It isn't what is received, it is what is understood."
Quick guide to the Viable Systems Model
The Cybernetics Society's profile of Stafford Beer's work

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Hugh Mackay

Hugh Mackay is a very prominent Australian social researcher, and author

of several books on the Australian psyche and current mood (most widely
read is Reinventing Australia  Hugh Mackay is author ofGenerations: Baby
Boomers, Their Parents and Their Children . He published data
(commercially for $$$) in The Mackay Report for many years. Sold this
business to Ipsos, which still publishes the The Mackay Report (Hugh
Mackay retired to concentrate on writing books at the end of 2006, but
Ipsos is continuing to produce reports following his methodology).
Profile of Hugh Mackay (& phone number) by the Whitlam Institute:
www.whitlam.org/people/mackay_hugh.html
Mackay Report at www.ipsos.com.au