Bestseller Brief | What top-selling books reveal about reader demand

Lions Unleashed 🦁

What Cannes 2025 Got Right (and Missed) About Brand
✍️ By Sam Carter, CEO of Fospha

At Cannes Lions this year, one word kept surfacing: brand.

In a performance-obsessed world, brand feels harder to defend. It doesn’t show up in ROAS or fit neatly into a reporting cycle. But that doesn’t mean it’s not driving results.

As Rory Sutherland put it, “A brand is like a pension… one day you wake up and go: bloody hell, where did all this equity come from?”

He’s right. Our data at Fospha shows brands investing more than 10% in upper-funnel activity see 2x the overall marketing efficiency. But belief isn’t the issue — buy-in is.

To protect brand budgets, we need better evidence. That’s why we’ve identified early signals—like branded search and engaged visits—that connect brand activity to business outcomes.

👉 Read the full article
📊 Download the Glow Report to explore the data behind the brand debate.

Sector Spotlight 🎥

BOOK MARKETING INSIGHTS

Get Better Book Marketing Results Through Action-Oriented Strategies

Effective book marketing requires action-oriented strategies, rejecting procrastination and excuses in favor of decisive movements. Authors should focus on high-payoff activities such as social media engagement and securing book reviews, leveraging targeted outreach to reach their audience. Identifying reader interest and maintaining momentum are crucial for driving sales and achieving marketing objectives.

LITERARY INSIGHTS

Unity Books' Bestseller Chart Highlights Top 10 Indie Titles in New Zealand

The Unity Books bestseller chart showcases an array of diverse literary themes, highlighting popular titles like "A Different Kind of Power" by Jacinda Ardern—a memoir that offers insights into leadership and resonates with contemporary audiences. This chart not only serves as a strategic tool for marketers to identify consumer interests but also provides actionable insights for targeting diverse audiences, thus enhancing eCommerce strategies and driving sales.

CREATIVE BOOK MARKETING

Creative Marketing Ideas for Authors Beyond Traditional Bookstore Promotions

Authors can enhance book marketing by creating immersive experiences, leveraging unique personal skills, and collaborating beyond traditional spaces. Engaging marketing tactics like digital storytelling and local partnerships foster genuine connections and memorable interactions. Emphasizing creativity helps authors resonate with audiences, turning marketing into an engaging narrative.

INVESTMENT LITERATURE

6 Essential Investing Books to Enhance Stock-Picking Skills

Aspiring stock market investors can benefit from six seminal books: "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham, "You Can Be a Stock Market Genius" by Joel Greenblatt, "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" by Philip A. Fisher, "Margin of Safety" by Seth Klarman, "Investing in REITs" by Ralph Block, and "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John Bogle. These books, ranging from value investing to REITs, offer strategic insights essential for refining stock-picking skills and are particularly relevant for those seeking to deepen their understanding of financial markets.

Optimization Hub ⚙️

ECOMMERCE TRENDS

eCommerce Marketing Trends to Know of in 2025

In 2025, eCommerce marketing is driven by five crucial trends:

• personalization and enhanced customer experiences using data and AI

• the rise of mobile commerce and shoppable content

• the impact of social commerce coupled with influencer marketing

• the importance of data analytics and marketing automation

• the evolving roles of SEO and content marketing.

These trends highlight the strategic use of technology and platforms in capturing and retaining customers, emphasizing the need for tailored experiences, efficient data handling, and adaptive marketing strategies for professionals in the field.

GEOGRAPHIC INSIGHTS

Geographic Insights Help Brands Expand Into Underserved Markets With Amazon DSP

Geographic Insights and Activation (GIA) on Amazon DSP empowers marketers to efficiently tap into underpenetrated markets by leveraging Amazon's first-party data.

This tool enables advertisers to identify high-potential geographic areas, optimize campaigns, and combine online and offline sales data for improved reach and ROI. By addressing challenges of localized personalization and operational friction, GIA offers a precise means to enhance advertising effectiveness and expand customer bases.

🏆 Announcing the ClickZ 25 of 25 Awards –
Powered by Fospha

While the world’s eyes were on Cannes last week, we’ve been spotlighting a different kind of creativity.

The ClickZ 25of25 Awards spotlights 25 standout DTC and digital-first campaigns that drove real impact this year — across five key sectors: luxury, beauty, wellness, home, and fashion.

Each winner represents smart, scaled, creatively sharp marketing — and we’re thrilled to celebrate their work.

You’ll find the full list — plus sector breakdowns and creative highlights — in our full awards report.

📥 Download the full report below

👉 Got a standout campaign or behind-the-scenes story to share? ClickZ is always looking to spotlight fresh creative — reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you.