Book excerpt: Many marketers fear that the field's time-worn principles are losing touch with today's realities. "Does Marketing Need Reform?" collects the insights of a select group of leading marketing thinkers and practitioners who are committed to restoring marketing's timeless values. The book sets the agenda for a new generation of marketing principles. As the editors note in their introduction; "Marketing is a powerful force backed up by huge resources. It must be entrusted only to those with the wisdom to use it well." The contributors seek to understand and explain how and why marketing has veered significantly off course in order to steer it back in the right direction. The concepts and perspectives presented in this book will inspire a renewed commitment to the highest ideals of marketing - serving customers individually and society as a whole by synergistically aligning company, customer, and social interests.