Person
Ryan Holiday
Brand & MarketingWho is Ryan Holiday in the Agency editorial?
Ryan Holiday is an American author, known for books on marketing and on Stoic philosophy such as The Obstacle Is the Way. Issue.0 names him once, in a list of five marketing authors the reader is asked to forget because, the edition argues, marketing as we know it is gone.
In short
Ryan Holiday is an American author of books on marketing and Stoic philosophy. In the Agency editorial he appears in a single sentence of Issue.0, in the author's prose: "Forget Philip Kotler; Ryan Holiday; Seth Godin; Eric Ries; and Gary Vaynerchuk." The edition argues that their concepts were written in the post-modern era for a world before COVID-19. It adds right after that it is not throwing these authors into the fire nor retiring them. No book or idea of Holiday is discussed individually.
Key facts
- Who is Ryan Holiday?
- An American author born in 1987, known for Trust Me, I'm Lying and The Obstacle Is the Way.
- Where does the Agency editorial name Ryan Holiday?
- In Issue.0, in the author's prose, as the second of five marketing authors in the sentence that begins with the word Forget.
- Does Issue.0 reject his work?
- Not entirely. The author writes that he is not throwing these authors and schools into the fire nor retiring them, and that they had their moment.
Who is Ryan Holiday?
Ryan Holiday is an American author born in 1987. His books include Trust Me, I'm Lying, on media and marketing, and The Obstacle Is the Way, on Stoic philosophy. These facts come from outside the edition and are marked for verification.
How does Ryan Holiday appear in Issue.0?
Issue.0 names him once, in the opening argument about the marketing that is meta. The sentence is a list: "Forget Philip Kotler; Ryan Holiday; Seth Godin; Eric Ries; and Gary Vaynerchuk." The edition then asks the reader to forget concepts like MVP, Lean Startup, 4Ps and Design Thinking, which it says were written in the post-modern era and made for a world before COVID-19. It does not link any of these concepts to a particular name.
The next paragraph qualifies the gesture. The author writes that he is not throwing these authors and schools into the fire, nor retiring them: "They had their moment but if their concepts still worked, we wouldn't be in crisis." The edition does not discuss any book or idea of Holiday individually.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.