Marketing Doctor John Tantillo outlines the history of the Academy Awards and how they have helped to build Hollywood's brand. He then draws a sharp contrast with the publishing industry, picking on Henry Holt for its recent fiasco that led to a recall of The Last Train From Hiroshima. He jumps on publishing for playing only "inside baseball."

John Tantillo applauds Hollywood, not for Avatar's weak plot, but for doing something truly innovative to bring viewers something new, that they can't watch in their homes.

John Tantillo names his top 5 brand winners and top 5 brand losers from 2009.

Winners:
1 - Lady Gaga
2 - Apple
3 - Hollywood
4 - David Letterman
5 - Sarah Palin

Losers:
1 - Ciibank
2 - American Politics
3 - Microsoft
4 - newspapers
5 - The Nobel Prize

E-books seem to be the inevitable future of publishing, but the resistance of traditional publishers to give up the usual profit margins on hardcovers, especially, is paving the way for a whole new business model for book sales--and one that potentially positions authors to have even more control over the marketing of their books.