Glimmer: How Design can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World
Warren Berger, The Penguin Press 2009
Publication date: October 15, 2009
I used Berger’s book, Advertising Today, as a textbook for several years. In Glimmer, Berger demonstrates the significant role design can play in any challenge you’re facing. He goes inside the studios and mind of designer Bruce Mau and others to open up the mystery of design. I loved this: “ Mau believes that clarity is where the real transformational power of visual design lies. Aesthetics may get the glossy magazine covers, but when it comes to communicating change and progress, it’s not so much about making things pretty as making things plain.” Oh man, that’s rich.
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Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition
by Radically Innovating What Things Mean
Roberto Verganti, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation 2009
Publication date: August 3, 2009
With a process calling for listening, interpreting and addressing, Verganti suggests that real innovation occurs when we make “proposals” to consumers about how life may be improved. Often consumers are unaware that they may need a product or service simply because they have no context for identifying their need. Interpreters, often right-brained free thinkers, offer deep insight from listening and observation that can yield true breakthroughs. Inspiring examples, rational argument along with dozens of proven processes will give you an insider’s perspective on innovation.
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A Fine Line: How Design Strategies are Shaping the Future of Business
Hartmut Esslinger, Jossey-Bass 2009
Publication date: June 29, 2009
I heard Hartmut Esslinger (frog design) speak at a conference a few months ago, so I was ready to read this book. In it, Esslinger tells his own story and what he’s learned from great success and at least a little bit of miserable failure. He, too, offers a three-step process (groundwork, creative collaboration, marketing) to integrate design with strategy. His multi-disciplinary firm provides excellent fodder for building a case for collaborative effort to improve products, services and life. Esslinger writes: “I propose that designers and manufacturers should combine efforts to promote a concept of co-design that involves consumers and takes place within a social networking structure.” Gee, that sounds like coherence to me. I like it.
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A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Daniel H. Pink, The Berkeley Publishing Group, Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Publication Date: 2005; March 7, 2006
People seem to take sides about Daniel Pink. Reactions aren’t often neutral. But whether you agree with him or not (he believes that right-brainers will rule), you can’t dismiss the interesting notions and entertaining ideas in this book. Nor should you overlook the fun questions and mental exercises. He might not change what you think, but my guess is that he could change the way you think. Go ahead, get in touch with your right brain. You’ll like it.
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at Amazon
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: 2000; January 2, 2002
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company, a trademark of Time Warner Book Group
Publication Date: 2005; April 3, 2007
Outliers: The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company, a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Publication Date: November 18, 2008
I enjoy reading Gladwell. He’s an engaging writer. And he uncovers stimulating information, albeit seemingly random. As a result, I’m not always confident where Gladwell is leading me in his books; when I’m finished, I’m still not confident where I’ve been taken. Regardless, he makes me think. It’s a little like sitting at the coffee break tables at a conference. You go to hear the keynote, but you sometimes take home more from the side conversations. Tipping Point started our conversations about conversations. We learned about the players we needed to ignite ongoing talk about our brands. Blink! reminds us of the importance of first impressions and the challenge of keeping the attention of our audiences. And Outliers forces us all to take another look at the components leading to success. You should read them if you are one of the twelve people who haven’t yet.
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Purchase Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking at Amazon
Purchase Outliers: The Story of Success at Amazon
What Sticks: Why Most Advertising Fails and How to Guarantee Yours Succeeds
Rex Briggs and Greg Stuart, Kaplan Publishing, a division of Kaplan, Inc.
Publication date: September 1, 2006
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive While Others Die
Chip and Dan Heath, Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: January 2, 2007
So Malcolm Gladwell introduces “stickiness” in Tipping Point, and behold! “stickiness” is “sticky.” So much so that other books on the topic followed. In an easily readable style, the Heath brothers give us the characteristics of stickiness: simplicity, surprise, concreteness (as opposed to abstraction), truth, emotion and good storytelling. Forgive me for sounding like Johnny One-Note, but these are the characteristics of coherent messaging, too. You know the Four Ps? What Sticks introduces the Four Ms. Know the motivations of your consumers. Based on these motivations, seek a message that consumers can truly hear. Select appropriate media to carry your message. Maximize your media investments by sharing knowledge from your results. Briggs and Stuart address the failings of advertising and offer reasonable solutions for improving return on investment.
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Purchase Made to Stick at Amazon
The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design
Marty Neumeier, New Riders Publishing, an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education
Publication Date: January 24, 2003; August 14, 2005
Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands
Admittedly, I’m a big fan of Marty Neumeier. The first time I read The Brand Gap, I was preparing for a class I guest-lectured at North Park University. I was hooked. Succinct and direct, Marty almost makes marketing and branding seem simple. Since 2004, it’s been required reading for my Notre Dame students. They love it. You will find it clarifying. Zag, I am certain, you will find challenging. “Checkpoint Six” still keeps me up at night. Read it and do what he tells you to.
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at Amazon
The Designful Company: How to Build a Culture of Nonstop Innovation
Marty Neumeier, New Riders Publishing, an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education
Publication date: December 26, 2008
Another great in a series from Marty Neumeier, The Designful Company argues for the importance of right brainers in your organization. Neumeier’s style is clear and compelling as he offers practical insight for moving your brand forward. Page 87, third paragraph: awesome.
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at Amazon
The Dream Manager
Matthew Kelly, Beacon Publishing
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Written in a style similar to Patrick Lencioni, Dream Manager inspires with the story of a company that clearly found and understood its great cause. In fact, the story is true and it’s about a company in Cincinnati owned by my entrepreneurial coach. So, though I read it with some personal attachment, you’ll be refreshed by the articulation of a set of values that changed not only the company, but also all its employees and clients. Great airplane read.
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Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Clay Shirky, The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Publication Date: February 24, 2009
The first chapter will pull you in with the real story about the power of social media. Read on. This book confirms what we believe about the practice of coherence. Engaging your wide and varied audience in the process of creating, building and managing your brand yields the deep and important relationships necessary in the competitive market. You’ll find practical insights throughout these pages. I found Chapter 11 very helpful.
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at Amazon
Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands
Kevin Roberts, Powerhouse Books
Publication Date: December 1, 2005
The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution
Kevin Roberts, Powerhouse Books
Publication Date: November 1, 2006
“Brands have run out of juice,” says he. As CEO of the world’s largest advertising agency, Kevin Roberts would be one who knows. With Roberts leading the charge, Saatchi & Saatchi promotes the evolution of lovemarks as the future of branding. Emotional connection is the name of the game. In The Lovemarks Effect, you’ll find outcome stories and the influence of “lovemark thinking” on products and services. Seems more than coherent to us!
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Purchase The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution at Amazon
Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want
James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: September 24, 2007
One of my faves. I love this book. And I often pass copies along to friends. My first copy is loaded with underlining, highlighting and tons of my own margin notes. Gilmore and Pike, the guys who outlined the experience economy, offer this exceptional treatise on customer values. “…authenticity has overtaken quality as the prevailing purchase criterion, just as quality overtook cost, and as cost overtook availability.” Authenticity is the heart of coherence. An absolute must read (even through the difficult parts!).
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Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Lois Kelly, AMACOM, a division of American Management Association
Publication Date: March 26, 2007
We’re all talking about word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) like it’s a phenomenon that started last year. Acknowledging the power of technology to connect people and communities more substantially, Lois Kelly gives new (and better) perspective on the significance of good buzz. Significant is the operative word here in that Kelly addresses the need for conversations of meaning and then prescribes strategies for generating those conversations. Good strategies. Simple. Common-sensical. With lists and charts. She gives an outline for conducting a self-checkup and offers practical steps to good conversations about your service or product. The case study examples were helpful, but I have to admit to some skimming over a few in parts that seemed to get a little boggy. But Kelly is really on track. I really lit up throughout the read and especially around page 170. I don’t know if I loved this book because it strongly affirms our belief in coherence or because it’s just so smart…oh wait, those are the same thing. Get this book and read it now. You need it.
Purchase Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
at Amazon
