BrainJuicer - Predictive Markets for new concepts

Predictive Markets- Is the Crowd Consistently Wise?

As posted on the BrainJuicer's website.

The theory behind the analytical BrainJuicers® (Mind Reader and Best/Worst) comes from cognitive psychology and is based on the power of associations.

Modern psychology makes much of insights into the associative structure of human memory and the distributed understanding of meaning, using associative techniques to identify how an idea is positioned in the mind in order to unpack its subjective meaning. How an idea is positioned in the associative networks of memory may be seen as describing the meaning of that idea for its holder. This is why the simple association game that Psychologists play with patients is an incredibly insightful way of revealing what people think and feel about a subject.

The theory behind the creative BrainJuicer® (BrainStormer) is recent work done on 'Electronic Brainstorming'. Rather than a brainstorm taking place aloud with a team in a single location, the BrainStormer asks people to contribute their ideas individually and remotely. Empirical findings reflect the success of this approach, both absolutely and relative to 'regular' brainstorming. The size of the group means you tap a wider pool of conceptual capital and generate more ideas.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

My muse introduced me to a fascinating site and a resource so amazing I had to post it.

Of particular interest to me were their thoughts on Life skills for the 21st Century, As I read I wanted to know more. The area the partnership identified transcend time and geography and straddle across education, corporations and social/cultural boundaries.

Leadership

• Use of interpersonal and problem-solving skills to influence more than one person toward a goal
• Ability to leverage strengths of others to accomplish a common goal
  Ethics
• Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in personal, workplace and community contexts

Accountability

• Set and meet high standards and goals for one's self and others
• Adaptability
• Adapt to varied roles and responsibilities
• Tolerate ambiguity and changing priorities

Personal Productivity

• Utilize time efficiently and manage workload
• Be punctual and reliable

Personal Responsibility

• Exercise personal responsibility and flexibility in personal, workplace and community contexts

People Skills

• Work appropriately and productively with others

Self Direction

• Monitor one's own understanding and learning needs
• Demonstrate initiative to advance professional skill levels
• Ability to define, prioritize and complete tasks without direct oversight
• Demonstrate commitment to learning as a lifelong process

Social Responsibility

• Act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind

These Life Skills are a copyright of the PARTNERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 organization. The Partnership's work is supported by the U.S. Department of Education & a host of member organization & corporations

Advertising: What's Next?

In his introduction Joe Plummer, Chief Research Officer, The Advertising Research Foundation mentioned...

... the dialogue was focused on "the hole, not the doughnut." Asked to explain, I offered the observation that the focus was on the negative ñ a sense that "advertising was dead," "all the marketing models are broken," "market research was at fault," "consumers were tuning out." Conference after conference filled with Chicken Littleís warning that the sky was falling. A mood of doom and gloom, possibly traceable to 9/11, the dotcom bust and the war in Iraq, was pervading the mindset of the advertising industry and the trade press in the US.

"So, what should we at the ARF do about that?"

Joe continues on to share...

... a series of workshops in the fall of 2005 focused on the future of advertising and particularly on positive future we could create together with industry thought leaders. Unlike so many conferences with speaker after speaker and no time for reflection or intelligent dialogue about possibilities, we could construct several workshops with a few stimulating speakers and much time spent between the participants constructing alternative future possibilities.

The results are one of the RICHEST and most amazing scenarios every marketer should consider and leverage! I have personally found this to be an invaluable resource - Advertising: What's Next?

Who cares whether they care?

Insights from InterBrand on Organizations and the effect of Pride in the organization.

What impact does pride have on organisational performance?
To test the impact of pride on organisational performance we used structural equation modelling to measure the relationship between pride and a number of key behaviours for employers. These included:
• Recommending the organisation as a great place to work
• Recommending the organisation’s products and services
• Putting in extra effort
• Actively looking for a job elsewhere

Here is one from a recent post on the ANA Blog- A Customer's Story - What Bad Employees Do To Your Brand

Stories, Conversations & Engagement

A couple days ago I came across a post on The Viral Garden - Problem Avoidance Isn't Problem Management. I guess the following could act as a primer to the Interactive Marketing team for Splenda(© McNeil Nutritionals, LLC).

From this morning's FastCompanyNOW - 5 Steps To The Conversational Economy

1. Make it easy for consumers to talk about you - good and bad.
If you sell products, let users submit reviews and ratings on your site. If you're making good products, you shouldn't have to worry because you'll see glowing reviews. If not, you've most likely found the source of your profitability or marketshare issues.

2. Customers are always right.
Even when they're wrong, in their heads, they're right. You have an opportunity to educate them but at the end of the day, they choose whether to stay with you or leave. You cannot control that. How you handle the education part makes a big difference in their decision.

3. Stop trying to please everyone.
Make an awesome product for one segment. Dominate that group of users. Turn them into your biggest advocates. When you try to make something for everyone, you end up with mush. Think Apple. The only way to survive the conversational web or economy is to have people talking about you. They can either love you or hate you, but if you're stuck in the middle, you're toast.

4. Understand that each customer counts.
Like Chris Anderson said, "the ants have megaphones." You have to recognize vocal supporters and address vocal critics. One bad review by an influential blogger and you've lost untold revenues. People don't trust mass media. They trust people like themselves. And if you feel like addressing individual users is too much hassle, you now see how far you have to come to participate in the new marketplace.

5. Do something worth conversation.
I'm not talking about a press stunt. I'm talking about developing products that people love. I'm talking about delivering service that is delightfully unexpected. Simply meeting expectations doesn't count anymore. There are too many options to pick from. That mentality comes from a scarcity mindset and we live in an abundant world. Create joy. Make a difference. Get people talking.

Be Excellent™: The 12 Elements of Great Managing

Be Excellent™: The 12 Elements of Great Managing

All common sense and very sound.

These 12 statements -- the Gallup Q12 -- emerged from Gallup's pioneering research as those that best predict employee and workgroup performance.

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

(The Q12 items are protected by copyright of The Gallup Organization, 1992-1999. All rights reserved.)

Laisser-faire

Hail free markets! Hail competition!

The post on FastCompany Now - The World Turned Upside Down, is a robust proof. Challenge current models, please the consumer (hopefully more than the most obvious cheap price) and the market will reward you! Ryanair may be about to transform trans-Atlantic travel.

Laissez-Faire or Laisser-faire, is a French phrase meaning "let do".

Is no news really good news?

Ever transitioned from a line management role into a staff management role? The transition is like nothing else one may experience. Over the years I have my own model to evaluate a role based on the Challenge it offers, Recognition potential and Compensation to be drawn. The model is simple and effective and has helped me in identifying the tactical merits when choosing between multiple options.

I am an ardent believer in building the “Brand YOU!” and as a marketer there is nothing greater than “Brand YOU!”; Managing, promoting, positioning and communicating to a larger than life yet smart, humble, connected and personable self.

Recently I sat back to think of all those jobs and brands that present a touch point with the consumer/customer but lack the regular dialog of a consumer brand. I was reminded of all the utilities that service us-Water, Electricity, Oil, Gas, etc. How often do we call any or all to thank them for ensuring continuity of service? I certainly never do, I don’t expect many amongst us either! Yet by the same token we are the first to pick up our phones as soon as we experience an interruption.

So where is the dialog between the brand the consumer? How do I build and make myself “Brand YOU” known?

My colleagues and friends in staff roles the forecasters; the IT staff; the facilities team; etc. often face the same fate. I rarely ever call to thank them for services and yet am often the first to express my dissatisfaction when things are not right. As a marketer I have mined information from consumer affairs on what my strategic target consumers and current base likes, wants, desires and even avoids in my brands to drive my strategies but what do you do when communication is nonexistent? We have clearly raised the bar, continuity is not longer a measure of excellence and it is the datum for survival in commodity markets.

As I thought further an old english word, “EPHEMERAL” popped. Leverage the craze of the day to market yourself – Productivity improvement, Sustainability, Ecological footprint, Organic, etc. Essentially “No news can be good news” but being “NEW” and “IN VOGUE” is the only survival and differentiation for “Brand YOU!”.

10 Ways Marketing Will Be Transformed in 2007

ANA's Bob Liodice published 10 Ways Marketing Will Be Transformed in 2007

• Consumer in Control
• New Agenda for Agencies
• Hail to the Chief
• Unconventional Outreach
• Media Buying Metamorphosis
• Let the Fighting End
• Organizational Overhaul
• Research Renewal
• Blow up the Back Room
• Continuous Marketing Reinvention

Alls not lost on measuring marketing effectiveness

MediaPost Publications - Proof: Looking At the Little Picture

Althought not quitely directly related here is another perspective on measured progress with a Human Touch - Measures Progress

Martha Rules!!

Martha has always impressed me tremendously with her elegance, her creativity and her style. The Alderson Federal Prison experience has only made her stronger and better.

Martha Rules is a MBA in as few as 196 pages. Written in the classic Martha style - Simple(Everyday), Lucid and Original!

The Martha Rules:
1 What's passion got to do with it?
2 Ask yourself, what's the big idea?
3 Get a telescope, a wide-angle lens, and a microscope
4 Teach so you can learn
5 All dressed up and ready to grow
6 Quality is everyday
7 Build an A-team
8 So the pie isn't perfect? : cut it into wedges
9 Take risks, not chances
10 Make it beautiful

The part I find most inspiring is her ability to reinvent herself from a Model to a Wall Street Broker to a Caterer to Entrepreneur and now a phenomenal Coach!

Emotional Intelligence

The article brings to light timeless and transcendent values that extend from the playground to the boardroom.

• Self-awareness
• Empathy and social skills
• Feedback and open communication

From the Playground to the Boardroom: The Importance of Emotional Intelligence

Grace Andrews, the author of the article and an executive coach refers to Daniel Goleman as a valuable resource:

• Self-Awareness: knowing one's internal states, preferences, resources, and intuitions and having the willingness to share them.
• Self-Regulation: managing one's internal states, impulses and resources, and taking responsibility for said.
• Motivation: ability and emotional tendency to inspire, guide or facilitate the reaching of goals.
• Empathy: awareness of others' feelings, needs and concerns.
• Social Skills: adeptness at effecting change through listening and communication; openly communicating and nurturing relationships.

IBM Many Eyes Update

Mind mapping has been a long time fascination for Marketers and Researchers to get into the consumers minds and product/brand associations. To elevate the process of drawing out meaning of what the consumers said and really mean lead me recently to yet another interesting process called, "Meaning based linguistic search".

IBM Many Eyes Project on his blog is a worthy visit - The Eponymous Pickle: IBM Many Eyes Update

[Ad]vantage

This morning's article in MediaPost talks about the challenges and chaos from fragmented (emerging) media and engaging brand stories, without doubt marketers need to manage risk judiciously.

Kirk Drummond presents a framework to balance this risk.

>> Stay within the range and relevance of your brand.
>> Have an organizing idea and a reason.
>> Organize your efforts.
>> Be equally as innovative on how you measure your efforts.

Invaluable consumer research data

Boomers have money, aren't afraid to spend it - ONLY FROM BRANDWEEK
Research lead and conducted by C&R Research

• A significant number with kids said they’re now “Empty Nesters”
• Financial concerns top the list of worries, and the next most worrisome is family and health/diet
• 71% of 50-64 year olds and 84% of 30-49 year olds report high Internet usage; those 65 and over, regular Net usage is reported by 32%
• Boomers who took the online survey say they most often shop online for travel, books, clothesand electronics
• Respondents have adopted healthy eating habits - reading nutrition labels, eating smaller meals, changing their diet to maintain their weight and stay healthy, eating low-fat foods, monitoring their carb intake

Disposable income for the baby boom generation has been pegged at about $2 trillion a year.

Success stories - Tween Traits & Targeting

Interesting article from this morning's USAToday - As kids get savvy, marketers move down the age scale

Some other tween girl traits:
•They're driven by imitation
•They want more of everything
•They are environmentally aware
•They like attention, sort of

The article was a great read into the mind of a tween and strategies to appeal to their psyche as early as 3-4 yr olds.

Integrated: Brand-Bonding Drives Desire

As I read Jean Brandolini Lamb's article in MediaPost, the words drove home!

Lately I been searching for words that are overly repeated in every marketers lingo, I thought before I post a link to Jean's article I would add some of my own value. I thought of a couple words and tried counting the number of instances they appear/repeat in the article.

Emotion - 11 times
Desire - 5 times
Feel... - 4 times
Important - 2 times

The past year has seen a huge push towards marketing accountability. We have read and seen many articles but some how those words/measures are yet to make their way into some of these posts. I do acknowledge, I am guilty as charged!

Here are some nuggets from the article:

• Shopping and logical thought are often worlds apart
• We buy it because we want it. It's about pure desire, rationalized either before or after purchase
• Neuropsychology theories [connection between physiology and psychological responses] that are replacing the old consumer behavior beliefs [AIDA (awareness, interest, desire, action)]
• We are all driven first by emotion (We all still act based on primitive, emotional instincts)
• Emotional connection leads to brand desire, which ultimately leads to demand
• Convenience factors and rational concerns play a part in the decision-making process, but it is a feeling that acts as the initial spark of interest
• "feel first, think later" advertising model is in line with theories surrounding brands
• Brands are simply the established meaning or reputation of a product or service within the minds -and hearts - of consumers
• Brands have values, ideas, and feelings attached to them that allow consumers to make unique emotional connections with them
• Advertising is moving from "creating brand awareness" to "creating brand demand."
• Not only do consumers need to know about your brand, they need to want your brand
• Marketers need to define value for the target consumer, and deliver a brand that not only is unique but also motivates them on an emotional or instinctive level
• Build brands that are differentiated and connect to the target market emotionally
• "Emotion involves and motivates and can transfer positive perceptions to the brand."
• A brand is built on a "compelling truth." The compelling truth is transformational, ideally creating emotional preference and differentiation
• Compelling truth delivered consistently across the customer experience, drives emotion and breeds motivation

Playing in dangerous territory - Hearts & Minds

This morning's quote from the AMA News letter is a breath of fresh air...

"A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment." - Scott Talgo

Scott used to be Chief Strategy Officer at Landor.

Brand equity creep

Ever seen a composite sketch of an alleged criminal on the evening news? I watched one last night and a strange thought popped. The image was the best the police (artist) could develop, after all he/she was drawing out an image from some else’s eyes/mind. The quality of the image was so generic and poor; I can’t imagine anyone being able to identify the alleged criminal even if the person stood next to you.

The business of marketing could be as tricky as that of the artist. A brand’s equity is no longer communicated purely through constructive efforts of a savvy marketer. Every touch point is a communication opportunity, the brand ambassador, the influencers, moms at the PTA, moms at parties, moms at the grocery store, blogs, the list is endless.

Today all marketers need to think of the following questions:
How strong is your brand's equity?
How important is the channel and what does the channel speak about your brand?
Do you have consumers or fans of your brand; how do you manage equity creep?

Writing… - Advertising & Strategy

The last weekend I was engaged in a discussion about writing. For all those who have read Ken Roman’s (ex-CEO of Ogilvy & Mather), ‘How to write better’ will attest to his wisdom:

1. The reader does not have much time
2. Know where you are going
3. Make what you write easy to read
4. Short sentences & short paragraphs
5. Make your writing vigorous and direct
6. Avoid clichés
7. Avoid vague modifiers
8. Use specific concrete language
9. Find the right word
10. Don’t make spelling mistakes
11. Don’t over write or over state
12. Come to the point
13. State things as simply as you can
14. Handle numbers consistently
15. Avoid needless words
16. Be concise, but readable
17. Be brief, simple and natural
18. Don’t write like a bureaucrat or a lawyer
19. Never be content with your first draft
20. Have somebody else look over your draft

… & those of us who have been students of Kaizen understand the value of asking Why 5 times. It is so interesting to see the similarities and differences. Although Kaizen involves asking ‘why’ at the end (counter intuitive to what is expected to be already clear and precise) , better writing starts with asking ‘why’ before one starts.

It is the dichotomy between developing a strategy and analysis.

I might just add a certain amount of indulgence through ambiguity is an essential ingredient in the romance of a good creative.

How to fight your personal brand demons and win

Lyn Chamberlin's Post on Brandchannel.com - Following are some nuggets Lyn presents to the audience (Women).

My non-scientific analysis is that we are caught in a self-perpetuating, interconnected web of myths, myths that have been handed down to us in one form or another ever since Eve took a bite out of the apple. Myths such as:

Myth #1: If I Am Good, They Will Come
This is the biggest hurdle that we, as 51 percent of the population, must overcome—whether we're at home, in the workforce, or in the C-suite.

Myth #2: Marketing Myself Is a Dirty Business
Successful personal branding means continually standing far enough away to see yourself and your work as if it were not you and your work that you were looking at.
Successful personal branding means wearing labels such as "leading" and "expert," "sought-after," "popular," and "well-regarded." It means creating a brand identity that is authentic, consistent, and memorable, one that you own and are proud of.

Myth #3: I Can't Control What Other People Think
Develop a tightly honed messages that are reinforced and repeated over and over again.

Here are several simple steps you can take right now to bottle and market YOU:

1. Figure out who you are, what you stand for, and why you are different than anyone or anything else.
2. Create a story that communicates your value and your market differentiation.
3. Pull the key words that you have used to create that story and weave them into everything that you say, do and publish about yourself and your business.
4. Tell your story relentlessly, passionately, and unapologetically to anyone who will listen. You will refine and improve it as you go along, figuring out which parts work and which don't.

A network is larger than sum of the parts

The big buzz these days is networks, networks and more networks. I am not referring to Information Technology Systems that power these networks I am talking about Social & Professional networks that create and capture value for the participants.

Networking is not new business by any stretch but some creative marketing and advertising has brought it back in vogue. With ever greater need to deliver bottom line savings, shrinking product life cycles and need for more block busters (which translates into 'trying many new ideas' fast and cheap), it is no surprise P&G's Connect & Develop is such a huge hit.

General Mills just threw its hat in the ring...
General Mills Launches Innovation Network To Develop Products

P&G's New Innovation Model

From “No Pain, No Gain” to “Run Easy”

Branding is a funny business, I mean it! It is Negotiation 101 and playing mind games.

It is also the kind of thing that excites me, the idea of reframing and positioning a product with the point of view to engage the consumer, create excitement and leverage from within the portfolio to extend equities.

The title of this essay draw from the recent news on Reebok’s repositioning itself to target Nike. “No Pain, No Gain” is not new news but we how often do we gravitate to the “Easy” and “Convenient” as a trade off, multiplies our available time. Easy sells, convenient works, that’s also why fast food sells, it is also what motivates us to consume the weight loss pills both the ones approved by the FDA and those yet to be approved.

Essentially what smart brand managers try is to reframe a problem to lead the consumer to happy feelings, engage them and overtime translate the brand into a Lovemark.

The devil is in the DETAIL

Media Metrics: Connecting With Hispanics - This morning's MediaPost

It is easy to get caught in the buzzzzzz... of emerging market segments and the top line of the opportunity, the challenge is to see under the carpet. Susan does a great job of laying the ground work for the much needed insight on the "WHO?" and "WHAT?"

• English-speaking Hispanics have more in common with non-Hispanic consumers
• it's critical to look at the specific brand that is being advertised when it comes to deciding how and when to communicate to Hispanic audiences
• English-speaking Hispanics comprise only 45 percent of Hispanics
• English-speaking Hispanics are younger, better educated and earn higher incomes
• English speakers comprise a full 77 percent of Hispanics who have professional/managerial occupations
• They are 74 percent of Hispanics with an individual employment income of $40,000 or more
• English-speaking Hispanics are a ripe market for movies, electronics, CDs/DVDs, fast-food restaurants, candy, and liquor
• Nike is a favorite brand of English-speaking Hispanics, while Spanish-speakers favor Adidas. Coke has a Spanish-speaking skew, while Pepsi skews to English speakers
• Both are interested in personal style and improving their social status, Spanish-speakers have a more traditional outlook for women/gender roles and are slightly more religious. They are also more likely to be sensitive to the environment
• English-speaking Hispanics, collecting sports trading cards, participating in karaoke, and playing chess are some of the leisure activities they participate in well above the general population
• Participation in civic/public activities by Hispanics, is well below that of the non-Hispanic population
• The two language segments overlap somewhat in Texas and California

There is more in the article to help a brand manager develop media spend strategies and targeting plans.

Nuggets from - Rules of Engagement

From this morning's MediaPost - Invitation Marketing: Rules of Engagement

• Always picture the person you're writing the ad for before you write the ad
• People still respond to brands that treat them as people and to ideas that engage them
• Embrace the idea that where, when, why, and how we talk to customers has changed forever
• Be comfortable by now with this fragmented, complex, consumer-controlled, user-generated new media landscape
• Great ideas can be supported by experiences that invite greater exploration
• It's an amazing opportunity for creative and media teams to come together to create the ideas and plans to support the intimate dialogs that make true engagement possible
• Discipline of talking to individuals, instead of marketing to groups. It forces us to avoid the mushy middle of appealing to everyone
• Relevance - finding the intersection between what a brand wants to communicate and what a customer wants to hear

Über-consumers: While account planning and psychographics have already helped us tighten our approach to media and creative, the new landscape demands that we apply even finer filters. GenY isn't a target market, it's a target continuum. Ideas need to reach individuals across that continuum. Consumer involvement also needs to be factored in - ranging from highly engaged "prosumers" to traditional consumers.

Talking vs. marketing: Our audiences are incredibly sophisticated. They understand the marketing context of communications. Not only do they know there's a man behind the curtain, but they know his motivations. Let's be upfront with the people we're talking to and not try to disguise marketing messages. Let's continue to create ads and online experiences that get people involved.

The mushy middle: This is work that plays to the common denominator and, in so doing, diffuses the message. Example: For a technology brand, the mushy middle comes from an idea that straddles the tech needs of a smart IT person (with a finely tuned BS meter) with the broader needs of a manager who is interested in the business benefits, not how the technology works. In the mushy middle, the it person is left seeing "fluff." The business decision-maker is often left confused.

Relevance: It's the antithesis of the mushy middle. Relevant ideas address the individual's needs with detail and language that rings true. You run the risk that many people won't "get it." But the ones who do are the ones you want. (Best example: ESPN's long-running "SportsCenter" TV campaign. The more obscure the reference, the more rewarding the experience for viewers.) Relevance has to be integrated across campaigns. A spot-on ad is missing huge opportunities when the landing pages, Web sites, e-mail and direct campaigns aren't supporting it with the same level of thinking.

The result of this approach? More intricate media plans, more individualized creative executions, more precise message maps, and more enriching rewards for people who choose to take the next step. As campaigns move from macro to micro, the ability to measure their impact also needs to be adjusted. Engagement metrics need to be expanded to reflect the true value of the time spent by users and the content areas that draw their attention. It's the start of a dialogue. Actually, hundreds of them.

Two interesting articles

Simplicity isn't simple - Doug Sundheim

Doug's filter to identify the top 3 focus area.
1. Write down your objectives for the next year.
2. Identify the 3-5 primary buckets in which you spend your day (might be Admin, Development, Production, & Personal for instance).
3. Write down active tasks in each bucket.
4. Prioritize each list.
5. Consult your objectives and pick the top 3 tasks across all buckets.
6. Each day bring yourself back to them when you get off course.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 daily.

There is no alternative to being prepared: Don't Leave Home Without Your Tools - Wendy Marx

The next time you attend a meeting bring your game plan: Here are a few tips to help make you a better player:
• Think ahead. What is your client likely to ask you? What will he or she want to know?
• Bring alternatives. Don’t be a “One Note Charlie.” Instead, think about a number of ways to help your client or prospect and be prepared to present another scenario if one gets shot down…or two…or three gets shot down.
• Be flexible. If your client or prospect isn’t responsive, don’t keep repeating the same failing message. Be bold and try something different.

Shopportunity is not Available, Okay & Cheap

It is Respect, Discovery, Romance, Adventure & Personality.

I didn't agree with everything in the book but the ideas read like a marketing case study and real experiences from my past life and alma maters.



I Just read Kate Newlin's SHOPPORTUNITY. BrandAutopsy has an interesting post on the book from October 2006.

How to be a Retail Revolutionary.