Customer Reviews

Body of Truth: Leveraging What Consumers Can't or Won't Say

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I thought Hill's book was a marvelous exploration of the new vistas currently being opened by marketing research. I was especially sympathetic to the central premise that consumers don't really largely make their decisions "rationally." I know a lot of lip service is paid these days to acknowledging that consumers aren't the rational agents supposed by classic economic models, but this book actually takes this proposition seriously enough to go on to suggest how to USE it. I mean the book explains how understanding that people make purchase decisions to a large extent for irrational, emotional reasons can be used to your advantage in a business environment (and is ignored at your peril).

Plus it's really well-written. A great read!

You might think a book about measuring sensory responses to advertising stimuli would be either A) dry and boring or B) a soft-peddle pitch to get you to buy some expensive consulting gig rigged for sensory measurement...but this book is neither. It's a well-written, entertaining, thought-provoking and practical guide to re-thinking your approach to message development. Dr. Hill shares his experience and rich data with you in an easy-to-read book that breaks down his thinking in short, chewable chunks. I carried the book with me in my briefcase for a week, biting off 5-10 pages at a time between appointments and finding myself itching to get back into it at every available interval. All along the way, I was scribbling notes in the margins and underlining lots of material in anticipation that this would be a book I'd refer back to again and again in my travels with clients and creative types. Dr. Hill's "story line" approach to brand building is something I was able to put into play immediately upon finishing the book. I had a large campaign I was working on for a client and was able to integrate some of the "story line" thinking into our presentation in a way that made me sound like a visionary in consumer research! The client was impressed, the campaign turned out great and now we're anticipating additional work. More than just fad research, this book has staying power. And the examples Dr. Hill gives in each chapter create a veritable checklist for creating ad campaigns that not only circumvent conventional thinking, but resonate with the audience. I highly recommend "Body of Truth" to anyone in advertising, especially the creatives who are responsible for building brands and getting the message through in a cluttered media environment.

Interesting to see that what we've learned in depth-psychology and mythology is finding its way into market-research insights. Hill's book is a good read with colorful examples, a conversant style and keen insights. He's offering the industry a paradigm shift that is sure to attract the next generation of achievers.

The subtitle is so very intriguing: "Leveraging what Customers Can't or Won't Say." I had expected something more in-depth into the theory and, more importantly, into the application of the concepts and findings. As a previous reviewer has said, if you are new to the topics of how the mind works, emotional branding and use of story, then this may be a decent introduction. But if you are even somewhat acquainted with these topics, then you may find this book disappointingly lacking.

If you're an experienced marketer who keeps up with psychological studies relevant to marketing, you won't find anything new or any blinding insights here. (At least I didn't.) However, if you don't know much about how the brain works and how people respond to different emotionally laden factors like color, stories, images, etc., then you'll find this a useful way to catch up on a lot of scientific findings that have implications for branding.

very good book for marketeers and ad people, explaining the power and importance of emotions and emotional intelligenge in our lives and our consumer behavior.
the funniest thing is that Hill's BODY OF TRUTH was written before Kevin Roberts' LOVEMARKS, but it is saying more or less the same...

Have you ever seen something that looks to go to be real or even wonder how much of a front someone is putting up? Well that's the case with Dan Hill. His message seems good but meeting him in person was a completely different expereince. For someone that makes his life dealing and reading people you would think that the man would be more responsive and respectfull of people. I have a feeling that this book and person is a completely front.