6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Success belongs to those who learn to embrace complexity by reconciling the contradictions.", October 27, 2006
This review is from: The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape (Hardcover)
In The Trendmaster's Guide, Robyn Waters offers a series of brief but stimulating discussions of 26 subjects which range from A (Antennae by which to "tune in to the little things, the trivial nuances, and the irrelevant data which everyone else misses") to Z (Zen which embraces opposites, paradoxes, contradictions, etc. while celebrating duality and embraces polarity). Waters urges her reader to learn to practice "the Zen of trend." As she carefully differentiates, a "trend tracker" is someone who is alert for indications that help his or her business to stay [begin italics] up to the minute [end italics] whereas what she calls a "Trendmaster" uses that information to determine [begin italics] where that minute is going [end italics]. Years ago when asked to explain his effectiveness as a hockey player, Wayne Gretzky replied that others know where the puck is while he knows where it is going to be. Larry Bird once said that when he played basketball, he saw plays develop as if in slow motion and he could "see" exactly what would happen next. There are countless other examples of precisely the same skills on which Waters focuses, all of which almost anyone can possess and then improve. In short, she explains the "how"of Trend
In The Hummer and the Mini, Waters explains the "what" of Trend. Throughout much of the book's narrative, she cites examples which illustrate how paradox "illustrates what's going on out there in the world while at the same time cautioning that things are always as they appear at first glance. When examined with an open mind, paradoxes will help you read between the lines and reframe your perspective."
In this instance, I am reminded of the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who suggests that the nature of reality is best understood as a multiple of paradoxes. For example: "Expect the unexpected or you won't find it" and "You can't step into the same river twice." This is precisely what Waters has in mind when asserting that there is no single "next best" whatever. Rather, there are many. She quotes Charles Handy: "The more turbulent the times, the more complex the world, the more paradoxes there are." Therefore, she suggests that today, "success belongs to those who learn to embrace complexity by reconciling the contradictions." In terms of providing superior service, "There are many different ways to satisfy the same customer."
Waters believes (and I agree) that many of the best new ideas are really just old ideas reinterpreted, that customers will continue to demand a more personalized shopping environment and the ability to customize products to suit their individual needs, that more and more people will "trade-up" (as Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske assert) to "luxurious commodities," that consumers will (in Leonard Koren's words) be attracted to products that "pare down to the essence" but which do not "remove the poetry," that a new nomenclature is needed to describe the newest trends (e.g. "luxurious commodities," "counterfeit authenticity," and "extreme relaxation"), and that consumer demand for goods that are ethically produced will continue to increase.
Throughout her book, Waters identifies and discusses hundreds of examples of products which illustrate how various companies have not only learned to live with but have responded effectively to "the push and pull of opposites, to balance the contradictions and inconsistencies, and [embraced] the paradoxes - the trends and countertrends - that exist at a macro level in our world." These products include the Hummer and Mini Cooper, of course, but also Ralph Lauren apparel, Tupperware, the iPod, M&Ms, Build-A-Bear, Whirlpool Duet, In-N-Out Burgers, 3 Vodka, "Virtual Venice" and "Fiberglass France" casinos in Law Vegas, Rainforest Café's, Dream Dinners, and Metronaps.
Waters makes an important distinction between a trend guru or futurist and a Trendmaster. Her unique "trend from the inside out" perspective is this: "Trends are signposts pointing to what's going on in the hearts and minds of consumers. These days, if you want to be `on trend,' it's more important to figure out what's important, not just what's next." Futurists lookoutside to the marketplace, and at statistics and numbers to suggest what's next whereas a Trendmaster looks inside the hearts and minds of the consumer, to figure out what really matters. She believes that paradox is a reliable tool to get at the "heart of things " precisely because every human being is, at heart, a paradox . We all want to belong, and we all want to be unique. As Margaret Mead observed, "We are all unique, just like everyone else."
The Hummer and the Mini will be of substantial value to marketers but I think it should also be read by all others at the senior-executive level, at least in organizations which have direct relationships with consumers. How long will the trends and countertrends which Waters identifies continue? I have no idea and perhaps neither does she. Heraclitus was right: Change is the only constant. However, although it is obviously important to recognize emerging consumer trends and then respond effectively to them, it is even more important to develop and then sustain a mindset which accommodates "the push and pull of opposites" while balancing contradictions and inconsistencies. Waters concludes with this observation: "Life may be more complicated than we'd wish, but it's also simpler than we realize. We simply need to embrace the power of paradox and put it to work for us."
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Waters' The Trendmaster's Guide and Silverstein and Neil Fiske's Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods...And How Companies Create Them (Revised and Updated) as well as Martha Barletta's Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment, Gerald Zaltman's How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, Pamela Danziger's Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - As well as the Classes, Silverstein's Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, Paul Nunes's Mass Affluence: Seven New Rules of Marketing to Today's Consumer, and James B. Twitchell's Living It Up : America's Love Affair with Luxury.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I Drive a Mini - My Wife Drives a..., November 18, 2006
This review is from: The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape (Hardcover)
Actually it's a Land Rover. But at 5979 pounds and 14 miles per gallon (on a good day) it's almost the same deal.
Living as I do in this marital paradox, I couldn't help but react when, on the first page, the author quotes ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu, "When opposites supplement each other, everything is harmonious".
Okay.
But the wisdom doesn't stop there. We learn that Dr. Marty Grothe, author of Oxymoronica, has pointed out that "paradox is a particularly powerful device to ensnare truth because it concisely illuminates the contradictions that are at the very heart of our lives".
Just as I was getting on a roll with this heavy stuff I turned the page again and stopped short as I read Waters' earnest sounding pledge, "You will find no big pronouncements here".
Whoa! A bit of a roller coaster ride. Or perhaps another paradox. And then, just when I thought that things were calming down, this quote from Margaret Mead totally ambushed me, "We should remember that we are absolutely unique, just like everyone else". And Waters adds, "If you can embrace that thought, you'll have no problem embracing the paradoxes contained within".
So that's what this is - a book about paradoxes.
Waters' essential thesis is that in today's paradoxical world, for every trend, clever marketing mavens can uncover a perhaps counterintuitive but nearly always powerful countertrend. The companies that are good at doing this are the ones that get ahead.
Beyond this, the author spins a rich series of interesting brand stories as she illustrates happening countertrend paradoxes chapter by chapter as follows:
* Everything old is new again.
* Mass customization.
* Luxurious commodities.
* Less is more.
* Healthy indulgences.
* Extreme relaxation.
* Social capitalism.
I particularly liked her description of the "Trend to Tiny" ad campaign of Schonbek Worldwide Lighting, a 137 year old manufacturer of generally gigantic and often ostentatious crystal chandeliers. As she writes, "Here I was looking at glittering monuments to wealth and power, mansions staffed by servants, decorated by some of the biggest designers names in the business, and somebody was promoting `Tiny instead of titanic. Playful rather than palatial. More darling than dazzling'". She goes on to write, "By thinking big about small, Schonbek created an entirely new product category that they now own. They were smart enough to recognize a countertrend when they saw one".
After a number of such anecdotes, by the end of the book, I felt that I had been on a dizzying and exhilarating odyssey.
And then, a straightforward landing: "Life may be more complicated than we'd wish, but it's also simpler than we realize".
Okay - so where's the keys to the Rover?
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