Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes (Hardcover)

by Sam Hill (Author) "I hope to make you think-and then to do something with that thinking to improve your business or maybe even your life..." (more)
Key Phrases: geopolitical trends, mass personalization, instant polling, United States, Implications Expect, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...from another guru...the usefulness of his book lies...in the details of the commercial opportunities they (trends) can create..." -- Market Leader, Winter 2002

"...from another guru...the usefulness of his book lies...in the details of the commercial opportunities they (trends) can create..." (Market Leader, Winter 2002)

“…There is much useful advice and information in this book for any business or organisation, whether commercial or not…”(Managing Information, June 2003)

...There is much useful advice and information in this book for any business or organisation, whether commercial or not... -- Managing Information, June 2003

Product Description
THE FUTURE OF MARKETING BEGINS HERE . . .

"This is a terrific book. Useful, stimulating, and fun. Helpful not only in business but in general day-to-day life."
–– Christopher J. D. Ainsley, President and CEO
Wolters Kluwer, International Health & Science

"Tired of asking yourself ‘How did they know that trend was worth jumping on so early in the game?’ Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes helps marketers decide if the ripple is just a ripple or the next big wave."
–– Dan Hanrahan, Senior Vice President of Marketing
Royal Caribbean International

"Herman Kahn, Alvin Toffler, John Naisbitt are only a few of the trend analysts who’ve broken through into public consciousness. Sam Hill does them all one better; he shows you how to build businesses from his observations."
–– Randall Rothenberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton
Author of Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign

"The need for understanding the changing consumer has never been greater. Rich in facts, examples, and thought, Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes makes evident the forces that are shaping consumers all over the world."
–– Bob Schmetterer, Chairman and CEO
Euro RSCG Worldwide

"In Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes, Sam Hill brings together the insights of a futurist, the literary flair of a great journalist, and the analytical rigor of a top corporate strategist. This book should be on every senior executive’s night table."
–– Reggie Van Lee, Vice President and Managing Partner
Booz Allen Hamilton

"Sam Hill’s Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes gets better and better as one reads it–exactly what one wants from a book discerning trends. Invest an hour in this insightful book and you’ll not read the daily newspaper the same again."
–– B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, coauthors of The Experience Economy

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471225800
• ISBN-13: 978-0471225805
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #750,848 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Compendium of Trends w/o Forecasting or Identification Tools, October 22, 2002

By	Patrick S. Pope "Scott Pope" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sam Hill's Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes is a panoply of facts and figures related to societal, technological, and business trends. While insightful and quite interesting to read, it guides the reader little on identifying trends and tying together all of the data presented. The author suggests the latter is left for the reader to synthesize. Yet, it is not clear how the reader could apply the large amount of data to any specific objective.

The author does have an "opportunity" section after each trend, which lists voids that can be addressed by new products and services within that particular field. Although, for any one trend example, a subject matter expert in that industry should already have identified the trend and related causes. A skilled product manager may be able to identify a new audience for an existing product using the examples. Likewise, as an investor or someone considering a career switch, you might find some interesting material by which you can base your decision.

As someone obsessed with statistical data and a voracious consumer of business periodicals, I found that most of the material was interesting but not entirely new. In fact, it feels like a collection of Wall Journal Articles with opinions and supplementary explanations. If you haven't had the time to keep up with the WSJ, Forbes, and Business Week, Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes will fill in your knowledge gap. However, if you are looking for specific tools to forecast trends within your industry, you might want to read other works, such as Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than enough content, December 11, 2002

By A Customer

Worth 5 stars for two reasons:

1) Something for everyone, and probably something different with each reading, or section. I agree with another reviewer that it can read like the contents of many WSJ articles - but that is the point. The premise is delivering a highly subjective list of trends that have business potential/ impact. There's enough content here for a slew of articles, books and business plans. And I'm surprised that he wrote the book first!

2) Refreshingly honest. In contrast to so many business books, this is basically a personal journal of discovery.

So many books read like the product of a team of consultants and editors trying to support a marginal concept or framework . This reads more like the transcript of a long dinner conversation (and perhaps a bottle of wine or two). Can you imagine Porter, Hamel, Peters, et al suggesting that their books would make a good bathroom read? Or identifying businesses and individuals that are heading for failure? I didn't always agree with his opinions, but must congratulate him for not holding back on any topic.

Full disclosure: I bought the book because I remember working with Sam (many) years ago in a consulting project. Perhaps that's another reason I enjoyed it, like a conversation with him many years later - and clearly he's had a world of experiences since then.

I think a valid criticism of the book is that at times it seems he is (like the old Steven Wright joke) "trying to draw a map of the world - to scale." But he does seem to have succeeded in sketching out some major landmarks. Give the book 60 or even 120 minutes. Worth the effort.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good first step to what's coming next, August 24, 2003

By	"stupage_stu" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This book looks at sixty trends the author sees as being one of the next big things. Hill doesn't go for the bigger "mega-trends" but takes those and picks out smaller more manageable, personal trends. Some of these in no particular order are: interconnectedness, Peter Pan-ism and mercenary management. For each trend he gives the factors and factoids, implications and the opportunity. This gives you what he thinks are what the facts are, what it means and how you can use it. This gives the book a usefulness that is good. The problem I have is that I see some of the trends as not that useful or groundbreaking. Some of them also have a duh factor. As in duh tell me something I don't know. I suppose with 60 trends this is inevitable and it does give the book a something for everybody quality. Overall I give the book a B-. A useful first step if you want to see what might be coming next but I wouldn't bet the farm on anything in this book by itself.