From Mind to Market: Reinventing the Retail Supply Chain (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Wal-Mart versus Kmart..." (more)
Key Phrases: functional shiftability, demand chain, funeral firms, The Limited, United States, Victoria's Secret (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Roger D. Blackwell, an Ohio State University marketing professor and Fortune 500 consultant, believes that nothing short of a "radical reinvention of retail" will suffice in the hypercompetitive marketplace expected in the future. From Mind to Market: Reinventing the Retail Supply Chain is his prescription for 21st-century success. His strategy involves getting into the heads of consumers, accurately anticipating their needs, and then quickly meeting them with effectively developed products and services. Blackwell illustrates his points with examples from companies that already employ such practices, including Kinko's, The Limited, and Banc One Corporation.

From Library Journal

Blackwell (marketing, Ohio State Univ.) explains how the old linear supply chain (manufacturer to distributor to retailer to consumer) has been supplanted by a consumer-driven demand chain. Up and down the line the question becomes, "What does the consumer want?" Blackwell illustrates this point with examples from a variety of successful but diverse businesses, from Ford with its Taurus to F. Rees, a clothing store in Mount Airy, North Carolina, which attracts customers from all over the world. From large businesses to small, the lessons of quality and service are repeated. This quite readable book has something to teach not only those engaged in business but anyone whose work involves serving the public and meeting its needs. Recommended for public and academic business collections.?Joseph C. Toschik, Half Moon Bay Lib., El Granada, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; 1 edition (October 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887308333
• ISBN-13: 978-0887308338
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,295,033 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour-de-force from one of marketing's most quoted authors, March 16, 1998

By	Prof S. M. Burgess (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

He's been there. That's the difference between Roger Blackwell and the rest. He's one of the most quoted marketing professors of all time and he's sat on the boards and consulted for some of the world's top companies. I saw Blackwell giving a presentation twenty-five years ago talking about the world we would live in today. From his prediciton of mobile telephones and palmtop computers, my notes from that day could have been written today - he didn't miss on one point. 'From Mind to Market' is a wonderfully insightful look at marketing in the digital age. Blackwell writes about the collection and analysis of customer information in a way that any expert will find appealing and any novice will find illuminating. This is a good read - a 'can't put it down' type of book. I particularly like the way Blackwell translates the latest scientific thoughts about retailing and marketing into easy to understand observations about marketing and management practice in some of the world's leading firms. Stories about the Limited, Banc One, Kinko's, Max and Erma's, Ford Taurus and others bring his exciting thoughts about marketing excellence to life. If you buy one book about marketing this year, buy this one. Prof Steven M Burgess Association of Marketers Professor University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Listen to your customer! Is this the "radical" new approach?, September 25, 2000

By A Customer

There is nothing radical, or ground-breaking in this book. Contrary to what the cover or any of the previous comments may imply.. The basic (and almost the only) point is that "one should always listen to the customer," which is nice but not new or radical. No matter how hard you look, you will not be able to find any more "ideas" on retail marketing beyond this basic point.

Chapter 6 (Shifting Functions among Supply-Chain Players) has a very timely topic, however the content is extremely poor. Short of examples, Professor takes on the universities as inefficient supply-chain members.

Apart from being disappointed by the conceptual content of the book, I also feel fooled by the "real world" examples generously sprinkled throughout the text. In none of these examples, there is enough relevant knowledge to be able to say (at least roughly) this is how they did it. In fact, most of the descriptions of real-world practices are full with irrelevant knowledge with only one discernable purpose: To advertise a bunch of companies under the disguise of a serious book. That maybe why there are so many of those success (!) stories.

So, this book itself is an example of setting up too high and inaccurate expectations on the mind of consumers, and failing badly to abide by the implicit contract created by those expectations. It is a huge marketing mistake!

Finally, I must also mention that my faith in Customer Reviews has weakened tremendously. I simply cannot believe this repetitive dribble got all 5's!

(PS. Don't be fooled by its curious, nicely designed cover. It reflects a pathetic "brave new world" vision of marketing: People barcoded for collecting consumption information.)

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing earthshattering. Could've been said in one chapter., January 29, 2001

By	Dana Vandenheuvel "Dana VanDen Heuvel" (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Somewhat disappointing read in that there really wasn't any synopsis at the end of the book to bring all of the cases in point and related ideas together to make a coherent "call to action." While the information presented is interesting, educational, and valuable, the concept of "demand chain management" is not all that radical. The fact the more companies do not engage in the practice is what's really radical! There is no excuse for not conducting rigorous market research and analysis and gaining an intimate understanding of the customer base being served (or disserved in some cases). Mr. Blackwell's information could have been summed up in a 15 page article in a respectable journal. There was no need to produce an entire book on this.