Book Description
Improve your presentationsand increase your impactwith 50 powerful, practical, and easy-to-apply techniques for Microsoft PowerPoint. With Beyond Bullet Points, youll take your presentation skills to the next levellearning innovative ways to design and deliver your message. Organized into five sectionsDistill Your Ideas, Structure Your Story, Visualize Your Message, Create a Conversation, and Maintain Engagementthe book uses clear, concise language and just the right visuals to help you understand concepts and start getting better results. Not just a how-to for PowerPoint, this book will help take your presentation skills to the next level! Features 50 innovative, easy-to-apply techniques to help you clarify, visualize, and present your ideas using PowerPoint. Author is a leading presentation-skills consultant. Targeted for intermediate to advanced level users of PowerPoint who are looking to stand out from the crowd and make sure people remember what they say.
Customer Reviews:
Clear guide for creating effective presentations .......2007-08-24
Microsoft PowerPoint changed the world of presentations by simplifying the process of creating a computerized slide show. Alas, over time people started squeezing too much information into every slide and using the preinstalled generic titles. PowerPoint's simplicity let people forget the purpose of presentations: to persuade or to inform without being boring. Cliff Atkinson shows you a creative way to build a good presentation without falling into the PowerPoint template trap - tell a story instead. At present, he provides a free template, storyboard formatter and story guide at sociablemedia.com that adds value to the book, which refers to these resources repeatedly. We recommend this to anyone who gives presentations.
I've used this method and it works.......2007-07-25
I borrowed it from the library and I am going to purchase it for my personal business library. I think that this is a great resource book. I decided to try this method since I do a presentation about once a month to pharmacists. This book helped me to organize my thoughts and present the material in a logical manner. I am in the health care industry and the people I present to are used to seeing bullet points BUT they are bored with it. For those that think the information here won't work, I say give it a try before dismissing it. You may find that your audience doesn't want as many bullet points and facts as you think and that you are a breath of fresh air in doing something new and innovative with your presentations. And remember you can put all of that information from your bullet points in the notes pages and print that out for them.
Don't understand what others see in it.......2007-07-07
I was disappointed having bought this book based on good reviews, so here's my review:
1. The author provides just one tool for one particular type of presentation: "pitch an idea to your bosses". The tool is a 3-act presentation using few words and more graphics and presenter narration.
Although a good tool for some presenters and some presentations, I can only see myself using this in 10-20% of my presentations.
2. Because the author refuses to explore other methods, the book becomes very repetitive and too detailed going on about the same points all the time.
3. Because of this, this is certainly not a book to keep for reference.
4. ...unless you are a total PowerPoint novice and computer-illiterate and want to read a step-by-step instructions about how to resize and crop images in PowerPoint, etc.
5. This is the first book by Microsoft Press I read and I was shocked at the obvious attempts throughout the book to advertise other marginally-related Microsoft products.
The book description says: "Targeted for intermediate to advanced level users". I would never recommend this book to anyone but absolute beginners and even then there must be better books.
The intermediate user should really just browse the first couple of chapters to get the basic idea (1. set the scene 2. show the conflict 3. resolve the conflict) in a bookstore and then decide for himself if he really wants to waste money on something which can easily be summarized on one page.
Better Presentations.......2007-07-05
I've been doing presentations since the BP (before Powerpoint) era and I have a structure that I've used since the beginning. This book caused me to rethink my approach, and, after using it on several recent presentations, I have to say it is a change for the better. Highly recommended if quality communications is your goal.
a very, very helpful book on creating effective presentations.......2007-07-03
While I didn't adopt the 3 > 3 approach Atkinson suggests, I really took to heart his idea of replacing wordy, boring slides with those with only a title (a concept, expressed as a sentence) and high-impact relevant graphics. As a result, I created a six-hour workshop (on personal productivity) that contained a total of five bullets (out of 130 slides). I also created - from the same slide show - a prose booklet that participants take home. Very useful.
More at: What a difference a framework can make
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2007/04/what-difference-framework-can-make.html
Book Description
Leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell knows that people are never successful by talent alone, and in this book he outlines the 13 crucial things you can do to maximize your natural talents and become a "Talent-plus" person.
Customer Reviews:
Strength Approach Fans.......2007-08-23
Not so many "management gurus" believe in "strength approach" like John C Maxwell and even some of his ways are included in the Cliffton's Talents,this book show us the ways how to use our Talents.
If you can change your paradigm from Deficit Approach to Strength Approach, which is more productive, more simple and better communication, I recomend you to read this book.
Life Changing book for those who have raw talent.......2007-08-06
I have just finished one of the greatest books written for people with talent by John Maxwell. "Talent is never enough." I want to encourage all of you to read this book. This has been one of the best reads of my life. Here is a great quote and then a summary of the 13 areas that add to our talent.
I challenge each of you to do this exercise, it will build the team you are a part of. "For the next two weeks, make a commitment to yourself to take no credit for anything that goes right. Praise your employees, co-workers, colleagues, and family members for their contributions. Note the difference it makes in their performance and your relationship with them. I believe that once you've tired it, you will enjoy giving the credit away so much that it will become a regular part of your life."
1. Belief lifts my talent.
2. Passion energizes my talent.
3. Initiative activates my talent
4. Focus directs my talent.
5. Preparation positions my talent.
6. Practice sharpens my talent.
7. Perseverance sustains my talent.
8. Courage tests my talent.
9. Teachability expands my talent.
10. Character protects my talent.
11. Relationships influence my talent.
12. Responsibility strengthens my talent.
13. Teamwork multiplies my talent.
As a team, my hope is that we can help each other grow to new heights daily. Adopt one of these and work on them daily. For me, courage and Perseverance have been a weakness of mine, however, after reading this book I feel like these two weaknesses will turn into great strengths.
Great Book .......2007-05-21
This book is great especially for those who may feel that they can solely get by on just talent. The book is well written and details what how important it is not to just rely on the talent you have.
This book is a good choice.......2007-05-14
John Maxwell has written dozens of books, and I was told by a friend who follows the author that this might be his best. Strong praise for someone who has written some great books.
I was not disappointed. While I have only read two other books by Mr. Maxwell, this one is fantastic. It was inspiring and motivational and is the type of book that couples advice with actions steps.
I keep a list of all books I read each year. Those that are exceptional get a star next to them. Talent Is Never Enough got two stars.
enlightening.......2007-05-12
Gives an outstanding insight into a topic that most people never truly understand. An incredible point of view mixed with great quotes and interesting stories.
Book Description
From the "guru to Wall Street's gurus" comes the fundamental techniques of value investing and their applications
Bruce Greenwald is one of the leading authorities on value investing. Some of the savviest people on Wall Street have taken his Columbia Business School executive education course on the subject. Now this dynamic and popular teacher, with some colleagues, reveals the fundamental principles of value investing, the one investment technique that has proven itself consistently over time. After covering general techniques of value investing, the book proceeds to illustrate their applications through profiles of Warren Buffett, Michael Price, Mario Gabellio, and other successful value investors. A number of case studies highlight the techniques in practice.
Bruce C. N. Greenwald (New York, NY) is the Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management at Columbia University. Judd Kahn, PhD (New York, NY), is a member of Morningside Value Investors. Paul D. Sonkin (New York, NY) is the investment manager of the Hummingbird Value Fund. Michael van Biema (New York, NY) is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptional Addition for Any Investor.......2007-07-07
Fantastic summary of modern value investing. Greenwald looks at the discipline with the critical eye of a professor, making it more informative than many other books about the subject. Even seasoned value investors will learn from this book.
Must-read for value investors!.......2007-07-01
What I Liked About It
* Details several valuation methods that I haven't seen in other non-academic, mainstream investing books.
* Several real-world examples to apply valuation methods
* Great treatment of brands vs. franchises
What Needed Work
* Various investor profiles unnecessarily fill the 2nd half of the book.
* Attempts at quantifying "franchise" felt a bit forced.
Greenwald's book ranks at the very top of my investing bookshelf. I read this after having read Graham, Greenblatt, Klarman, Lynch, P. Fisher, Cramer (yes, that Cramer!), Dorsey, Buffett, and Browne among others. Amazingly, this book broached a number of topics not covered by those prominent authors. As such, this book is required reading for the discerning investor.
The most important concepts this book gave me were valuation methods based on net asset value (NAV) and earnings power value (EPV). Before this, I had trouble valuing companies that didn't generate steady cash flow or have commodity assets. Now I have more angles from which to examine a prospect and find undervalued companies besides running a DCF analysis. We've heard about past opportunities where you could have bought a company like McDonalds for the price of its real estate and gotten the business for free. Greenwald shows you how to find these opportunities using his asset valuation methods. He also gives you the tools to fairly value "tech" companies (or any enterprise with heavy intangible capital). Less convincing is his discussion of earnings power value but nonetheless, it's still helpful to be able to examine a company's earnings ability.
Greenwald also spends time discussing problems with discount cash flow analysis (DCF) as well as franchises. While his thoughts on these subjects were thought-provoking, I don't completely agree with his conclusions.
On DCF, Greenwald says that trying to project future growth rates 5-10 years forward is folly and will distort your DCF analysis. While he is right that future growth projections are problematic, that doesn't mean DCF isn't helpful for individual investors. Greenwald concedes that his preferred methodologies require, in some instances, in-depth knowledge of the business and industry of the company being examined. The non-professional (me!) may not have this expertise and any estimates of asset worth or capital costs would be just as faulty as analyst growth estimates. In fact, an adjusted future growth rate derived from a number of industry-knowledgeable analysts may be more generally accurate (if imprecise).
The main knock against the book is the whole second half consisting of eight investor profiles. There's nothing wrong with them per se except that they are in the book at all. If I had wanted a book on famous value investors, I would have picked up something by Kirk Kazanjian. The chapter on Warren Buffett is almost exclusively quotations taken from freely available public reports and Seth Klarman has written his own book on investing.
I've written a more-indepth review at my enlightened-american website but in summary, my advice is to soak in the 1st half of the book and skip the 2nd half entirely. Dig into an annual report instead and start applying what Greenwald's shown you.
A MUST READ.......2006-11-13
find weak areas with strong fundamentals is secret according to this book. this is a good combo to Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607 NOT on amazn, on other stores), one is about the concept and the latter is about execution
the most comprehensive review on value.......2006-09-20
In short, this book is grounded on economics and common sense. It summarizes "the intelligent investor", "security analysis", and the modern books on Buffett pretty well (there are other paths to heaven besides Buffett's). Its verbiage is beautifully chosen and a joy to read, especially for avid value investors. Best of all it is a scholarly work - if you're sick and tired of the commercial investing books that flood bookstores, buy this book.
Must-read for serious investors of any stripe.......2006-08-12
A must-read for investors of any stripe, growth or value. This book, written by a couple of the most popular professors at Columbia Business School, explains the innovations in the field of value investing as practiced by some of the most successful investors in the field. (fair disclosure: I will be taking courses from them in 2007) This book successfully bridges the gap between the traditional Graham & Dodd style of value investing to what works today. Although it's a paperback, it's written with the density of a textbook. The writing style is not light, and the actual meat of the book takes some time to wade through. If you don't have some experience in accounting or corporate finance, then Joel Greenblatt's The Little Book That Beats the Market is good to read first.
The substance of this book is a process for modern value investing: value investing is not investing in lousy companies just because they appear cheap. The authors also teach a structured way to value a company. Finally, the authors address how to value growth.
First, before reading this book I had the mistaken impression that value investing was all about investing in the ugliest, least interesting company you could find just because it had a low P/E ratio. I was completely wrong! (Maybe I have attended too many stock pitch sessions and heard too many poultry stocks and encyclopedia companies get pitched.) Modern value investing, according the authors: "When B. Graham went scouring financial statements looking for his net-nets, it did not concern him that he may have known little about the industry in which he found his targets. All he was concerned with were asset values and a margin of safety by that measure. A contemporary value investor had better be able to identify and understand the sources of a company's franchise and the nature of its competitive advantages. Otherwise he or she is just another punter, taking a flier rather than making an investment." What a breath of fresh air to read this passage.
Second, this book lays out a structured way to value a company by first looking at reproduction costs of assets, then earnings power, and finally the value of profitable growth. I, like the authors, find traditional DCF valuations to be plagued by false precision. The authors' more practical method starts by adjusting the balance GAAP balance sheet to calculate the cost of the assets for a potential business entrant. Next, the company is valued based on the earnings generates consistently, assuming no growth. A key insight is the value of the franchise: the difference between asset value and Earnings Power Value is the value created by a company that has significant competitive advantage. Last, the value of profitable growth is considered.
As a self-admitted recovering growth stock addict, I learned from this book that value investors are skeptical about growth for two reasons. One reason is that it is so hard to predict, but more important, many times growth is not worth much. Unless the return on capital (ROC) of the company is higher than the cost of capital, growth does not create value. (I am a slow learner; Greenblatt's example in The Little Book That Beats the Market of opening an additional gum store is even clearer to me.) The growth matrix and formulas in the book were a revelation to me. The surprising thing is how little multiple expansion a stock deserves based on growth. Unless a company truly has a franchise, expanding into other areas and "diversifying" the business often destroys value. And growth for growth's sake will not make a stock go up.
This book brings value investing into the modern stock market. Modern value investors still use traditional valuation principles in a structured way, but they also consider the value of growth and the attractiveness of the business. What a relief, I not restricted to buying typewriter and pay phone stocks! The authors quote Warren Buffett: It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
Book Description
The sequel to the best-selling Adweek book, Disruption, this book shows the wider application of the concept as it affects vision, strategy, creativity and media marketing. Jean Marie-Dru describes disruption as a universal language of change that allows advertisers from all over the world to form a common strategy. In this book, Dru explores the wide-reaching ramifications of disruption: for instance, how disruption can be seen at work in emerging, rebellious or unreceptive markets; how disruption can transform vision into insight; how disruption can affect communication and lead to cross-fertilization of ideas; how disruption relates to design; examples of disruptive companies and campaigns; and how disruption can lead to connectedness.
Customer Reviews:
Great insight into TBWA/Chiat/Day's strategy.......2007-07-11
Hving read the first book "Disruption", I'm glad that Jean Marie Dru has decided to compile case studies on how Disruption works in the market place with this new book. I also liked the fact that he invited prominent people in the TBWA family to write about disruption in their markets (they even have a section on Asian Markets). This book is a great book for anyone going into the world of advertising. It helped me as student to improve my creative thinking and the way I think about strategy! Now that I'm in the business, I actually occasionally refer to this book when I'm stuck on something.
To me, I feel Disruption and Beyond Disruption are the "Hey Whipple" books for Strategy and should be an inspiration to anyone who works on the strategy side of the business.
Challenging Convention To Locate & Exploit Its Failings.......2006-11-07
You need this book and a little disruption if you:
1. Have lost your role as the center of category value
2. Are relying on deals and costly promotions
3. Are feeling invincible
4. Competitor's products are flying off of the shelves
5. Competitor's customers are more active than yours
6. Your customers of today looks exactly like your customers of yesterday
7. Or, you can't articulate a clear vision of your future.
With the proliferation of similar products it takes a disruptive approach to get a customer's attention. You must get into their heart, under their skin and make news! This has been shown to be highly beneficial in marketing. It has recently been shown that 'disruption' is beneficial anywhere where convetion has strongly taken root.
There are three consecutive themes that Jean-Marie Dru offers as a plan to keep up the necessary innovation. They are:
1. Study, observe and list what is considered conventional in your field.
2. Challenge these conventions with new ideas
3. Visioneering - envision and act upon the most possible and exciting ideas.
Many, many examples are given throughout the book using companies that we are all familiar with. Included is an outline of how to carry out your own disruption workshops to create positive change.
5 Stars
Superb for reminding us all to hold onto our own creativity!.......2002-11-19
I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this book! It reminded me what it was that got me into this line of work in the first place. This book focuses the reader on using creativity to look at the world in a different manner, and create truly differentiable advantage thereby, and the energy and excitement that I took from it were absolutely wonderful.The book is team-written by a series of folks at TBWA\, (one of the largest ad agencies in the world) and there are definite portions of the book that are only of value to people outside of the ad world in dealing with folks inside, (most notably, the entire third section of the book, which you can honestly skip) and there are some chapters written by Dru's team that contradict some of his basic tenets, but don't let either of these put you off. The case studies, base lessons and some of the discussions about methodologies are highly portable, and certainly can lead to a strong and very valuable transformation in your practices and company, if taken to heart.It will focus you and your co-workers on defining and fulfilling the grandeur of the mission you're on, (regardless of industry or product segment) with the benefits accruing in direct proportion to how widely you can introduce this mindset and maintain the excitement, (much of it self-perpetuating) to your environment.And one very cute suggestion that has immediate value to us all: a company was having a very difficult time with actual output not being achieved due to both the quantity and time span of meetings, (sound familiar?). Dru and his team's suggestion, which was implemented to great success? Remove all chairs from the conference room. Imagine how quickly meetings can be over if everyone has to stand during the entire discussion!
Simply Stated: A Great Book!.......2002-09-27
Dru successfully outlines the creation, development and deployment of 'disruptive' marketing strategies used on some of today's most successful brands including Apple and Absolute. In addition, he helps you get an understanding of why disruptive thinking is important, and in many cases, essential for the everyday entrepreneur. The visuals in the book certainly help and the well-organized structure of the content makes for a good read. Advertising and marketing folks, you won't be let down.
Beyond Disruption really goes beyond Dru's first book.......2002-05-12
This book is valuable because [finally] there are case histories of how Dru's Disruption theory actually works in the marketplace.
Dru wrote intro and then drew on his network of TBWA offices to report on how they've been successfully applying this dramatic communication theory for clients over last half decade. If you're interested in how to get your advertising and marketing to be heard and absorbed by the consumer, it's worth a read.
Andrew Jaffe, Adweek Books
Book Description
Here's the first information ever published in Japan on the Toyota production system (known as Just-In-Time manufacturing). Here Ohno, who created JIT for Toyota, reveals the origins, daring innovations, and ceaseless evolution of the Toyota system into a full management system. You'll learn how to manage JIT from the man who invented it, and to create a winning JIT environment in your own manufacturing operation.
Customer Reviews:
Everything I expected!.......2007-09-29
I got this as a present for my father for his birthday last weekend. He has already started reading it and making notes. It is everything we hoped it would be and met his expectations. I would recommend it for marketing students, teachers, and anyone interested in that type of thing.
Tell it like it is.......2007-04-10
There are many myths around the Toyota Production System (TPS). Ohno Taiichi merits my deepest respects, considering he was able almost a half century ago to observe and learn from others. Considering the simple target given to him, to "catch up with America" he studied in-depth the work of Ford and recognised the idea of copying the US supermarket system for his operational purpose.
The book describes very well what constraints he was given from the owners when Toyota started to get into the automotive business and what path they followed until the first fully operated TPS plant went operational at the 60s.
Many thinkings of Ohno Taiichi are still actual. He is capable of bringing key problems to the point: efficiency gains are worthless until they really lead to cost reduction. Unfortunatelly we all now the opposite from this wisdom - and many "growth-strategies" of companies today are nothing else than to try to increase business with the same workforce. Furthermore the author gives good examples how Toyota handled different issues, as e.g. the syncronization of production with final assembly.
The reader will not find any operational theory or formulas in this book and if you are looking for books teaching you about designing and sizing Pull-systems you should look for books as "Kanban made simple" or similar. TPS is not about installing software than about eliminating everything which is waste and does mainly not contribute to the succes of your business.
Anyway this book is a must read for any readers interested in first hand information about the basis that made TMC what they are today - a business model developed by smart people many years ago and dearing to ask simple questions, to find sound and robust solutions and to steadily develop the system and its people working in it.
My deepest respect to Ohno Taiichi,
Domo arrigato,
Oliver
Delighting.......2007-03-09
For all the people searching a new way to lead & achieve new innovations, is a good example of attitud & ideas for that purpose. After a war between ownselfes & paradigms a Japanese discovered the importance of loose fear, achieving several succesfuly goals in his Company & in his Country.
Toyota Magic.......2006-05-24
"Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production" is a very enlightening work by the inventor of lean manufacturing, Taiichi Ohno. This small book is packed with insights and ideas on how to efficiently and effectively run a production system. The Toyota Production is also known as lean manufacturing, entails, among other things, minimising waste through continuous improvement and producing only what is sold, as requested by the customer. This unique and innovative system explains why Toyota makes profits even in tough times when other competitor firms are losing money.
The book explains this fascinating subject in a simple and easy to read and understand way that makes it accessible to a wide range of readers. Among the things that I found very interesting was the concept of zero defects, production load-levelling, standardised work and just-in-time delivery.
The book is very enlightening reading for those involved in any production process.
Toyota Production Systerm: Beyond Large-Scale Production.......2006-03-24
Great! Enlightening AND an interesting read. So good I bought an extra copy to give as a gift.
Book Description
There are very few American coaching heroes better known than Coach K. The long-time head coach at Duke University is at the top of the class when it comes to those who believe in doing the right thing and who stress leadership, accountability, responsibility, and academics to his players. Now, in this powerful collection of essays, written with one of his daughters, Jamie K. Spatola, readers will discover this incredible leaders personal philosophy on winning, losing, and sportsmanship, as well as dozens of everyday lessons that apply to life on and off the court. On trust: There are four words that, when said, will bring out the best in your team, your employees, and your family. They are: I believe in you. On discipline: All leaders, whether they be coaches, CEOs, or parents, should be wary of relying too much on predefined rules.
Customer Reviews:
Real Leadership.......2007-04-10
Learn great leadership skills that apply in the business world, sports world, or anywhere else in life. This book makes a great gift.
Doug.......2007-04-10
Coach K is an awesome coach but an even better person. I encourage everyone to read his books.
Just what I expected.......2007-01-16
Coach K says a lot in a few pages. Everything I read applies to me or it also can apply and be enjoyed by my 13 year old son or 11 year old daughter. I appreciate Coach K and his daughter taking the time to share the insights contained in this book.
Real words; real meaning!.......2007-01-11
COACH k HAS AMPLIFIED THROUGH LIFE EXAQMPLES THE REAL MEANING OF WORDS THAT ARE TOO OFTEN USED CARELESSLY. HE GIVES "COURAGE" AND "LOYALTY" AND ALL OF THE OTHERS HE ADDRESSES IN HIS COMPACT BOOK REJUVENATED MEANING! i GAVE COPIES TO BOTH OF MY GROWN CHILDREN WHO, THEMSELVES ARE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD AND THEY LOVED IT
Great reading!.......2007-01-11
I purchased this book as a gift for my daughter. I started to skim thru it and could not put it down! My daughter loved the book so much she ordered one for her basketball coach as well. Great book on leadership and would highly recommend it to share with coworkers, family and friends.
Book Description
In 1945, many Europeans still heated with coal, cooled their food with ice, and lacked indoor plumbing. Today, things could hardly be more different. Over the second half of the twentieth century, the average European's buying power tripled, while working hours fell by a third. The European Economy since 1945 is a broad, accessible, forthright account of the extraordinary development of Europe's economy since the end of World War II. Barry Eichengreen argues that the continent's history has been critical to its economic performance, and that it will continue to be so going forward.
Challenging standard views that basic economic forces were behind postwar Europe's success, Eichengreen shows how Western Europe in particular inherited a set of institutions singularly well suited to the economic circumstances that reigned for almost three decades. Economic growth was facilitated by solidarity-centered trade unions, cohesive employers' associations, and growth-minded governments--all legacies of Europe's earlier history. For example, these institutions worked together to mobilize savings, finance investment, and stabilize wages.
However, this inheritance of economic and social institutions that was the solution until around 1973--when Europe had to switch from growth based on brute-force investment and the acquisition of known technologies to growth based on increased efficiency and innovation--then became the problem.
Thus, the key questions for the future are whether Europe and its constituent nations can now adapt their institutions to the needs of a globalized knowledge economy, and whether in doing so, the continent's distinctive history will be an obstacle or an asset.
Amazon.com
Sellout "Brand" or just plain "Bland"? In Lovemarks, advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts delves deep into what mysteries lie behind the long-term success and unwavering customer loyalty for a can of Coke or a pair of Levi's, ultimately concluding that Love is the answer, and without some emotional connection to a product, it will dry up like a generic raisin in the sun. Enter Lovemarks, the new marketing buzzword, which will likely be bandied about at board meetings as vigorously as The Tipping Point.
But before Roberts can get to what in fact a Lovemark means in the worlds of advertising and marketing, he takes us on a virtual tour of his CV. There was his first post at Mary Quant in London, then the gig as New Products Manager of Gillette International in the Middle East, on to CEO of Pepsi in Canada, and later the same role at Lion Nathan in New Zealand. The list goes on, and so does Roberts--on and on--about his achievements and experience building brand awareness and shaking things up (he famously machine-gunned a vending machine at a presentation for a spot on the evening news). More importantly, he succeeds at blasting away the smoke and mirrors that might prevent a creative genius (or an ordinary consumer) from seeing what makes Superman the most beloved super-hero of all time.
Despite the somewhat egocentric approach to taking us there (he is, after-all, a pretty smart guy), we arrive at Roberts's point beautifully, and see what he sees: "That human attention has become our principle currency." And that, in these times, forming long-term emotionally charged relationships with customers is the only way to make a product weather the long haul. And while Roberts speaks to us in a spirited, conversational manner (that makes Lovemarks a pleasure to read), the design of the book seems to work against him, as convoluted typography and a general lack of layout consistency give the book a visually amateurish look. --Christene Barberich
Book Description
Tom Peters, one of the most influential business thinkers of all time, described the first edition of Lovemarks: the future beyond brands as "brilliant." He also announced it as the "Best Business Book" published in the first five years of this century. Now translated into fourteen languages, with more than 150,000 copies in print, Lovemarks is back in a revised edition featuring a new chapter on the peculiarly human experience of shopping. The new chapter, Diamonds in the Mine, is an insightful collection of ideas for owners of small stores and operators of superstores, for producers and consumers. So forget making lists! Shopping, says Kevin Roberts, is an emotional event. With this as a starting point, he looks at the history of shopping and how it has changed so dramatically over the last ten years. Using the Lovemark elements of Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy, Roberts delves into the secrets of success that can be used to create the ultimate shopping experience. "Ideas move mountains, especially in turbulent times. Lovemarks is the product of the fertile-iconoclast mind of Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi. Roberts argues vociferously, and with a ton of data to support him, that traditional branding practices have become stultified. What's needed are customer Love affairs. Roberts lays out his grand scheme for mystery, magic, sensuality, and the like in his gloriously designed book Lovemarks." (Tom Peters)
Customer Reviews:
creative book.......2007-08-03
Enjoyed the book and unique format made it a breeze to read. Probably better suited for marketing professionals or business owners in retail.
Would you pay for an advertising flyer?.......2007-05-12
Well, you will if you buy this book! If you're in the industry there's nothing in this book you don't already know! If you're not in the ad industry, then by all means, go ahead and buy it so you can see how clever it is to publish a self-serving eye candy full of propaganda for Saatchi and Saatchi and Kevin Roberts concealed as a book about branding!
Changed My Perspective.......2007-03-13
I highly recommend this book. The format makes it entertaining to read. The concepts are fresh and crisp. The writing style of Kevin Roberts, is as if you are an old friend -- sharing a glass of wine over dinner with him.
Good principles about how to build great brands.......2007-03-12
I really enjoyed this book, building emotion based links with your customers it's a necessary task in the competitive business scenario of nowadays, and Kevin Roberts explains a framework of this, with examples of how many successful brands have done it and he explains the principles that drives his personal view of the future of brands too.
Reading the book it's a stunning visual experience, almost every page has a lot of pictures that makes you understand clearly what it's talking about (a picture is a thousand words worth).
I believe that every category needs a very specific combination of the values shown in the book, but that it's not deepened in the book and I missed, because it can make you understand the emotion that drives every product in every category. Well, I think that the latter it's our work!
Brilliant Packaging but Not New!.......2007-01-23
I have met Kevin Roberts and had a chance to chat with him about the "Lovemark" concept when he was giving a speech in Istanbul. I think he is a colorful and brilliant individual who has managed to package some great marketing principles that age back to Bernbach into a great new concept. Though many principles in the book are not fresh to those who are not a novice in marketing literature, I think the term "Lovemark" is brilliant in itself. The design of the book is great with lots of colorful pictures and helpful examples. You sometimes feel that many of the examples are overused and the book is self serving, but it is worth to spend some time with the Lovemark concept.
I have seen an interview with Kevin in Ad Age about how they launched this book to recruit new business into their agency. I think it is a great new business tool and brilliant strategy to lure customers to their shop. I personally think "the HOW" part is missing, how are you going to make your brand into a Lovemark remains a question.
If you are interested in entering into the hearts of customers not just their wallets, you should definetly lend an ear to Kevin.
Amazon.com
Let's say you're trying to convince a new employer to sweeten its job offer to you. Or perhaps you're buying or selling a company. Or maybe you're even solving for peace in the Middle East. If any of these scenarios is yours, Roger Fisher, Daniel Shapiro, and their colleagues at the Harvard Negotiation Project have ideas that they would like to share. Fisher's previous book, Getting to Yes, stands today as a seminal work in negotiations theory. Businesspeople in a wide variety of industries have drawn from the book's tips for deal-making and its larger framework for "interest-based negotiation", which focuses on understanding each side's interests and working together to produce proverbial win-win outcomes. In Beyond Reason, Fisher and Shapiro go one step further.
To the authors' credit, they started this new book with a clear understanding of the previous one's chief shortcoming. Though Getting to Yes introduced a powerful paradigm for negotiations, it did not fully address a critical element of most deals: emotions, and the messy human details that can distract from purely rational decision-making. If both negotiators are consistently lucid, fair, and calm, the game has a certain set of rules, but if--as in most situations--the different parties get excited, angry, sad, insulted, and so on, then those rules change. That expanded focus forms the basis for Beyond Reason.
Fisher and Shapiro have structured this latest work around five key emotions which they identify as most critical to productive negotiations. Even though each situation has its own dynamics, they point to appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status, and role as the most important for making each party comfortable enough to grasp the principles of rationality that maximize the chances for a win-win result.
Critics may deride this book as still too simplistic, too black-and-white, and unappreciative of life's shades of gray. The authors' pragmatic bent comes in the book's final two chapters. One takes readers through the overall process for negotiations--not just the parry-and-thrust of conversations with the other party, but also pre-conversation preparation. It's in this preparatory stage, the authors contend, where a thoughtful consideration of potential emotional dynamics can help prevent later problems. To synthesize many of the lessons they impart, Fisher and Shapiro then close their work by inviting guest commentary from the former President of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad, who explains how he applied interest-based negotiations theory to highly charged negotiations between his country and Peru, on a border dispute in the late 1990s. It's this kind of real-life application of Fisher and Shapiro's theories that continue to give them relevance. --Peter Han
Book Description
In Getting to Yes, renowned educator and negotiator Roger Fisher presented a universally applicable method for effectively negotiating personal and professional disputes. Building on his work as director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, Fisher now teams with Harvard psychologist Daniel Shapiro, an expert on the emotional dimension of negotiation. In Beyond Reason, they show readers how to use emotions to turn a disagreement—big or small, professional or personal—into an opportunity for mutual gain.
Customer Reviews:
Useful or Disappointing? A Skeptic's Opinion..........2007-10-11
Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate
"Business self help" literature is often not helpful; it's a genre suffering from platitudes and hype. I've a collection of these books gathering dust on my office bookshelf-- which will likely and unfortunately be sent off to even dustier archives or to the recycling bin when I retire. "Beyond reason" starts out like many other such books. The very basic Chapters 1-4 define "emotion" and provide examples and workbook tools for constructively recognizing and managing one's own emotions. But keep reading-- by Chapter 5 the author acknowledges some culturally unpopular reasons why negotiations fail, and provides some useful analytical tools and examples for removing these as obstacles. (For the curious: these include issues of power and status, autonomy, fear, rigidity, and unfamiliar roles. Tools include the use of imagination and empathy, Interests analysis, re-framing, re-casting, and self-control techniques.) While it is true that for many a discussion of the concepts of "sad" or "mad", disappointment, fear, and anger is unnecessarily basic, some may find his practical advice useful, or at least, be able to speed-read through the authors' initial discussion. And I believe that there is real value in the chapter on anger, as the learner can consider-- from a safe and comfortable chair-- the uses and abuses of disappointment, guilt, and anger, before a confrontation during a tough negotiation. Finally, the authors too briefly review the Harvard Negotiation Project's seven elements, but do provide a helpful and unusually descriptive bibliography. As a middle manager, I will use this book for discussion and to mentor direct reports. It generally provides concrete and practical examples for often unacknowledged problems, though some lengthy historical discussions are so unrelated to the experiences of most of us as to seem to be a Fantastic tale.
Worth a quick reading.......2007-10-04
I read this book right after reading "Starting with NO" by Jim Camp. My key takeaway is the awareness about the core concerns that stimulate emotions during negotiation - Appreciation, Autonomy, Affiliation, Status & Role.
It was hard for me to sustain interest with the book. I felt that there is more theory than real life stories & examples. Anyways, it is worth a quick reading.
Good intentions, but misses some key points...........2007-07-29
This book is a little simplistic, especially considering who it is written by. It mentions taking care of your own core needs so that you won't let emotions take you over, but does not do a good job of explaining just how to do it. Emotional responses are often accompanied with actual physical tension in your body, and once the cycle starts, it is hard to stop feeding into your emotions. Emotional control isn't just a mental acknowledgement of "I have autonomy", it also requires control of your physical state. For this purpose, I think the book "Fight Your Fear and Win" is muuuuch better at teaching people to keep their cool. I am not affiliated with that author in any way, but I feel his book is very underrated. You should check it out if you want to learn how to handle stressful situations with grace.
Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate.......2007-03-17
This is a great book for helping individuals, families, businesses, and governments maintain relationships and resolve differences. There are real examples of how the concepts have worked in situations as difficult as international conflicts. If this book was widely used as a guide in conflict resolution, there would be hope for world peace!
Makes you take a step back!.......2007-03-09
I hate it when I get sucked into an emotionally-charged argument and I feel like my mouth and feelings are totally out of control. This book does a great job in deconstructing typical arguments and examining what is happening in each step of the conversation. It helped me understand people's mindsets better, and it places me in a better position to stay calm and in control next time I have a tough conversation, while also better understanding what the other parties possibly want.
Book Description
Should you sweat the small stuff?
Absolutely, says Stephen Young-especially when it comes to those critical behaviors that can make or break performance. The reason is simple: no matter what you think you're saying, your words, gestures, and tone of voice can actually communicate something entirely different.
Too often, negative micromessages undermine morale, business opportunities, and ultimately your organization. Micromessaging examines the nuanced behaviors that we all blindly use and react to in our dealings with others. Yet as Young points out, these micromessages can reveal a lot about our own-and our superiors'-biases and preconceived notions. Learning how to constructively address these behaviors can bring about positive change.
Young offers a common language for encouraging open discussion in the workplace, along with skills to identify and address familiar micromessages; tools for deploying microadvantages; and real-life workplace scenarios, self-assessments, and solutions that help readers interpret and alter ingrained behaviors and their effects. He delivers valuable information on
- Cruicial leadership skills and how to acquire them
- Universal workplace cultural issues
- How expectations affect the performance of others
- Ways to speak fairly, not falsely
- Techniques that eliminate group think
- How to reset the "filters" you use to "screen" others
Based on research from MIT, Young's approach has already helped numerous Fortune 500 clients, including Merck, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Starbucks, IBM, Boeing, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Cisco, and Raytheon to increase leadership effectiveness. With its proven wisdom, you can experience what so many business executives worldwide have discovered and make it a powerful part of your leadership skill set.
Customer Reviews:
Micromessaging: Why Great leadership is beyond words.......2007-05-30
Great book. Common sense put into action!! I read it aloud to my wife while driving on vacation. She loved it also.
Insightful advice.......2007-04-20
Micromessages are those subtle - and sometimes not-so-subtle - nonverbal messages that people send through body language, tone of voice and the way they inflect words. Micromessages signal at an immediate gut level how people feel about each other. You can use nice words when speaking to other people, but if at the same time you inadvertently send out negative micromessages, those nonverbal signals will have a more enduring impact than anything you say. Managers, supervisors and other leaders should become avid students of their own facial expressions, styles of personal engagement, body language and other nonverbal communicative attributes. Then they should try to send positive micromessages, not harmful ones that breed resentment and undermine performance. This book is easy to read and understand, but we believe that it delivers an important lesson: Micromessages matter, so mind your unspoken communications. Those small signals have a large reverberation.
Great book on understanding business relationships.......2007-03-24
I bought this book to help me understand business or the way people interact in a business setting. As a middle manager of a small business that is now part of a big business (aka recently acquired), I have been struggling with change in management, management style and culture. What this book is helping me understand is the messages that come from people in authority and how it impacts the rank and file; and likewise how my own emotions, thoughts and feelings impact the people who report too me.
While I have not yet finished the book, it does have me hooked and thirsting for more. As a technologist it also helps bridge the communication gap between technology and business. Being exposed to this subject matter has already opened my eyes to the fact that management and leadership are two very seperate skills. I now understand the power of effective leadership and has given me new thought in developing my career.
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