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BOOK REVIEWS
TURBULENT TIMES
Ouralumnireviewerslookattworecentlypublishedbooks
Chaotics: The Business of Buyology: How Everything
Managing and Marketing in We Believe About Why We
the Age of Turbulence Buy is Wrong
By Philip Kotler and John A By Martin Lindstrom
Caslione
PublishedbyRandomHouseBusiness
Books
PublishedbyAmacom
ISBN-13:978-1847940131
ISBN-13:978-0814415214
Turbulence.Tellusaboutit.Thenormalhurly-burlyofthebusi- Mywife’scurrentfavouritederogatoryexpressionis,“Doesn’the
ness world has ratcheted up to chaos on the Richter scale, have a great welcome for himself”. These were the words that
thankstotherecentfinancialmeltdown.Eventhesmartestguys came to mind time and time again while reading Martin
intheroomwerestumped.And,longonretrospectiveanalysis, Lindstrom’s Buyology. Essentially the book attempts, in
shortonstrategicforesight,armchairanalystshaveprovidedfew Lindstrom’s own words, to shed light on “neuroscience, an
practicalsolutions. intriguingmarriageofmarketingandscience”.Thebookcata-
Enter world authorities Philip Kotler (marketing) and John logues a series of research conducted using brain monitoring
Caslione(strategy).Inaslimvolumetheyofferano-nonsense techniquestorevealwhatconsumersreallythinkorfeel,givena
‘Howto’guideforretoolingcompaniesforthenewuncertainty. certainsetofdifferingstimuli,frombuyingcigarettestowatch-
Their starting point is this: the recent financial shocks have ingdifferentTVshows.
merely amplified the more worrisome drivers of turbulence In parts of his book Lindstrom, in my opinion, undermines
alreadyexistingsuchasthespeedoftechnologyandtheblister- plannersandmarketresearchersinhissimplifiedunderstand-
ing pace of information dissemination. Then factor in hyper- ingofresearch.Hecontendsthatreliableresearchdependson
competition, the shift of economic power to BRIC countries, respondentsbeingaccurateandhonest.Thisisnotalwaysthe
andthenewbreedofmarketwatchdog–shareholdersandcon- case–greatresearchersIhaveworkedwithhavetheabilityto
sumerswhowanttheircompaniessqueakycleanandgreen. gainaccurateunderstandingofconsumerbehaviourandmoti-
Welcometothenewnormal–theAgeofTurbulence. vations based on what they see, read and hear, as opposed to
You can’t avoid it but you can choose your response. The whattheyaretold.
authorsadviseavoidingthetraditionalpanicresponsesofcutsin Lindstrom’s book is also a little weak in both stating the
staff,marketingandproduct-developmentbudgetsasthesecan obvious,andnotstatingtheimplicationsoftheresearchhehas
mutilatethecompany’scorevalues. conducted.However,thebookdoesthrowupsomeinteresting
Secondly, throw out the three-year strategic plan. Instead, factsabouthowtoinfluencebuyerbehaviour.Researchfromthe
accept the inevitability of strategy decay and embrace three- UniversityofLeicesterfoundthat,inawinestore,whenFrench-
monthstrategywindowswhichgiveamuchmoreaccurateread soundingmusicwasplayed,consumersweremorelikelytobuy
oncompanyperformance.Honeyourradar,getoutmoreand French wine, and German wines when German music was
see the change in your sector rather than reading about it. played.Forawinecompanyorretailerthisusefulinformation
Constructkeyscenariosfromthesomewhatpredictabletothe mayhelpthemshapehowtomaximisesales.
completelyout-thereversionofthefutureandpreparestrategies What undermines the better aspects of this book are some
for each. Most crucially, construct an early warning system to almost throwaway comments Lindstrom makes which beggar
alertyoutovulnerabilitiesandopportunitiesonthehorizon. belief.Heequateseffectiveadvertisingwithadvertisingrecall.I
Finally, leaders are urged to create ‘firms of endearment’, would contend that recall alone is too blunt an instrument to
companies beloved by customers, trusted, respected, valued valueadvertising’seffectiveness,andignorestheotherelements
companies that align the interests of all stakeholders and that ofthemixthatcanchangeorshapeconsumerbehaviour.
treasuretheircultureasatruesourceofcompetitiveadvantage. But what really ‘flabbered my gast’ was his contention that,
Thisbookisatimelyalternativetotheslashandburnschool untilhisbook,“marketersandadvertisershaven’treallyknown
ofrecessionmanagement,astrategyprimerforfirmswhostill what drives behaviour, so they’ve had to rely on luck, coinci-
harbour the twin ambitions of winning through a downturn dence,chance,orrepeatingthesameoldtricksalloveragain”.I
whilekeepingtheirvaluesintherightplace. wonderifhe’severmetFeargalQuinnorJohnKeogh,orseenthe
recentworkdoneinIrelandonHeineken,CarlsbergorO2...
Anna Mooney (MBA 00) is MD of communications
and online publishing consultancy Omnia Media Aengus King (DipMktgPrce 95) is senior brand
and vice president of the MBA Association of Ireland managerofPoweradeandSpriteatCoca-ColaIreland
UCD BUSINESS CONNECTIONS 35
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