by David Allison ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 9, 2018
A genuinely original contribution to marketing literature.
A new profiling tool promises to change the marketing landscape by focusing on consumers’ values.
Conventional marketing wisdom has long held the principal predictor of consumer behavior is age, which is precisely why so much time and energy has been expended trying to effectively reach millennials (defined here are people born between 1980 and 1995). However, while Allison (The Stackable Boomer, 2015) was researching baby boomers, he discovered that many of their life decisions align with millennials’, undermining the regnant view that the latter are “an entirely new species of human.” He argues that, in general, relying upon age as a profiling tool is misguided and that it should be discarded in favor of a reliance on values—what people “want, need, and expect from life.” He transformed this key insight into a practical instrument, he says, by inventing “Valuegraphics,” which he describes as the “world’s largest purpose-built database of shared values,” comprised of 75,000 surveys that one can algorithmically mine. It classifies respondents according to basic types, determined by core values; the 10 most popular are called “Valuegraphics Archetypes,” such as “The Adventure Club” (“the curious ones, always restless and looking to try new things”) and “The Savers Society” (which includes Allison’s “mother-in-law, who will drive forty-five minutes across town because butter is on sale”). According to the author, members of a particular archetype are overwhelmingly likely to agree with one another, which makes them remarkably predictable as a group. For example, he says, those who consider loyalty to be their chief value tend to agree with others who do so about 83 percent of the time. As one might expect, the book often reads like a long infomercial, as its sales pitch for Valuegraphics is relentless. However, Allison’s prose is lucid, engaging, and convincing, and he makes a powerful argument that our society’s “new agelessness” demands a seismic shift in marketing analysis. Further, he provides a rigorous account of Valuegraphics’ various applications and benefits. Oddly, though, he doesn’t include a full sample survey, stating that it’s too complex to show in book form.
A genuinely original contribution to marketing literature.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0087-4
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
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