In this wide-ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the most important myth that dominates much of radical political, economic, and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture -- a world outside of the consumer-dominated world that encompasses us -- pervades everything from the antiglobalization movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking or simply hoping the "system" will collapse, the authors argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society radicals oppose.

In a...

What's the secret to a company's continued growth and prosperity? Internationally known marketing expert Al Ries has the answer: focus. His commonsense approach to business management is founded on the premise that long-lasting success depends on focusing on core products and eschewing the temptation to diversify into unrelated enterprises.

Using real-world examples, Ries shows that in industry after industry, it is the companies that resist diversification, and focus instead on owning a category in consumers' minds, that dominate their markets. He offers solid...

Discover All the Advantages of Using Design for Six Sigma to Develop and Build Customer Value-Based Products

Voice of the Customer Capture and Analysis equips Six Sigma you with the skills needed to create and deploy surveys, capture real customers need with ethnographic methods, immediately analyze the results, and coordinate and drive responsive actions.

Quality expert Kai Yang explains how to utilize the statistical methods of Design for Six Sigma to identify key customer needs and assess the cost of poor quality. He then shows how to design robust products to...

What really makes consumers tick?

It's a question every marketer, innovator, entrepreneur, or trend-watcher strives to answer-especially in an age when certain types of consumers are increasingly instrumental in shaping national and even global buying habits.

Karma Queens, Geek Gods and Innerpreneurs is your hands-on guide to getting inside the minds of the people who are setting the trends in art, music, technology, fashion, health, and every kind of consumer product and service. Based on thousands of hours of consumer research conducted by Consumer Eyes, a...

Presents a revolutionary view of product development: more R&D and faster product cycles are not necessarily better. Makes the case that business R&D has come to resemble a military arms race where all other values, including the long-term health of the enterprise itself, are sacrificed. Shows that rapid development cycles often drive products away from customer needs, and even risk the long-term survival of the business. Presents cases where customers cannot accept innovation at the rate it is being delivered. Describes how to escape the "acceleration trap" and evaluate R&D more...

We have all been to Web sites that welcome us by name, offering us discounts, deals, or special access to content. For the most part, it feels good to be wanted -- to be valued as a customer. But if we thought about it, we might realize that we've paid for this special status by turning over personal information to a company's database. And we might wonder whether other customers get the same deals we get, or something even better. We might even feel stirrings of resentment toward customers more valued than we are. In Niche Envy, Joseph Turow examines the emergence of databases as...

As businesses have grown to realize that the success of operations is more and more dependent upon an adequate knowledge of consumer behavior, the importance of lifestyle market segmentation has increased steadily. In this volume, Ronald Michman shows how social and cultural changes in group dynamics and purchasing influences can be used in making lifestyle marketing decisions. Working from a management-oriented perspective, Michman describes the key steps in market planning--interpreting signals of change, assessing the implications of change, and developing strategies to take advantage...