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Title: Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes
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Manufacturer: Twelve
List Price: $25.99
Our Price: $12.55
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| Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve Demographics and trends | | A good book about trends in this current time---2008. This book's relevance will last a year. It is insightful and well composed and made for a straightforward read. | | Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve Social Geeks, New Luddites, and Tech Fatales | | MicroTrends is a quick read and an amusing snapshot. I get a kick out of how easily Penn condenses entire groups of people and lifestyles into two word micro labels. While I have personally observed many of the things Penn calls out, they become all the more powerful when collectively quantified. As I was reading about Penn's Tech Fatales and the clunky design of an eight pound laptop, Apple launched its MacBook Air. Indicative of the hyper speed between trend spotting and market reaction. | | Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve Trends you may have missed | I must confess to starting this book with something of a bad attitude.
First, the title and concept sounds like yet another catch-phrase used to sell books and promote the author's career. Secondly, many of the recommendations for the book, from powerful people like Tony Blair, suggest the author is a well-connected "insider" whose cronies will push whatever he peddles. Finally, I tend to be irritated by books that hurl thousands of statistics at the reader. And Microtrends certainly fits this category -Mark Penn is, after all, a professional pollster who lives and breathes statistics.
Still, after finishing it, I came away with a grudging respect for the book and its author. Microtrends may be a gimmick and a catch-phase, but it is probably one that deserved to be coined. And while the constant barrage of numbers does get tiring - I still don't get why statistics lovers feel the need to tell you things like, "as many people consume Brand X as live in Norway and Peru combined" - I cannot deny that a lot of what he says is interesting and potentially quite important.
What I find most compelling about Microtrends, after all my complaining about catch-prases, is the concept itself, which actually contains a rather sophisticated theory about the nature of modern (or postmodern) civilization. The theory is that while most attention is focused upon the behavior of large groups of people, micotrends -the actions and beliefs of relatively small groups of people- are becoming an increasingly important force in the world. People all over the world are creating more and more *niches* when it comes to their politics, religion, favorite sports, dating and marriage preferences, and so forth. Another interesting tendency he uncovers is that many of these trends contradict more dominant trends or other microtrends, making them difficult to see at first glance.
Ultimately, I find much of Penn's analysis a little too conventional for my tastes. He seems to view trends through the lens of the reigning cultural/political landscape, which is consistent with his background as a political pollster. While he discusses at length, and often with great insight, the implications of many trends on politics and the marketplace, he never stops to consider some of the assumptions that these institutions rest upon.
For example, he discusses the rather bizarre trend of many young people wanting to become military snipers -that is, people who, with their government's blessing, take aim at their targets from a distance and kill them. In their techniques, these snipers are similar to those who assassinate political leaders and those who go on a rampage and kill fellow workers, students or complete strangers. To his credit, Penn does casually suggest the possibility that the eagerness of some young people to become snipers may be linked to the socially unsanctioned type of sniper. However, he apparently never considers that wanting to be be *any* kind of sniper may be signs of a deep pathology in individuals and society.
Similarly, he treats the marketplace as a god beyond question. If X number of people want something, a clever marketer should figure out a way to sell it to them. He also feels the need to motivate the creation of various support groups for every microtrend. There is never any questioning of whether any microtrend is good or bad for those who partake in it or for society in general.
Granted, examining the moral or aesthetic value of the microtrends he has discovered is beyond the scope of the book. Yet, the author is the one who determines the scope of a book. Penn is apparently comfortable in his role as the objective observer. While I found Microtrends interesting and worthwhile, I find this type of dispassionate fact-gathering a bit cold and superficial. The final, and perhaps most important thing I can think to say about Microtrends, despite my misgivings, is that Penn does have a knack for identifying trends that hardly anyone else spots. This alone makes the book worth reading for those who find such things interesting. | | Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve The longed Ad I've ever read | | This book is a clever means to get you to pay to read Penn's advertisements. The text is full of shameless plugs for his commercial endeavors, and the name-dropping could not possibly be any less subtle. | | Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve Great Book | | This is a great book. Very well-written. Penn does a good job making sense of the numbers. | | Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Twelve Product Description |
"The ideas in his book will help you see the world in a new way."-Bill Clinton
"Mark Penn has a keen mind and a fascinating sense of what makes America tick, and you see it on every page of Microtrends."
-Bill Gates
In 1982, readers discovered Megatrends.
In 2000, The Tipping Point entered the lexicon.
Now, in Microtrends, one of the most respected and sought-after analysts in the world articulates a new way of understanding how we live.
Mark Penn, the man who identified "Soccer Moms" as a crucial constituency in President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, is known for his ability to detect relatively small patterns of behavior in our culture-microtrends that are wielding great influence on business, politics, and our personal lives. Only one percent of the public, or three million people, is enough to launch a business or social movement.
Relying on some of the best data available, Penn identifies more than 70 microtrends in religion, leisure, politics, and family life that are changing the way we live. Among them:
- People are retiring but continuing to work.
- Teens are turning to knitting.
- Geeks are becoming the most sociable people around.
- Women are driving technology.
- Dads are older than ever and spending more time with their kids than in the past.
You have to look at and interpret data to know what's going on, and that conventional wisdom is almost always wrong and outdated. The nation is no longer a melting pot. We are a collection of communities with many individual tastes and lifestyles. Those who recognize these emerging groups will prosper.
Penn shows readers how to identify the microtrends that can transform a business enterprise, tip an election, spark a movement, or change your life. In today's world, small groups can have the biggest impact. |
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