John Murray Learning Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends

Lindstrom es un genio en atar cabos. A partir de “pequeños” hallazgos, saca grandes ideas.

J'avoue que j'étais dégoûté de devoir l'acheter par obligation pour les cours, mais une fois qu'on l'ouvre il est très intéressant à lire...je recommande mais faut maîtriser un peu l'anglais sinon on s'ennuie vite s'il faut chercher tout le vocabulaire ;)

Wie immer, hat mich auch dieses Mal der Autor mit seiner Recherche überzeugt. Dieses Buch (und alle andere von Herrn Lindstrom) ist sowohl für Studenten (aller Programme!!), Unternehmen bzw. Marketing-Abteilungen und natürlich alle Enthusiasten, die von der Konsumentenpsychologie begeistert sind, geeignet.

He spends about 300 nights a year in other people’s homes. While there, Martin Lindstrom interviews them, looks through their closets and refrigerators, examines their posters, pictures, furniture, and other decorative items, seeking for clues which he calls “small data.” His book describes his methods of investigation and how he detects patterns in apparently insignificant, and often disparate, observations. Yet, his hypotheses and conclusions have helped businesses enhance their brands and significantly improve their market share.The book was quite interesting but, for me at least, difficult to follow. Lindstrom’s global thought processes felt scattered, but working through the book was instructive and often surprising.Lindstrom seeks clues to people’s desires, but not necessarily their obvious desires or desires of which they themselves are aware. He does so on the basis of some postulates scattered throughout the book.• People have multiple identities, one of which Lindstrom refers to as “the Twin Self.” He asserts that “The Twin Self has two elements, both of which are linked to desire: what we had once, but lost, and what we once dreamed about having but never possessed.” (p. 204)• “It may sound overly dramatic, but men and women tend to rebel against whatever imbalances exist in their countries. They do this consciously and unconsciously. “ (pp. 29 & 30)• “We can get rid of desire by surrendering to it, or we can resist and deny it. But desire can’t help but show up somewhere in our lives . . .” (p. 38)Through a series of case studies and anecdotes, Lindstrom proceeds to show the reader how he observes and thinks about potential clues in order to detect the desires of customers and clients.Other arresting ideas in the book include these:• “Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger and Apple CEO Steve Jobs once had a conversation about retail, during which Jobs told Iger that retailers should always ask themselves one question: ‘If a store could talk, what would it say to the people entering it?’” (p. 112)• “Subconsciously, it seemed, girls perceived a clothing store less on what it has for sale, and more on the other women who are shopping there. (The same is often true for prospective female students when they visit college and university campuses.) If the other girls aren’t cool or aspirational enough, a girl will take her business elsewhere.” (p. 156)• “Every successful brand stands for something more than itself, and that thing is emotional. A great brand promises hope, the contagion of coolness, or desirability, or love, or romance, or acceptance, or luxury, or youth, or sophistication, or high-quality technology.” (p. 173)If you are responsible for your organization’s success (and who isn’t?), this book is well worth reading.

Its the most interesting book that I have come across in recent times. The experience of the writer which spans continents, cities and the rustic, the rich and the poor, the cultural and the scientific temperament, the habitual and the imbibed, lives and livelihood, life and lifestyle, the DNAs and the modified makes it a really interesting read. Whats more important was the ease with which the author shifts from an individual perspective to that of an organisation while narrating the experiences.I paused at many places to corroborate the observations in my life and lifestyle. Actually, only if one pauses to observe, one would find that there are billions of small things, small clues, small takes and small picks everywhere and all around us.It is strongly recommended also from sheer knowledge sharing point of view. I not only strongly recommend the same, I also recommend it to be completed in a single sitting.