Product Description: If you market a product, service, or idea in any business, industry or organization, you must read Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs, a guide to understanding and meeting the needs of consumers, whether or not they make those needs clear. An easy-to-follow six-step process developed over the past 15 years can help you address unsolved problems, recognize buyer personas, quantify impact and create breakthrough experiences. Stop wasting time by guessing what your market needs and start understanding consumer desire.
7.2/10 example-driven practical book on customer-centric innovation "If it's so easy to understand and it makes so much sense, why don't more companies get tuned it?"
"Tuned In" by Craif Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott is a book on how to create the "resonator", the product that sells itself. Or (quoted from the book);
"The perfect solution to a specific problem"
"A product or service that people want to buy without being coerced"
"An offering that establishes a real and direct connection to what your market values most"
"An idea that people immediately understand has value to them, even if they have never heard of your company or its products and services"
The book describes the six steps of creating the resonator
Let's compare "Tuned In" to the ideal business book that is easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.
Ease of Understanding: 9/10: This book is very structured and it's very hard to NOT understand. The concepts are not complicated. They are straight to the point with great examples all over the book.
Distinction: 5/10: The concept of this book is another "customer-centric innovation". There are hundreds of this kind of book on the shelf already. However, the way the authors present the concept with clear and concise examples is refreshing. This concept of the book is identical to others: just better.
Practicality: 8/10: The six steps (plus what should be done before and after the steps) are simple enough to follow no matter what industry you are in. The authors showed examples ranging from the ice-cream shop to the comedian to Apple to the presidential election! The various examples with simple yet solid steps will make you think that you can do it.
Credibility: 8/10: The vivid examples, again, "resonate" well with the concepts and steps. You can't really deny the proven concept, customer-centric innovation. It's so simple that make you think "There's no reason I shouldn't believe this."
Insight: 6/10: The real substance of the book is how it connects the concepts to examples. You will not find deep analysis or research in a particular subject. Moreover, this book tries hard not to bore you. Once the excitement in the topic fades, the authors move onto another topic.
Reading Experience: 7/10: Reading "Tuned In" is enjoyable. You'll read the contents of the books about how to create a "resonator" and you'll think "Now..... How are you trying to convince me?" Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott will then give you simple explanations and excellent examples.
Overall: 7.2/10: As I mentioned far too many times already that the examples of this book are excellent. The six steps to create the "resonator" are very easy to apply. If you are swimming in the ocean of books on innovation and could not find a good book that you can get your team or yourself rolling right away. This example-driven practical book on customer-centric innovation is tuned in for you.
Are You "Tuned In" to Your Business Opportunities? I was lucky enough to be given a preview copy of a great new book by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott called Tuned In. I got the preview, but it is being published today. It was a very interesting experience to read this book, because I feel as though I understand the authors' perspectives so well already. But even though I know where the authors are coming from, I was still riveted by this book. They tell so many great stories that illustrate their big point, which is that you need to be willing to listen to what's going on around you to really produce a business breakthrough. I found myself sorry when the book ended, because the stories are so helpful in driving the philosophy home, and each story is interesting on its own merits.
I am a big fan of David's, and if you read his last book, you would be too. So, I recognized David's voice in places throughout the book, especially when it explains how to detect the difference between tuned-in and tuned-out marketing.
But I also recognize the voices of Craig and Phil, because I am a certified product manager from their company, Pragmatic Marketing. So when the book differentiates between listening to your customers and listening to your overall market, I hear them. When they tell you that you need to get out and talk to people to identify the ideas that will resonate, I remember hearing in class: "Nothing good ever happens in the office."
So, nothing this book said really surprised me. And that's the real genius of the book. So often, a really great book says something that seems completely obvious--right after you hear it. This book is one of those.
Well of course you need to talk to your whole market and not just your existing customers. Well sure you'd rather have real information on which to base your decisions than "gut feel." Certainly innovation for innovation's sake is doomed to failure.
There are these kind of "Well, duh!" ideas on every page. But they are obvious only in retrospect. Most companies don't act as if these ideas are obvious--just the opposite.
In my last book, I tried to help people take these approaches in Internet marketing. This book has a bigger agenda, where the authors help you see how to succeed in all the parts of an offering, from product development to marketing. And they succeed, both because of these blowhard-skewering truths and because they have a rich set of stories that put these ideas in action.
I was fascinated by the case study for Zipcar, a business I was aware of but had never tried. The way they first identified the needs of city dwellers who occasionally need a car, but don't need the hassles of owning one, was an eye-opener for me. But I was even more surprised to hear about how they've targeted other groups to help them, ranging from politicians interested in telling a green story to landlords looking to add Zipcars as a differentiator against other rental properties.
Zipcar is just one of dozens of stories that bring the Tuned In principles to life. If you've ever wondered why your company is stultified in its strategy, and why it strangles every successful product idea before it ever sees the light of day, read this book. It will challenge you to transform your company or leave it.
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The Universal Rule Great Book!! Your own personal opinion is irrelevant no matter what situation you are in. You can accomplish more than you've ever imagined in your personal and professional life by observing and listening to others and what they want. And whether it's right or wrong, let it go. Just give them what they want and the paybacks will come. This book is another great spin on the principles of Dale Carnegie.
A Book for Every Marketer This book is a must read for all entrepreneurs and their marketing department. If you're lucky enough to read this book before developing your business plan, you're going to benefit greatly. This book really helped our team dig at how we were developing and marketing our application and our business.
The examples of the book are unique and interesting, supporting the entire premise. Perhaps the best feature of the book is that it can easily be used as a checklist for your company, your product or your service. This book must be purchased by you and must be read by your staff.
It's all about "connections" This straight-talking book is a great addition to any entrepreneur's bookshelf. When positioning a company or a product - or a candidate for public office, there are several rules to follow, among them: Who is your customer? What is important to your customer? And how does your service or product meet the "perceived" needs of your customer? The key words are "perceived needs." You must know what your customer is buying and why, and what they want to buy. You also need to know what they are not buying - and why. It's all about establishing authentic connections, or as Myers, Stull and Scott say, how we tell our buyer that we've solved their problems - so that they listen to what we have to say, buy our products or services, or vote for us. (The reviewer is author of two books:Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU and Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command.)
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