Overview
Is it possible any longer to ""read"" markets fast enough to respond to them? A world of discrete parts is now one interconnected web of ceaseless calculation and response. Marketing has become a thing of speed and turbulence, with all the players moving simultaneously. For marketing guru Grant McCracken, the key to success in this dynamic new marketplace is to find a way to slow the world down. And McCracken believes he has the solution. It begins with understanding the mechanics at work today. He says, ""Complexity has a theory. Commotion has a pattern. Dynamism has a system. We can continue to live by damage control, or we can change the way we play the game."" To survive our own world of collision and speed, marketers need to see the world as ""flocks and flows."" In this exciting new book, McCracken deploys ""complex adaptive theory"" to track the movement of trends and new groupings of consumers. He shows how to monitor new trends, whether and when to introduce new brands and brand extensions, how to speak to niche markets, and how to avoid costly mistakes. McCracken's sage and witty advice could not come at a better time.His book will be a valuable aid for anyone trying to keep up with marketplace changes in our rapidly evolving world.
Full Product Details
Author: Grant David McCracken
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.517kg
ISBN: 9780253347596
ISBN 10: 0253347599
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 16 August 2006
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
The author attempts to clarify the strategies and goals corporations should employ to market their products using the latest trends. Examples from diverse industries and numerous photos enhance this volume... Recommended. -Choice ..Grant McCracken understands as few people do why the markets of today and tomorrow are nothing like the markets in which today's leaders grew up. His book is a profound but entertaining guide to the cultural and technological currents that future strategy will have to navigate. It shows us the patterns that lie behind the turbulence of contemporary consumer markets. -John Deighton, Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Grant McCracken's Flock and Flow takes on the fierce task of describing how and why market dynamics now create such challenges for brands, and is a manual for how to stay ahead of the curve. It's an astringent and ballsy work that you need to buy, if only to make sure he writes the next one. --New Media Age, 10 April 2008
Author Information
Grant McCracken has been the director of the Institute of Contemporary Culture and a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School. Now a member of the branding cultures laboratory at MIT, he has authored several books, including Culture and Consumption II (IUP, 2005), Big Hair (1996), Culture and Consumption (IUP, 1990), and Transformation (IUP, forthcoming). He has been a consultant for many corporations, including the Coca-Cola Company, IKEA, Chrysler, Kraft, and Kimberly Clark. He lives in Rowayton, Connecticut.
