Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The Cramer-Krasselt book club group agreed with the author's point of really understanding the audience we are trying to reach whether through public relations or advertising. Also, we all agreed that the author provided practical ideas that we could implement. Members of the discussion group related real-life examples of the twelve principles at work. For example, the author belives to gain true insight of consumers, one must observe consumers in their natural setting.

One person relayed the added insight he now had about his European client's cultural background after touring historic buildings during a business trip to Amsterdam.

Another example of "thinking outside the box" was relayed by a discussion member who recently facilitated a thought-provoking client meeting. In an effort to show her client how well-known companies have branded their products across several product categories, the meeting room was filled with products which have line extensions. For example, Arm & Hammer has products which run the gamut from kitty-litter deodorizers to toothpaste. Neutrogena has face washes, shampoos and hand cream. These visuals helped illustrate well-executed line extensions and challenged the client to evaluate its product and possible line extensions in a strategic way.

The author contends the "Sweet Spot" is hit when there's the right combination of consumer insight and brand insight. She cites the effectiveness fo the Marlboro Man as being on target. Marketing misses include New Coke, videodiscs, and the USFL.

Thanks to its pragmatic examples and knowledgeable yet down-to-earth tone, Hitting the Sweet Spot is an easy read and recommended for advertising and public relations professionals.

"Hitting the Sweet Spot" is written to teach students and
professional marketers, and advertisers and others how
to stay in touch and truly understand their target
audiences. That's not necessarily a bad thing, even for
those who think we're too busy buying and selling
already.

I read this from a consumer's perspective and found it educational. Not once, after I opened the pages, was I tempted to sneer at the point of the book--teaching people how to sell. Why? Because the book strikes me as honest.

Yes, it's teaching kids and others to persuade someone else to do something, perhaps something they don't want. But at no time is there a hint of deception or arm twisting. It's simply a guide to knowing your market.

That's something anyone who works with potential customers in any
venue--and that's a lot of us, folks--needs to understand.

This book will teach you some terminology--early adopters vs. laggards, account planning, laddering and more--that is creeping into ordinary vocabulary, has applications well beyond plain old advertising and therefore must be understood. For those of us who live in this intensely consumer society, I recommend this book because it's really, after all, about us.

The book is written in a comfortably breezy manner, easily read by high school students and up, by Lisa Fortini-Campbell, a top-ranking woman in the advertising/marketing field. She offers us both theory and practical help, in sections ranging from defining the reason for understanding consumers to working with others to achieve goals.