Marketing visionary Martin Lindstrom has been on the front lines of the branding wars for over twenty years.  Here, he turns the spotlight on his own industry, drawing on all he has witnessed behind closed doors, exposing for the first time the full extent of the psychological tricks and traps that companies devise to win our hard-earned dollars.  Picking up from where Vance Packard's bestselling classic, The Hidden Persuaders, left off more than half-a-century ago, Lindstrom reveals:    • New findings that reveal how advertisers and marketers intentionally target children at an alarmingly young age – starting when they are still in the womb!    • Shocking results of an fMRI study which uncovered what heterosexual men really think about when they see sexually provocative advertising (hint: it isn’t their girlfriends).    • How marketers and retailers stoke the flames of public panic and capitalize on paranoia over global contagions, extreme weather events, and food contamination scares.    • The first ever neuroscientific evidence proving how addicted we all are to our iPhones and our Blackberry’s (and the shocking reality of cell phone addiction - it can be harder to shake than addictions to drugs and alcohol).    • How companies of all stripes are secretly mining our digital footprints to uncover some of the most intimate details of our private lives, then using that information to target us with ads and offers ‘perfectly tailored’ to our psychological profiles.    • How certain companies, like the maker of one popular lip balm, purposely adjust their formulas in order to make their products chemically addictive.       • What a 3-month long guerilla marketing experiment, conducted specifically for this book, tells us about the most powerful hidden persuader of them all.    • And much, much more.  This searing expose introduces a new class of tricks, techniques, and seductions – the Hidden Persuaders of the 21st century- and shows why they are more insidious and pervasive than ever.

    “This is Steve Jobs. I saw your picture in a magazine a few years ago and thought we’d work together someday.” After Steve Jobs was unceremoniously dismissed from Apple, he bought a little-known graphics company called Pixar. One day, out of the blue, Jobs called Lawrence Levy, a Harvard-trained lawyer and executive to whom he had never spoken before, to persuade Levy to help him get Pixar off the ground. What Levy found was a company on the verge of failure. To Pixar and Beyond is the story of what happened next: how, working closely with Jobs, Levy produced and implemented a highly improbable plan that transformed Pixar into one of Hollywood’s greatest success stories. Set in the worlds of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, the book takes readers inside Pixar, Disney, law firms, and investment banks. It provides an up-close, firsthand account of Pixar’s ascent, how it made creative choices, Levy’s enduring collaboration and friendship with Jobs, and how Levy came to see in Pixar deeper lessons that can apply to many aspects of our lives.

    It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include:What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true?What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years?What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want?Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success. Praise for Beyond the Obvious "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see." -- Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity "I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart-or greatly enhance- your innovation efforts." -- B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility. "Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products." -- Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple"

    Peter Drucker,....

    Cut through the myths that claim marketing is about advertising, public relations, or direct mail, and learn that it is about growing the revenue, profit, and valuation of the business. Fire your advertising agency if it even thinks about applying for a Clio or other creative award. Implement the marketing moratorium and stop all marketing until you know how each component of your program justifies itself in dollars and cents.

    But no book until this one has managed to penetrate its wall of silence or go beyond the usual polemics to analyze its actual effects on its customers, workers, and suppliers. Drawing on unprecedented interviews with former Wal-Mart executives and a wealth of staggering data (e.g., Americans spend $36 million an hour at Wal-Mart stores, and in 2004 its growth alone was bigger than the total revenue of 469 of the Fortune 500), The Wal-Mart Effect is an intimate look at a business that is dramatically reshaping our lives.

    The renowned communication expert's subtle but effective plan for selling your best asset - yourself - without turning off those you're trying to impress.

    More and more CEOs are failing; there remains an acute shortage of capable replacements. The true dilemma in leadership is the stagnant state of corporate leadership development. Because companies fail to hone their unit manager's leadership abilities, they are unable to fill their succession pipelines. With unit managers stagnating, companies have difficulty executing at every level, compounding the crisis. In this audiobook, bestselling author Ram Charan shows how top companies approach leadership development as a core competency, recognizing that an adaptable leadership pool is a competitive advantage, and focusing their attention on bringing out the best in the leaders they have.Charan reveals exactly what's wrong with corporate leadership development and tells listeners how to make it right. He explains the concept of a leadership "gene pool" and shows how companies can discover just what "DNA" they need to succeed. He also details how to uncover the hidden leaders in a company, when and where to bring in fresh talent, how to coach, measure, reward leadership, and much more. This is a perfect guide for CEOs, directors, and anyone involved in leadership development.

    Want to get customers talking? This friendly guide combines the best practical tools with insight and flair to provide guidance on every aspect of PR, so you can launch a full-throttle campaign that'll generate buzz -- and build your bottom line. Discover how to * Map a winning PR strategy * Grab attention with press releases, interviews, and events * Cultivate good media relations * Get print, TV, radio, and Internet coverage * Manage a PR crisis

    People don't listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral? Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He's studied why New York Times articles make the paper's own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you've wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread - for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you're a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.

    

    Topics covered include category management, international sourcing decisions, activity-based costing, quick response inventory systems and data-based retailing. There is a new chapter on electronic retailing and location, and examples include international, service retailers and small/independent retailers.

    This book is gripping tale for anyone who has been or loves someone who has been recruited into a network marketing business. This well documented book has been utilized by government authorities in both India and the UK to take action against Amway's deceptive business scheme which knowingly has created losses for the majority of all induced to invest.

    Author Patrick Lencioni--noted screenplay writer and sought-after executive coach -- deftly tells the tale of a young CEO who, facing his first annual board review, knows he is failing, but doesn't know why. "This book provides extraordinary insight into the pitfalls that leaders face when they lose sight of the true measure of success: results. This model is required reading for my staff." --Eric Schmidt, chairman of the board and CEO, NovellAny executive can learn how to:recognize the mistakes that leaders can make avoid errors before they occur and much more! Refreshingly original and utterly compelling, the story of this executive (written to be read in one sitting) will be enjoyed, remembered, and reread for years to come. It serves a timeless and potent reminder that success as a leader can come down to practicing a few simple behaviors--behaviors that are painfully difficult for each of us to master."Lencioni delivers a provocative message: CEOs mainly have themselves to blame when things go wrong. If you're a CEO (or any manager for that matter), do you have the courage to face the blame? Doing so could change your future-for the better." --Dr. Jerry Porras, coauthor, Built to Last; professor, Stanford School of BusinessYou won't find any dry management rhetoric in this razor-sharp novelette. Apply these riveting lessons in leadership with the self-assessment at the end of the book. It will change your career!

    Finding a balance between sharing yoga with the world and running an ethical business can be challenging. The Yogi Entrepreneur is the definitive manual on starting and growing a yoga business. Whether you are an established teacher, looking to expand your student base, a new teacher fresh out of yoga teacher training, or you are simply considering signing up for your first yoga certification course—this book is for you.The Yogi Entrepreneur offers chapters on becoming a yoga teacher, marketing and branding, ethics, leading retreats and workshops, developing a Wordpress website, managing social media like Twitter and Facebook, and many other important skills for success as a teacher or yoga studio owner. With scores of resources, low-cost marketing tips, and time-saving tools, this book is a yoga teachers toolbox.The Yogi Entrepreneur has been used in hundreds of teacher training programs around the world and has helped thousands of yoga teachers to find their audience, define their brand, and share their unique approach to yoga more effectively. Whether your teaching is rooted in more traditional styles of yoga like Iyengar, Kripalu and Integral, or in more contemporary disciplines such as Forrest, Bikram, Baptiste and Anusara yoga, the simple and straightforward tools outlined in these pages will help you to reach your true potential as a yoga teacher.If you are ready to jumpstart your yoga and meditation business then look no further!__________Darren Main has written another exceptionally practical book for yogis, this one a gem that every yoga teacher should have at his or her fingertips in opening to make a livelihood. —Mark Stephens,
 Author of Teaching YogaWhen I read Yogi Entrepreneur, I was struck not only by Darren Main’s thoughtfulness about the topic and his experience in the field, but also by the personal and very real way he conveyed his information. It was more like having a very useful and interesting conversation with a wise and funny friend rather than reading a “how to” book. —Judith Hanson Lasater, Phd., PT,

 Author of Yoga Body, What We Say Matters and 30 Essential Yoga PosesFor the yoga teacher looking to make a career of doing what they love, Darren Main’s book, The Yogi Entrepreneur, is invaluable. We will highly recommend it to our teachers and those in our Teacher Training programs. 
—Trevor Tice

, Founder CorePower YogaFinally, a much needed book on the business art of yoga. Many of us have the skills and wisdom of yoga to proficiently reach out to people as teachers. Managing the business end of yoga is our downfall. Highly skilled and extraordinary yoga teachers whose careers are shining successes ultimately fail due lack of business skills. This book is a powerful guide to facilitate what teachers are qualified to offer and at the same time make a successful living for themselves. —Yogi Amrit Desai

, Founder of Kripalu Yoga and author of Amrit Yoga

Darren Main has done it again with the Yogi Entrepreneur. His in depth analysis and advice offers unique insight that you won't find in yoga manuals. This masterful book, like his second book Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic should be required reading in all teacher training courses. —Darren Littlejohn, 

Author of the 12-Step Buddhist
 
www.the12stepbuddhist.comDarren Main has created an incredibly clear road map on how to build your career as a professional yoga teacher! The Yogi Entrepreneur is an exceptional resource for new and seasoned teachers alike. We recommend this book to all of our Teacher Training graduates. —Rasha Pensanti Shakeri Director, YogaWorks Teacher Training