Some see it as a character flaw. After all these years, my husband has learned to accept it, and my kids just roll their eyes as preteens do (even when they show a tendency toward the same predilection). I can’t stop myself: I bring a book bag to the beach. ▪ As this issue goes to press, I’m heading out for some much-needed sun and sand. Like you, I spend most of my time, both on and off the job, managing information overload from Web sites, newspapers, white papers, etc. Occasionally, I get to read a movie review. Months in advance of my vacation, however, I start clipping book reviews and prioritizing the titles I’m taking along with the Coppertone. ▪ This year, my first choice is easy: Harry Potter will again be riding along in the car with us. When they were younger, I read the Potter books to the boys; now we have multiple copies and share aloud “the good parts.” ▪ What a marketing phenom J.K. Rowling and her publishers have spawned! Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince has broken records for print run and sales in its early weeks. And as much fun as the books themselves are, credit publisher Scholastic for brilliant work with events (bookstores mobbed at midnight with kids decked out as their favorite wizard, eager to grab copies of the latest installment), essay contests (to get them writing as well as reading) and more. Some day, entire marketing texts could be written on the Potter Principles. ▪ In lieu of such a text, I’m also packing: The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell (about group dynamics and word of mouth; it’s getting mixed reviews — I’ll let you know); Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne (on expanding your market, and how can I resist the title); and Life After the 30-Second Spot, by Joseph Jaffe (who I met last year when he spoke at a PROMO seminar — he’s one of the best thinkers around on alternatives to traditional advertising). ▪ Fresh air, fresh ideas — throw in a lobster, and that’s my dream getaway. Hope you get the same this summer!
P.S. Drop me a line at [email protected] to let me know what you’re reading these days.
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