August 29, 2011
Slywotzky (Value Migration), named by the London Times as one of the 50 top business thinkers in the world, examines products and services that evoke excitement and desire in consumers—and how to drum up the same enthusiasm for your own products. He asserts that there is a process by which “demand creators” recognize gaps between what people buy and what they want and are able to replicate. He digs deep into the concept of demand and consumer desire, investigating and sharing stories of the upward trajectories of such companies as ZipCar, TetraPak, Wegmans. However, the link to Slywotzky’s contention that there are replicable processes one can follow to create demand seems tenuous at best—especially since his book fails to make good on its promise to provide a roadmap. All of the companies he discusses involve pioneering entrepreneurs with an intense focus on the customer, but the true magic that enabled them to be successful when competitors failed is still hard to pin down. The processes he outlines are helpful guidelines in retrospect, but it may seem difficult for a reader to determine how to put them into practice.