Consumer Obsession, Competition, and Creativity
Recommendations from Bradley Daves, Marketing & Content Strategist, Medallion Retail
“Stop. Make a retail moment. You need meaningful in-store experiences that compel shoppers to slow down and stay awhile.”
The get-right-to-the-point command on the home page of Medallion Retail gives you a small clue about what the boutique marketing firm has to offer. Based in New York, Medallion knows what works in-store. Its mission, “to create meaningful retail experiences that influence customers in the places they live, work and play,” is achieved by planning, creating, producing and supporting signage and displays for major retailers like Starbucks, Petsmart, CVS and many others. It’s something Medallion Retail has been doing for 55 years.
Bradley Daves, a former TV producer and theater publicist, is the author of the company’s must-read blog. “You can’t fail to walk away from one of Bradley’s posts with simple-to-implement knowledge,” noted another retail blogger. In a post just recently, he recommended a list of must-read marketing books from 2017. Here are just a few.
If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat
by Leonard Sherman
The author, a Columbia Business School professor and consultant, analyzes the formidable growth of companies like JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, IKEA and Apple. He also shares practical advice on two of the most challenging issues facing business executives: why is it so hard to achieve long-term profitable growth and what can companies do to break away from the pack?
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Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth
by Eddie Yoon
This is a deep dive into what makes a consumer obsessed about a product. The author makes the case that focusing on only your best customers (in sheer numbers, a minority) can have a profound impact on a brand’s overall success.
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Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction
by Derek Thompson
Shattering the sentimental myths of hit-making that dominate pop culture and business, Thompson shows quality is insufficient for success, nobody has “good taste” and some of the most popular products in history were one bad break away from utter failure.
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The Spark and the Grind: Ignite the Power of Disciplined Creativity
by Erik Wahl
Creativity can become a core competency, says Wahl, provided you don’t let previous notions get in the way. The goal is to stop splitting the creative side from the doing side, thereby combining the abilities of sparking new ideas with grinding them out.
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Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing – Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth
by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
Traditionally, there are two primary ways to outdo your competitors: provide more value, or lower costs. But what if you could do both by rethinking the market or, even better, by creating an entirely new one? The authors answer that question in this New York Times bestseller.
To read more, visit medallionretail.com.
