2011 Trendspotting for the Next Decade: BOOK REVIEW

Richard Laermer’s 12th book* is, to quote Nettie Hartsock, “a decadent read.”

The book is also now 100 percent FREE as Laermer and McGraw-Hill are offering full access to the book for gratis.

“The World is Flat” author Thomas Friedman started giving his book away recently in iPod-friendly audio installments as a way to promote his next book.

These unconventional examples of open-source publishing are just one facet of the new and creative approaches being taken to promote books today.

Serialization of Content
One of the trends Laermer details in this 300-page, fast read is serialization. Technology like iTunes and TiVo are making content more fluid to keep up with our time-starved attention spans.

Even his book reads more like a blog with 77 chapters and plenty of sidebars. You can dive in and out based in your interests.

One of the reasons I most enjoyed 2011 is that I did not agree with everything Laermer suggests in his book.**

That said he does provide insight into how society, religion, media, technology and even language/communication skills are all changing. More than just trends, Laermer gets the reader to think about what it all means. 2011 looks towards a bigger, more important picture. You may see it differently, but this book helps you expand your focus.

Bottom Line?
As my cover shot shows, 2011 is a good summer read. You should check it out…and not just because it’s free.

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*Full Disclosure: I write the Bad Pitch blog with Richard Laermer and he gave me a review copy to read.

** Among the items I disagree with in the book includes Laermer’s posit that McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign was a failure. For different reasons, I think it was a success. The sing-song audio branding used with the I’m Lovin’ It tagline helped McDonald’s spend less on advertising as those ads were more effective.

tags | trend | marketing | book | branding | 2011 | Richard Laermer

Comments

[Bryan Person, LiveWorld]

This picture would have been cooler if you were reading the book on the Kindle :)

[Kevin Dugan]

lol - yeah, hard to believe I am not in that target audience. I'm all about gadgets, but cannot replace my use of dead trees.