Empathy August 13
I’ve been reading a lot to finish this summer class and I came across a couple of awesome books:
A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink is a brilliant book that encourages the reader to cultivate the right-side of the brain and develop a greater emotional understanding. I would suggest skipping the first three chapters because I found them lame and I didn’t like the way he generalized about computer programmers. But, the six right-brain talents he explorers are dead-on and I think anyone who is marketing will benefit from this book.
Design: Differentiate and personalize your creations and you will find your job more fulfilling.
Story: People have an easier time remembering and relating when facts are given as a story.
Symphony: People who can grasp the big pictur, find relationships between seemingly unrelated things, and find and assess similiarities in systems are going to be more successful then those who can’t.
Empathy: Empathy unifies people and allows us to relate (and Marketers NEED to relate to their audience).
Play: It’s easier to learn and teach when you make it a game. Besides, it’s healthy.
Meaning: If you can’t find meaning in the things that you do, maybe you shouldn’t be doing them.
The book also offers a variety of good ideas on how to improve these skill at the end of each chapter. Well worth the read. I’m gonna buy like 20 for all my friends and family.
Waiting for Your Cat to Bark is a methodology for developing better advertising campaigns. The main focus of the book is empathizing with your customers and building persona based on these composites that you can relate to, speak to, and sell to. Though it was a bit long-winded, the book did offer a lot of good advice and I would suggest reading it before you start building your next advertising campaign. The book is especially beneficial to search engine marketing professions and offers a whole section on keywords.
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