Rating: 
Summary: enough already, i get it...
Review: "the influentials" could have been a wonderful overview of this very intriguing group of americans. however, in the hands of market researchers, this book is about 15 pages of overview and snapshots of some influentials, followed by 300 pages of charts and corresponding text that re-hashes the charts in sentence form (here's an example, albeit NOT from the book...i'm making this up, but it's on par with what's in the book: "...47% of Influentials recycle plastic. that's 14% higher than the entire population, 12% higher than college-educated Americans, and 5% higher than those in households that make over $75,000/year. Influentials recycle paper at an even higher rate - almost 56%. That compares to 31% for the entire populations..."). i mean, i get it already. essentially, there are about 20 bullet points that define an influential, and there isn't a whole lot more to say after that. the book has little profiles on about 5 or 6 influentials, but could have benefitted from many more of those. disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: enough already, i get it...
Review: "the influentials" could have been a wonderful overview of this very intriguing group of americans. however, in the hands of market researchers, this book is about 15 pages of overview and snapshots of some influentials, followed by 300 pages of charts and corresponding text that re-hashes the charts in sentence form (here's an example, albeit NOT from the book...i'm making this up, but it's on par with what's in the book: "...47% of Influentials recycle plastic. that's 14% higher than the entire population, 12% higher than college-educated Americans, and 5% higher than those in households that make over $75,000/year. Influentials recycle paper at an even higher rate - almost 56%. That compares to 31% for the entire populations..."). i mean, i get it already. essentially, there are about 20 bullet points that define an influential, and there isn't a whole lot more to say after that. the book has little profiles on about 5 or 6 influentials, but could have benefitted from many more of those. disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than Most
Review: As has been mentioned by others, this business book rises above others with the standard advice to do X or Y, with no empirical data. Hands down it is better than the self-aggrandizing autobiographies of CEOs who tell "how I did it." Yet, The Influentials falls short of what was possible. At no time are any models provided that explicitly lay out what influentials are, how their influence functions in society, or how their attitudes directly affect purchasing trends. In the place of any causation theory, the book piles on the descriptive statistics, with an occasional "We told you so" reference to previous Roper publications. A lingering question I had was the longitudinal nature of the research. Since the influentials were identified as early as thirty years ago, I wondered how their influence changed over time, but in fact the data was not longitudinal at all. A definition of influentials was made and then the researchers simply looked out for such people and interviewed them. Here the research starts to look a bit circular in logic, and we may ask if the samples interviewed were really "influentials" or simply people who answered questions in a way that fit into what Roper is looking for.
The book is a good read though, and the marketing trend to place the customer at the center of all the firm's efforts is right on target.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than Most
Review: As has been mentioned by others, this business book rises above others with the standard advice to do X or Y, with no empirical data. Hands down it is better than the self-aggrandizing autobiographies of CEOs who tell "how I did it." Yet, The Influentials falls short of what was possible. At no time are any models provided that explicitly lay out what influentials are, how their influence functions in society, or how their attitudes directly affect purchasing trends. In the place of any causation theory, the book piles on the descriptive statistics, with an occasional "We told you so" reference to previous Roper publications. A lingering question I had was the longitudinal nature of the research. Since the influentials were identified as early as thirty years ago, I wondered how their influence changed over time, but in fact the data was not longitudinal at all. A definition of influentials was made and then the researchers simply looked out for such people and interviewed them. Here the research starts to look a bit circular in logic, and we may ask if the samples interviewed were really "influentials" or simply people who answered questions in a way that fit into what Roper is looking for.
The book is a good read though, and the marketing trend to place the customer at the center of all the firm's efforts is right on target.
Rating: 
Summary: tipping point + anatomy of buzz + the influentials
Review: Excellent reading that is supported by years of research. The Tipping Point and the Anatomy of Buzz are great reads but this book takes the subject to the next level. Building on the theory that buzz and tipping points are vital to the success of business, political campaigns etc, The Influentials shows who the "influentials" really are and how they can be reached. The influentials are the individuals who will determine the eventual success or failure of many goods and services. You may be surprised who they are!
Rating:
Summary: Real Insight
Review: For one simple, powerful reason THE INFLUENTIALS stands head and shoulders above the field in the marketing trends book sweepstakes. Its insights are based on data, long-term empirical data, judiciously considered. Facts. Numbers. A real departure from most books about the American consumer which base their hypotheses, and thus their recommendations, on anecdotes, renovated B-school doctrine, all plumped up with a few chunks of data culled willy nilly from any variety of sources. (Has anybody else noticed that the same warmed-over statistics show up again and again in the most marketing books? Shall we blame the Internet and Lexis/Nexis searches for this sudden homogeneity?). THE INFLUENTIALS, on the other hand, shares primary research data on the American consumer going back 30 years or more. Berry's and Keller's insights and recommendations are shaped by the evolving opinions of Americans. The horse is before the cart where the horse belongs. Interspersed with the data and trend analysis, Berry and Keller introduce in mini-bios to actual Influentials. These particularly well-written sections serve to embody the data, (the data sections can get a little overwhelming at times) and show us how an Influential lives, thinks and leads. Most are local community leaders, or have real involvement in their communities, and and as such are the nodes of wide personal networks. They are the people who get things done, the people to whom others look to for advice or counsel. By the way, over the years, about 10% of Americans have ?qualified? by their behavior to be counted as Influentials. The definition of an Influential is based on a question about people's political and other civic behavior that Roper has been asking since the 1920s, and has been updating ever since to reflect changing times. Now it could be argued that the Roper definition of what constitutes an influential American is antiquated, no longer applicable in the post-modern era. For instance it could be said that the influence of super-empowered individuals (to use Thomas Friedman's term) has been magnified in our hypermediated age to such an extent that "celebrities" now have exponentially more sway over how we choose to think, to live, to dream than any local influential. A good point, but Keller and Berry do not reject the influence of the celebrity and celebrity brand culture. They answer that that Roper Influentials are not only leaders in the sense that others look to them for political or community leadership, but that non-Influentials also look to them for guidance on most consumer goods and entertainment because Influentials also tend to be early adopters of new goods, services and culture. In other words, Influentials serve as an early warning system for those trends that other Americans will get to a six months to a year or so later. What's really impressive about THE INFLUENTIALS is that Berry and Keller share so much data. That runs counter to another kind of marketing book that readers in this field will recognize -- the marketing books as "teaser." In this type of marketing trends book, the reader is told that the insights offered in the books are based on years of trend data, presumably similar to that found in THE INFLUENTIALS. This type of marketing trends book then indicates that the real information is only available to the clients of the writers. They go on to cite case studies where organizations have used the data to effect stellar marketing programs and boost profit. In other words, now you?ve got to buy their consulting services to get the real information and the real help you need. In THE INFLUENTIALS, it's all there - sometimes actually too much is there - but that's certainly better than books that are empty shells, "door openers" for standard consulting services. All in all a solid, well-conceived, time-tested and amply proven marketing paradigm. A rare treat.
Rating:
Summary: Real Insight
Review: For one simple, powerful reason THE INFLUENTIALS stands head and shoulders above the field in the marketing trends book sweepstakes. Its insights are based on data, long-term empirical data, judiciously considered. Facts. Numbers. A real departure from most books about the American consumer which base their hypotheses, and thus their recommendations, on anecdotes, renovated B-school doctrine, all plumped up with a few chunks of data culled willy nilly from any variety of sources. (Has anybody else noticed that the same warmed-over statistics show up again and again in the most marketing books? Shall we blame the Internet and Lexis/Nexis searches for this sudden homogeneity?). THE INFLUENTIALS, on the other hand, shares primary research data on the American consumer going back 30 years or more. Berry's and Keller's insights and recommendations are shaped by the evolving opinions of Americans. The horse is before the cart where the horse belongs. Interspersed with the data and trend analysis, Berry and Keller introduce in mini-bios to actual Influentials. These particularly well-written sections serve to embody the data, (the data sections can get a little overwhelming at times) and show us how an Influential lives, thinks and leads. Most are local community leaders, or have real involvement in their communities, and and as such are the nodes of wide personal networks. They are the people who get things done, the people to whom others look to for advice or counsel. By the way, over the years, about 10% of Americans have ?qualified? by their behavior to be counted as Influentials. The definition of an Influential is based on a question about people's political and other civic behavior that Roper has been asking since the 1920s, and has been updating ever since to reflect changing times. Now it could be argued that the Roper definition of what constitutes an influential American is antiquated, no longer applicable in the post-modern era. For instance it could be said that the influence of super-empowered individuals (to use Thomas Friedman's term) has been magnified in our hypermediated age to such an extent that "celebrities" now have exponentially more sway over how we choose to think, to live, to dream than any local influential. A good point, but Keller and Berry do not reject the influence of the celebrity and celebrity brand culture. They answer that that Roper Influentials are not only leaders in the sense that others look to them for political or community leadership, but that non-Influentials also look to them for guidance on most consumer goods and entertainment because Influentials also tend to be early adopters of new goods, services and culture. In other words, Influentials serve as an early warning system for those trends that other Americans will get to a six months to a year or so later. What's really impressive about THE INFLUENTIALS is that Berry and Keller share so much data. That runs counter to another kind of marketing book that readers in this field will recognize -- the marketing books as "teaser." In this type of marketing trends book, the reader is told that the insights offered in the books are based on years of trend data, presumably similar to that found in THE INFLUENTIALS. This type of marketing trends book then indicates that the real information is only available to the clients of the writers. They go on to cite case studies where organizations have used the data to effect stellar marketing programs and boost profit. In other words, now you?ve got to buy their consulting services to get the real information and the real help you need. In THE INFLUENTIALS, it's all there - sometimes actually too much is there - but that's certainly better than books that are empty shells, "door openers" for standard consulting services. All in all a solid, well-conceived, time-tested and amply proven marketing paradigm. A rare treat.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Guerilla Marketing ...
Review: For quite some time, we focused on guerilla marketing to create added "buzz" to our series of messages. But after reading "The Influentials," I've started thinking of ways to create the same impact in a much more cost-effective and authoritative manner. Harnessing the power of a community's thought leaders and grassroots activists wasn't on our game plan at all, until reading through the book. It makes perfect sense now. Everyone gives validity to the power of networking, but you don't always think to expand upon your own network to those connections of a desired community's unofficial leader ... now I am.
Rating:
Summary: Statistics of the politically and socially active
Review: I agree with the other reviewer that the "influential" 10% selected for this book consists of people who are socially and/or politically active. That's how they were chosen. In my view, it wasn't really shown that this 10% of the population strongly influences the other 90%. Many statistics of this active 10% are given. Influentials do tend to talk a lot. Keller and Berry write "Influentials seem to have an aversion to keep things to themselves. ... They believe it's important to give others information that could help them." (p. 148). So, what do we learn about Influentials? * They are two times more likely to buy online than the average consumer. They like the convenience. * They like to travel and tend to like to cook. * They tend to be "tactical consumers," who shop around to get the best deal. * Influentials tend to be interested in news, politics, the environment, health, technology, and science. They focus upon important "substantive, meaty areas." * Influentials aren't particularly interested in celebrities, sports, fashion or TV culture. (They don't mind public television, because it's educational.) * They value learning and tend to have active minds. * They're not into bowling or extreme sports. * Influentials feel they can control their destiny. * 3 to 1, they would prefer to be entrepreneurs to top executives at big companies. * They don't want to be extremely rich (not more so than non-influentials anyway). But, they want financial security. * Influentials were early adopters of IRA's, 401(k), cell phones, and the Internet. * Influentials read a lot, especially magazines and newspapers. So, for marketers looking for information about the politically/socially active 10% of the population, this book provides many insights. Plus, I think it's interesting reading. However, for marketers looking for specific ways to reach this audience, "The Influentials" seems to offer only a few broad marketing ideas. For example, Keller and Berry write: "If there's a secret to advertising to Influentials, it is to be creative and informative." And, the authors say companies must provide useful information. Keller and Berry write: "Succeeding with Influentials begins with information. A salient, meaningful piece of information is at the very least a conversation starter." Another idea offered is sponsoring a community event or worthy cause. However, the authors point out that Influentials tend to be skeptical of advertising and messages can't just flow down from a company to Influentials. Influentials won't just blindly accept them. Influentials will listen to those they know, incorporating their experiences and their own personal experiences to determine the quality or usefulness of a product. Influentials tend to be good listeners and get feedback from others. Partially, it's their wide experience though personal feedback that makes them a valuable source of information to others. The book points out that Influentials represent an early majority of the market. Whether small cars, back to big SUV's, computers, cell phones, digital cameras, debit cards, or online computer access, Influentials tend to be early adopters of products that subsequently become popular with the general populace. Keller and Berry tell us Influentials don't just adopt any product. They tend to adopt utilitarian products that really add to their lives. But, that seems to reduce marketing to the old maxim, "Build a better mouse trap and they will come," which many marketers don't accept. So, overall, I think "The Influentials" is interesting reading, but I don't know that readers will find it full of useful marketing ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Great insights, terrific read
Review: I read a fair number of business books in a given year, and The Influentials is perhaps the best I've read in a very long time. The book is an in-depth examination of that segment of Americans--influentials, early adopters, trend setters, pick your label--marketers drool over. After reading this book, I feel I really have new insights into who these people are, what makes them tick, and what drives their purchasing decisions, among other things. The book sets itself apart in a number of ways. It is grounded in fact, based largely on findings from real research (the authors work for RoperASW, a large marketing research company), not on some fashionable and disposable management theory. At the same time, it is very well written: clear, jargon-free, practical, and fun to read. Also, throughout the book the authors profile real-life 'Influentials' to illustrate their points, which adds a nice human touch so often missing from business books. The authors really know their stuff and synthesize an amazing amount of information into a cohesive, engaging narrative. Highly recommended to marketers who want to reach a desirable segment of the public, and to anyone else interested in consumer trends.
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