books

I’ve a stack of books sitting on my coffee table waiting for me to write a review. I am reading less and less lately, from a historically high of 4 books a month to now 15 books a year. But I am buying more art books. And I review 2 dozen of books a year. My magazine subscriptions have been cut down from 40+ magazines to less than 10. Many including Wired and Forbes have dropped off from my list and I stopped many of the journals, many are just repeating old things. It is like digging out bones from one graveyard and put them in another one. I’ve picked three books to review and share with you this week:

I’m not a big yogurt fan. “Live cultures” would be unacceptable (or even scary) in most foods, but are highly prized in yogurt. Nevertheless, we can all learn something from a neuromarketing study focused on the gooey dairy product.

Review: The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind by A. K. Pradeep

The world of neuromarketing seems to be shrouded in mystery. There are no university studies that prove one can improve advertising effectiveness or design better products using brain scans or biometrics. Virtually all of the neuromarketing research to date has taken place within private companies, who tend to release few details of their work both for competitive reasons and to protect client relationships. So, it was with great anticipation that I read The Buying Brain by NeuroFocus CEO, Dr. A. K. Pradeep. NeuroFocus, a unit of Nielsen, is the largest provider of neuromarketing services.

Review – Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business by Nancy Lublin

Zero does have a seemingly magical impact on our brains (see The Power of Free), though zero isn’t always a good thing. Zero resources, for example, are generally not good for business! That’s exactly what many non-profit organizations start with, though. In Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business, author Nancy Lublin translates her years of experience in under-resourced non-profits into strategies that can be applied by any company.