What's Cool?

Following in Cam's footsteps, I've decided to review a book that. Full disclosure, one of the author's advertising agency reps contacted us and sent us a copy. So here's the summary according to the authors:

"Cool isn't just a state of mind, a celebrity fad, or an American obsession -- it's a business. In boardrooms across America, product managers are examining vodka bottles and candy bars, tissue boxes and hamburgers, wondering how do we make this thing cool? How do we make this gadget into the iPod of our industry? "

I'm a little cynical when I first heard about the book. All I need is a book out there saying that "you too can have your own subservient chicken with these three easy steps". I was pleasantly surprised when the authors came clean

Chapter 1 - The iPod of My Industry - Whatever they did, I want that

Everyone wants to copy someone else's success. In the places I work, I hear this all the time.  We want to be like X, can you make us one of those Y. The problem is, it isn't a formula. There are different ways to get.

The book points out the rise of Grey Goose vodka. Sidney Frank, the man who built Grey Goose vodka. Mr. Frank developed a plan to market Grey Goose by going against conventional wisdom. He priced his product at nearly two times what other vodka brands charged, packaged his product in frosted bottles and crated containers like those used to ship fine wine. Grey Goose became a status symbol in clubs all across the world. Not bad for a product that is, by definition orderless and tasteless.

Chapter 2 - Ordering in - why outsourcing vision doesn't work...

Know your audience and know what 'cool' is to them. No, I mean really know your audience. A lot of times companies outsource their brands to advertising agencies. They expect them to define who they should appeal to, what the message should be and, ultimately, who they are. The problem is that if your organization doesn't who they are, then really, why are you in business? If you don't understand your customer, then you're doomed. And knowing your customer doesn't mean running a bunch of focus groups or customer surveys, it means spending time in their world.

In this case, take a look at Tony Hawk. If someone from the outside had consulted on "building his brand" it probably would have involved black t-shirts, goatees and overly produced commercials. Instead, Tony Hawk's brand does what Tony does best on his skate board.

"If a business is so badly lit then you can't see cool when it's sitting right inside the organization, is there a point in going out and chasing it?"

So far I'm impressed. Stay tuned for chapter three and four. Check out the Chasing Cool site. - Paul Herring

Comments

[Stephanie Wright]

I really enjoyed the book. One of the most interesting parts to me, was the discussion of the word "luxury" and how it has become associated with everything higher end in today's society. I really liked the stories about Barney's as well, especially the discussions about how even if you take risks and go bankrupt, you can come back from that. The book really made taking risks seem imperative, which is great. I loved how the book was written with two points of view. Another part I really liked was how companies should be looking inside for ideas before going outside. If they can't use whatever talent is inside the company, why bother paying for something else?

[TStrat]

I also really enjoyed this book. It made me think of cool in a different way. It seems that cool happens a lot when you aren't trying to do what is cool. I especially liked the part about Grey Goose. And I agree with Stephanie, I realy enjoyed how there were two points of view.

[April]

This book explores marketing concepts in a much fresher and down-to-earth method than most books in this subject matter. The authors bring in a lot of real-life company examples to convey certain stategies. I enjoyed reading this book very much.

[Stephanie Scheidler]

Reading Chasing Cool was a great experience. It definitely taught me the best ideas don't come from following other people. I especially liked the excerpts about Barneys. Before reading Chasing Cool I never really knew the history behind Barneys being a discount store. I found the story behind bringing high-end brands such as Versace and Prada to the United States to be very motivating. This is an excellent example of how following your instincts and going where no one has gone before can prove to be very rewarding.

[DeAndrea]

This summary of Chasing Cool on depicts 2 parts of why it's such a dynamic read. Yes, Grey Goose, Tony Hawk, and Ipod show great examples of great marketing techniques, but the true essence of Chasing Cool is how it screams out that for anything- and anyone- to survive in today's society (or the "cluttered marketplace"), it must be 100% real and authentic. Observers should be able to do more than just SEE what a product or entity is; it must FEEL it. 100%

This very point that I have mentioned is why EVERYone should read Chasing Cool- and not just once! Read it twice or even three times, for you are sure to learn something and perceive something new each time! I did.

[Ashley]

I totally agree, one of the most important parts of the book, for a young person
hoping to break into the marketing world, is realizing that no marketing technique will ever be more effective than authenticity of the product.

[Andrew Thrasher]

This is a great book; I have read it and already applied some of the things I've learned from it to my personal and business life. I'd highly recommend anyone and everyone to read it. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the chapter that talks about “growing your pond”, it’s an idea I had never really thought about or heard before. It’s very interesting that Grey Goose has such a premium image, and the majority of young people consider it the #1 in vodka. I enjoyed the story of the blind taste test and how Grey Goose was in fact not the #1, but yet it still sold as if it were.

[Lauren Cunningham]

I also really enjoyed this book. The style it was written was easy to read, yet brought out really good points and made me think about things from a different perspective. Kerner and Pressman really make you "think outside of the box" At first I didn't know how i would feel about the book, but after reading it I realized it really was valuable information.

[Vanessa]

I honestly LOVED the book. I am going to be a junior in college this fall and my major is Journalism and Mass Communication with a concentration on PR and a Business minor. I LOVE marketing and PR and Chasing Cool was absolutely fabulous. I literally could not put it down. I think it is both insightful and witty and will easily appeal both young and old, business driven people. I think that it was wise in partnering up with Gene Pressman to write this book. Since he is both successful and of an older generation, I think that is a marketing advantage to reach the older people in the industry. I recently wrote a paper for my english class about SKYY vodka and its marketing strategies. The assignment was to take a current ad of the company and then create our own ad for them and write a letter to them proposing why our ad is more beneficial than their current one. Long story short, much of the marketing advice in the book was similar to my points that I made in my paper. This book taught me as much, if not more, about marketing than a college course. I think that it would be to both students and teachers if this book was a required reading in an upper division marketing class (just a thought). In any case, I truly did love the book; and I am not a book lover, I actually quite picky about books

[Michelle Gutierrez]

Well Noah Kerner couldn't have put successful marketing tactics in more lamen's terms. His book is to-the-point, clear, and concise. You can tell just through his writing, that he has a modern marketing style.

His analogy of being the iPod in today's marketplace, was my favorite analogy in the book. It's so true that no matter how amazing or innovative your product may be, if you don't time its promotional campaign correctly, the public will not react. Mac timed the release of the iPod perfectly, despite the fact that other company's had already come out with similar products. It was because of this excellent "suprise release" that the public fell in love with this mucial product.

On a side note, I also loved the pictures dispursed throughout the book's pages!

[tnas1]

I think that Chasing Cool accurately portrays the issue dealing with companies always wanting a piece of the popularity cake. The hot item of the moment is always copied by other companies, though once this happens it is technically not cool anymore. This book does a great job at showing you that in order to be cool, you have to be one step ahead.

[Kelly]

I loved this book. I think what I loved best was the vast range of knowledge and advice the book had to offer for future marketers. There's no other book out there that offers stories of singers, designers, CEOs, etc. And the face that everyone told their own unique story, but that every different story had a similar (SUCCESSFUL!) outcome was great. It's one of those real "think outside the box" books, but not in a corny way, in a true to life way.

[Modele Oyewole]

I think the book is really crucial in identifying things that could potentially carry a brand from normal and basic to extraordinary.

[Hasbullah Pit]

I've just bought that book 2 day ago.
I understand the concept of being cool, but i have problem to understanmd it because of the example of grey goose vodka is not available in Malaysia.

[John Leach]

Great post...I felt this book was less about"Chasing Cool" title, but more importantly about the standing out in a cluttered marketplace sub-title.

I am in an industry (as most of us are) that is very cluttered, and most try much harder to blend in, than they do to stand out.