Every Saturday I salute someone or a group that deserves a little extra attention for his or her good deeds, achievements, creative solutions, witty comments or meaningful acts of customer love.
This week my hat goes off to Martin Lindstrom, one of my good friends and fellow marketing visionaries. Martin and I met in 2003 via the Internet (not from match.com 😉 but from me reaching out and complimenting his writing), than later that year we hung out when he and I were both in New York City.
Martin is one of the smartest cats I know and he has been very successfully building a global brand for himself as a marketing and brand guru and bestselling author. If you’ve not read his works you should. They are all excellent resources combining research, case studies and creative forward thinking.
His new book Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate our Minds and Persuade us to Buy is why he deserves an extra round of applause today. The book (with the forward written by film director and producer Morgan Spurlock) jumps out of the circle of what you should do with your brand to what is going on in the world of “at all costs, get that consumer to buy”. Which was a bold move since he often works on the side of the consumer hunter.
Martin’s approach around his latest book is fresh, a bit shocking and very insightful, because as marketers we all have to continue to create, converse and captivate this brandwashed society. So to better understand what’s going on in the sandbox is a good thing.
I just received my Brandwashed book so this is not a review, but encouragement to grab a copy as I’ve never read a book Martin wrote that I did not love and learn from.
On a side note, while writing Brandwashed, Martin went on total brand detox. Which meant for one year he did not buy one new branded anything. He used what he had or consumed alternative non branded generic options. Phew, that alone needs a moment of special recognition.
Martin continues to push the envelope, the box and the marketing mindset to the edge challenging us all to better understand the world and the consuming residents who live here.
Congrats! Martin!
