Sammy Haggar + Caroline Kennedy = Insights

I subscribe to eight magazines, whoops, upon counting it’s really nine, belong to two book clubs and always have a stack of ‘to read IMMEDIATELY’ books laying around the house. During my prowl for the next great read, I always check out the NY Times best seller list. This is where my two great loves meet: reading + consumer insights (sorry husband, you’re #3). If we’ve met, then you’ve probably heard me talk about finding consumer insights everywhere. And yes, the list of top selling books is just one of those places.

What do Tina Fey, Ashley Judd, Shirley MacLaine, Caroline Kennedy and Sammy Hagar have in common? They’re all on a recent week’s top 10 list of nonfiction books. Wow, is that illuminating about our current culture or what?  With the demise of Bin Laden, I expect the list will have more of a political focus for the upcoming months. But my point isn’t about celebrity obsession or about politics and world issues. It’s about learning from everything we see and everything we do.

We often forget to use our powers of observation in our everyday lives. ‘Insights’ are a work thing for marketers, right? Au contraire…gathering insights is a way of being in the world, of keeping your awareness going at all times, of actually thinking about what you experience.

I challenge you to go through one day with a focus on insights. You’ll read the editorials differently, shop differently, even make dinner decisions differently. Be sure to let me know what you learn!