Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends

In terms of sales and media attention, branding consultant Lindstrom (Buyology) is a publishing rock star. In a business environment enamored with reliance on big data, however, Lindstrom's argument for the significance of ethnographic observation of consumers echoes the views of other naysayers among marketing practitioners. Chock-full of case studies from well-known clients around the globe (including Lego, Lowe's, McDonald's, Nestlé, and Jenny Craig, among others), his book presents ideas about how to extrapolate effective marketing strategies from human behavior in living rooms, bedrooms, shopping venues, and other private and public spaces. The final chapter unveils the framework for Lindstrom's methodology. Despite interesting examples, some readers will wish for a more straightforward narrative that, when describing his identification of the meaning of quality in China, does not take one through a digression touching on the cultural identities of London, Paris, Dubai, Australia, Vietnam, Columbia, New Zealand, Japan, and Switzerland before explaining how to market domestic automobiles to the Chinese populous.