 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | Why do advertising campaigns and new products often fail? Why do consumers feel that companies don't understand their needs? Because marketers themselves don't think deeply about consumers' innermost thoughts and feelings. Marketing Metaphoria is a groundbreaking book that reveals how to overcome this "depth deficit" and find the universal drivers of human behavior so vital to a firm's success.
Marketing Metaphoria reveals the powerful unconscious viewing lenses--called "deep metaphors"-- that shape what people think, hear, say, and do.
Drawing on thousands of one-on-one interviews in more than thirty countries, Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman describe how some of the world's most successful companies as well as small firms, not-for-profits, and social enterprises have successfully leveraged deep metaphors to solve a wide variety of marketing problems. Marketing Metaphoria should convince you that everything consumers think and do is influenced at unconscious levels--and it will give you access to those deeper levels of thinking.
"An imaginative and insightful application of cognitive science to the world of business, rich with implications for both fields."
-Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, and author, How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought.
"Marketing Metaphoria is one of the most fascinating business books I have read in a long time. A brilliant combination of deep insight and actionable advice, it will forever change how you think about marketing."
-Daniel H. Pink, author, A Whole New Mind
"Despite the availability of increasingly sophisticated methods, most customer relationships remain standardized, superficial, and lacking in informed customization. Through deep metaphors, the Zaltmans provide an insightful and provocative framework for identifying and learning from the implicit cognitive influences on customer decision making that can enhance and deepen intimacy and loyalty."
-Gary W. Loveman, Chairman, CEO and President, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
"Any business seeking to build global brands should read the Zaltmans' groundbreaking work on metaphors. The universal power of deep metaphors crosses borders and generations, and enduring brands trade off this thinking, whether their owners know it or not."
-Tom Long, President and CEO, Miller Brewing Company
"A disruptive book that will change how you think about customer insights. The emotional power offered within these pages will energize you to dig deeper into your business and turn thin functional insights into rich emotional messages that will propel your business."
-Donna J. Sturgess, Global Head of Innovation, GlaxoSmithKline
"With the profound advances in psychology and neuroscience over the past two decades, I'm convinced that now is the time for practitioners to rewrite the 'principles of marketing.' Marketing Metaphoria transforms insights from the authors' research into a rich framework that will help you think more deeply about your consumers and develop more innovative ideas for action. Read it twice, then keep it on your desk for ready reference."
-Bob Woodard, Vice President, Global Consumer and Customer Insights, Campbell Soup Company |
Average Customer Rating:   Much less than expected I have read Gerald Zaltman's work over the years. Sometimes he has made real important contributions. This time I am afraid to say that he promises something he does not deliver.
His (their) "metaphor" approach is supposed to be the subject of the book. But instead of sharing how to go about uncovering metaphors, the authors spend their time reverse engineering commercials and providing ex-post-facto explanations that justify the "theory" of deep metaphors. Qualitative market researchers have been asking consumers for metaphors since I can remember. For about 30 years I have asked consumers to tell me "what is it like to" do something, etc. Consumers do respond with metaphors that can be very useful. So, what is so proprietary about this approach? To be fair the book offers a taxonomy of metaphors. But the taxonomy does little to help the marketer actually connect with the consumer (unless you buy their consulting services). Because metaphors work in-context, and in-culture, not in a vacuum. The authors attempt to erase the importance of culture by claiming that understanding universals is enough. That contributes to marketing misconceptions instead of advancing the discipline.
I would like to caution readers that this approach to attract clients to their practice is unlikely to advance our understanding of consumer behavior. Post-hoc rationalizations can be interesting, but anyone can explain past events. The problem is predicting them. Thinking deeply This is an interesting book, but you need to review the ZMET method.
Without knowing much about ZMET; interpretation may vary. This could be considered a new step of the stairway to understanding human needs.
It would be highly appreciated if Zaltman could write a book about Interpretation of the ZMET Method, as this is the milestone. Good Insights The book reveals some great insights about consumer thinking models. To the point, well structured and very helpful for those of us that work for brand communications this publication is a great stepping stone for further consumer investigations. Get away from the marketing treadmill On the treadmill of front-line marketing, it's easy to get caught up in the never-ending lists and deadlines, rather than stepping back to think more broadly and deeply about who we really are, who we're trying to reach and what we're really trying to accomplish.
As I read the Zaltmans' Marketing Metaphoria, it felt like a sudden holiday getaway that whisked me away from my lists and deadlines and into a calmer, almost meditative place. Readable and engaging, this book helped me step back and reflect on the great metaphors that make humans tick. The Zaltmans' genius is in not only identifying these metaphors, but also helping the reader understand their relevance in marketing and communication strategy. The book does a beautiful job illustrating how "deep metaphors" are the story elements and images that create meaning and purpose in people's lives. With many great examples they also illustrate how insightful marketers can use these deep metaphors to create meaning and purpose for companies, brands and products in people's lives.
Like any great holiday getaway, at the end I was not only refreshed and rejuvenated, but I was changed for the better. This book's vivid examples and passion for the subject make it irresistible for marketing professionals to look for themselves, their customers, brands and companies amongst the metaphors - and to begin "deep thinking" about their work.
For anyone interested in more than just superficial communication, marketing, image or brand, this book will provide gratifying insights that change how you understand and craft the stories you tell.
Timely and much needed The Zaltmans' new book can truly be described as insightful. By way of transparency, I should point out that I am priveleged enough to have Jerry Zaltman's endorsement on the back cover of my own recently released book, "Brand Meaning." Though I have never met him, I know Jerry to be an astute and visionary commentator on consumer behavior. Anybody who has read "How Customers Think" will know that. What "Marketing Metaphoria" illustrates so well is that only by probing deep into the way people think about and view the world around them can one hope to connect with consumers in a visceral and enduring way. The book provides a framework for identifying such "implicit cognitive influences" (see back cover) - here in the form of deep matephors - and that is what makes it important reading.Brand Meaning |  |
Select button not working? 
