Customer Reviews
Taking the Myth out of Marketing - By: Jil Rabaud, 23 Oct 2008 
Once again Brian writes a definitive book where the sometimes over used term Marketing is treated in a sensible manner while keeping a practical bias making it a compulsive to read over & over again. A summary at the end of each chapter ensures the reader keeps a grasp of the material in easy to read form which makes it an effective way of using the publication for "looking up" in the future.
Overalll, the supportive material makes it is well researched & above alll a "pleasurable must read" for developing Marketeers & aspiring Gurus alike.
Smith and Raspin combine academic rigor with practitioner insights - By: Ajay Bhalla, 12 Aug 2008 I picked up this book from my local Borders store, & read most of it on my way home. It triggered many thoughts & I ended up taking notes. Why? Because I could find direct relevance to my work.
The book has two strong pillars. First, it is clear that it is based on years of work carried out by Smith & Raspin as consultants. Second, it providers readers with many Aahh..moments, moments which carry applications for executives because they are concise, simple & offered at the end of each chapter.
I have ended up recommending the book to many friends who work as managers in the industry & to my MBA students. Go ahead & buy this book, it will not only sit on your book shelf for many years, but you will also go through the pages many a times, finding relationships directly to you work.
Practical and Accessible. A valuable combination. - By: Tim Kaner, 04 Aug 2008 What I found both unusual & valuable about Creating Market Insight is the way the authors take a refreshingly pragmatic & implementable approach to the topic.
The style is accessible, the examples are both broad & highly relevant & the clarity of the thinking is consistently impressive.
I recommend that anyone trying to create value through market insight reads this & reflects upon what more they could do to deliver the value in practice.
Thought provoking and informative - By: P. Domican, 02 Jul 2008 The best marketing strategies are always based on a deep insight into their chosen customer segments. Developing that insight is often a difficult task especiallly in new markets or those markets undergoing rapid transformation in a global environment. There are a number of good books on marketing plans but this is the first book I have read which helps the reader establish & refine the information gathering processes that underpin a good marketing strategy.
This book offers newcomers to the topic a wealth of information which will benefit newcomers to marketing or seasoned veterans looking to accelerate their knowledge of what makes a segment tick. Along with this, the authors also examine how people learn which will give readers some thought into exploring new avenues of information gathering.
'Creating Market Insight...' does not offer quick fix solutions but challlenges the reader to reallly think about their current information gathering processes & to develop more effective processes for the future & is highly recommended.
A clear focus on marketing insight that is refreshing to find - By: A. C. Drobik, 15 May 2008 There are many books on 'marketing' & the subject of how to get insight is sometimes just a chapter. Having known Dr Brian Smith for a number of years I was interested to read his latest offering & here the authors have focused the whole book on `gaining market insights'. They give some excellent new views on how to structure the gaining of customer/market insights albeit most relevant for larger complex organisations. The point made that this activity is about people & not systems, & synthesis & not only scanning is well taken. A book for any marketer that wants to get real about gaining market insights.
