In your Organization, who is responsible for Demand?

Adrian Slywotzky is a consultant and author of several books on economic theory and management. He is best known for his work on profitability and growth, and for pioneering the concept of business design and business model innovation. Slywotzky’s has been a favorite author of mine and his books include Value Migration and The Profit Zone. His latest book, Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It is a must read for this year. It goes right to the heart of many of the issues in business today. An excerpt from the book:

We often think that demand comes from pulling the right levers: more marketing, better advertising, more aggressive sales efforts, distributing coupons, offering discounts. Tactics like these do have their time and place, and they can bring short-term results.

But real demand is not about any of these things. Demand creators spend all of their time trying to understand people. They are acutely aware of how hopeful, jaded, funny, impulsive, unreasonable, irascible, ambitious, distrustful, enigmatic, enthusiastic, frustrated, and unpredictable we really are. They try to understand our aspirations, what we need, what we hate, what gives us an emotional charge—and, most important, what we might really love. By watching how people actually behave in their own worlds, and by talking to them constantly, demand creators figure out how to solve the big and little hassles we all face—and they make our days easier, more convenient, more productive, and simply more fun. They seem to know what we want even before we do. They wind up creating things people can’t resist and competitors can’t copy.

This video is an excellent recap of the book and only about 14 minutes long.

Thinkers50 2011 Ranking: Adrian was named among the 50 leading business thinkers.