Book Review- Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All

Creativity is usually equated with the arts, architecture, or design. However, Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All, aims to debunk this myth. The creativity that manifests itself in the form of innovation is the major driving force of business as evidenced in tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Airbnb, or even Alibaba. The book has been recommended by top names among the tech stars including Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder of Airbnb, who has applauded the book for combining the pursuit of creativity with the pragmatism needed in business. Todd Spaletto, President of The North Face, advocated the book by saying that it was an indispensable guide to help build creative muscles, when they are needed most. In addition, the book was complemented by Tom Peters, best-selling author of In Search of Excellence, who recommended the book, saying that it is poised to change the world and advised that it should not just be read but be used.Co-author, David Kelley is the founder of IDEO, a consulting company, and Stanford d.school, through which he helps students, entrepreneurs, and businesses discover their creative potential through the design thinking process. IDEO specializes in the training and development of innovation techniques to help firms unlock the creative potential of their employees. In the same vein, the Stanford d.school formerly known as the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, was developed to teach design thinking to those in Stanford’s graduate schools. The highlight of the program is the course, Design for Extreme Affordability, which is a multidisciplinary melting pot to foster creative innovation, and is offered to students all over the university. Tom Kelley, is the best-selling author of, The Art of Innovation, which documents the process IDEO uses to help organizations in both the public and private sectors, and which includes well-known names such as Apple and The North Face

Book Review: The Contagious Commandments Ten Steps to Brand Bravery

The changing consumer is a major catalyst for change in the marketing and advertising industry. In these times of disruption and transformation in markets, it is important to find a creative guideline for marketers to keep their brands relevant to the consumer. The book, The Contagious Commandments, Ten Steps to Brand Bravery, is an interesting choice, recommended by top names in the advertising industry, such as Mark Tutssel, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide. It has also been featured in major marketing and advertising events such as the Global Marketer Week (2015), ADFest Asia 2019, and Cannes Creative Leaders Program (2019). In addition, The Independent newspaper, dubbed it a manual for change, for advertising agencies and brand owners

Book Review:Marketing 5.0 Technology for Humanity

Marketing 5.0 integrates the major challenges facing marketers today, namely dramatic technological advances, changes in consumer behavior, and business model shifts. The book provides practical guidelines for finding ways to use technology to advance the consumer’s non-material needs

The Role of Opinion Leadership Characteristics and Brand Commitment as Drivers of Brand-Related Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM) in Social Networking Sites (SNS)

Previous studies on the antecedents of Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM) have either focused on the opinion leadership characteristics of individuals, or on brand commitment. It is the aim of this study to combine these two separate streams of research by evaluating the impact of opinion leadership characteristics and brand commitment as possible drivers of EWOM on Social Networking Sites (SNS). It is found that brand commitment is indeed a strong driver of brand related EWOM. Brand commitment mediates the motivation to engage in EWOM by those who already exhibit opinion leadership characteristics. In addition, the findings show that those who have opinion leadership characteristics and those who do not have opinion leadership differ in the type of EWOM they engage in. This can be defined as Active EWOM (content creation) and Passive EWOM (forwarding information). Marketers can use this information to design strategies that appeal to the needs of those with opinion leadership characteristics by creating novel experiences, or to enhance commitment by rewarding users who share positive information about the brand