Microtrends - Mark Penn

Just before I left for Chicago (before Christmas), I finished reading Microtrends (after starting it in April.... sad, I know). Obviously this took me a while to get through, but that was more the result of a dwindling interest in reading rather than a poorly written book by Penn.

Nevertheless, I wasn't all too fond of the book but definitely found all of his arguments and snippets fascinating. To clarify - his writing was great and all of his arguments were compelling, but the medium for this topic and its presentation just did not suit well. Each chapter was only a few pages long and there wasn't really a storyline or compounding argument as you moved from chapter to chapter. Rather, the entire book feels like it was written as independent entries all under the theme of 'small changes in the world'. While this definitely made the read easier for me since I spread it out over such a long time, I prefer books that build.

That said, many of his ideas and observations were definitely interesting and ones that I'd recommend to read about. A few of my favorites:

• Sex-Ratio singles. (the numbers play in my favor 53:47)
• Stained glass ceiling breakers. (the movers and shakers in religion)
• Swing is still king. (politics is still moved by the moderate middle)
  
• High school moguls or teen entrepreneurs. (ever increasing entrepreneurial spirit)
  
• Long attention spanners. (contrary to our A-D-D culture)
• Social geeks. (no longer does being nerdy follow the same cliche)
• International home-buyers. (foreign real estate investment in the US)
  
• Vietnamese entrepreneurs. (per my father: "Communists have capitalism down now.")

Penn finishes off with a good point that I think will drive commerce in the next 50 years - extreme customization:

The great fear of the future has been that mass societies would become faceless societies, with people forced into conformity - everyone looking alike, dressing alike, and being required to think alike. This was seen as almost a necessary sacrifice in order to feed and clothe growing populations with diminishing resources. But I suggest we are headed in completely the opposite direction - a future in which choice, driven by individual tastes, becomes the dominant factor, and in which these choices are reinforced by the ability to connect and communicate with communities of even the smallest niches.

Recommended.