"How little things can make a big difference" i.e. why major changes so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Linked closely to Godin’s 2000 book, Gladwell explores the initiation and drivers behind 'idea epidemics', expanding on stickyness factor, the power of context, and the need for focussing, testing and believing in a concept.

Former Yahoo v.p. of direct marketing explains the shift from unrequested, untargeted 'interruption marketing' to a process involving companies with their customers on the basis of permission, trust, frequency and a mutual evolving understanding and dependency built on exchanging value. Focus is on attaining 'share of customer as opposed to share of market', to deepen and leverage relations rather than increase reach.

Godin moves forward from his ’99 book by explaining how to 'stop marketing at people' but turn 'ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you'. On 'why ideas matter' (ideas aren’t a sideshow that make our factory a little more valuable but vice versa) and the increasing importance of digitally augmented word of mouth: engaging users in enhancing and promoting your proposition.

Unorthodox description by the world-renowned thinker of the new competitive business environment, in which dreams and reality merge and the wealth will be captured by imaginative minds adept at concept innovation. No frameworks here, as 'you can’t use an old map to find a new land'. Covers subjects such as steering away from industry best practice ('escaping the dead hand of precedent'), imagining what you can make happen rather than speculating on what might happen, thinking beyond new products and business plans towards concepts meeting deep customer needs: 'There are 25-year old engineers who dream in Technicolor business concepts. So pretend you’re a kid again with a very big Lego set.' Great culmination is found in the design rules for innovation section on causes versus businesses, low-risk experimentation and, best of all, the elastic definition of a business.

A far reach for the average consultant, this book is all about the soft aspects of what makes a consumer tick. In this quirky observation of low-brow aesthetics Harris concentrates on the contagious appeal of that which is not art, on the uses of the useless, on the politics of product design and advertising. He places the refuse of consumerism under a microscope, capturing the essence of the marketplace on the level on which we actually experience it: on the visceral level of our senses.

Director of the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Jensen makes a case for the successor to the Information Age, where the story behind the product will provide the competitive edge. Shows how offerings will increasingly be built not on product specifications, but based on our basic emotional needs - for adventure, togetherness, caring, self definition, security and convictions.

Shows why offering goods and services is not enough: how to escape commoditization’s declining margins and capture a higher value from customers by offering all-encompassing experiences. Deserves a special recommendation: an excellent read!

On marketing to the part of the consumer population 'making 80% of the buying decisions' through deep user understanding, covering issues like 'Connecting your female customers to each other connects them to your brand' and 'If you’re marketing to one of her lives, you’re missing all the others'.

The original standard-setting book on online end-customer focus still holds strong with it’s topic of attracting, converting and retaining customers through targeting the right customers, owning their total experience, providing a 360’ view of the relationship, tailoring the required business processes and building community around personalized services.

How the poster child of e-commerce grew fast by focussing on the optimal user experience and being 'anally retentive about customer service', continually adapting it’s business model and proposition to changing circumstances and user interaction. Not full of great insights by the author, but a useful account of the Amazon story for those who have not heard it all before.

Wallace explores the pshychological aspects of cyberspace and the way the online environments can influence behaviour. Insightful writing on the new, unusual and occasionally alarming ways people from around the globe are acting and reacting online. Refreshing absence of ‘what’s-in-it-for-your business’ coverage, gives this book a unique value as a pure study of social interaction and behaviour on the web, ranging from net language, online personas, masks and role-playing, to group dynamics such as conflict and cooperation, love and aggression, the web’s addictive properties and online altruism amongst peers. Must-read to gain understanding of online communities and the ever-growing relevance of peer-to-peer interaction..