Pow! Right Between the Eyes! is a book about surprises. Not surprisingly, the first time I heard about this book, I was surprised. That's because the author, Andy Nulman, was giving away 200 copies of his book to bloggers - and all we needed to do to get one was write on our blogs that we wanted one.
So, being a bibliophile... I totally did! (Who can resist a free book? Can you?)
The reason I'm telling you this is because this review might not be totally unbiased. I have been pleasantly (and effectively) surprised by Andy Nulman several times this year and I definitely believe he knows what he's doing.
But, I don't think you'll mind... because there's a chance for you to win your own free copy of POW! at the bottom of this post! Keep reading if you want to know how.
When I was reading POW! I was struck several times between the parallels between surprise and innovation. Midway through the book, Andy quoted a statement by Peter Georgescu (former CEO of Young & Rubicam) that nails why we need both surprise and fresh ideas:
Commoditization--what I see as the cancer of the 21st century commerce--has fueled ferocious price competition, leading to lower prices, margins and profits for businesses. With price as the only real differentiator; producers are left with a challenge: They must find a way to stand out in the crowd.
And I think Andy is right when he says that surprise is the way to do that.
After all, when you go to an electronics store, what catches your eye... the dozens of marginally-better computers? Or is it something out of the ordinary, like the iPhone or the Wii or the tiny netbooks that make frequent travelers drool.
Or, as Andy pointed out, when you're on the street, do you stop to look at the way-too-common Nisson Maximas... or are you irresistibly drawn to the 60s Corvette?
(Obviously, you don't need the book to answer that question!)
What I did find helpful about the book was Andy's descriptions of what effective surprises are... and what they're not. That's great ammunition if you ever need to get someone to stretch their thinking beyond what's already been done.
If you've ever been in that situation, you'll know that you need every bit of help you can get! Some people are so doggone determine to do "new" and "creative" things that have already been done 100 times that I could just tear my hair out!
So, this book is a big help there.
The main thing I really like about this book is the sheer number of examples that Andy gives of great surprises.
In my opinion, a really vital part of coming up with fresh ideas is having a big database of ideas to draw from and build on. POW! is filled to the brim with examples of effective surprise campaigns that marketers and businesses have done in the past - and I bet if you follow Andy online for a little while, you'll come across even more.
Because of all those ideas, I felt inspired just reading through POW! I was ready to start thinking of ideas all on my own.
I also think this is a good book to read because innovation is all about surprises. If you've come up with a new idea that surprises no one... that's probably because it's WAY too close to what's already been done before.
If you really want to succeed, your idea needs to have POW! It needs to surprise people and open up their way of thinking. Otherwise, it's way too easy to get bogged down in a dehabilitating price war.
And now for the fun part...
I have one free POW! book to give away to a commentator! If I get a lot of really good responses, I'll make it two.*
All you have to do is write in the comments about some way a company surprised you. But hurry, the contest is closing in 24 hours!
Ready... go!
*If anyone wants to grump that giving away a book isn't totally new and surprising, I agree with you. It's not. But it's a free book! So stop grumbling and enter the contest!
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