Michael J. Silverstein – författare

Haven''t women gotten everything they want? Economic power? Social influence? Business clout?

Yes, but it turns out that these fantastic gains have come at a heavy price, as consumer goods experts Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre discovered in an unprecedented study of 12,000 women in forty countries.

That relentless upward climb has left women feeling stressed out, time starved, and overburdened. As a result, they look to products and services that will help them claw back time, juggle multiple roles, and capture a few moments of enjoyment.

Women want more—much more, in every category of goods and services. And no matter what their age or economic situation or where they live in the world, women will spend trillions of dollars over the next decade on the brands that truly deliver:

In the coming years, women''s influence will be so enormous that it will not only help bring us out of the economic downturn but also create one of the most dramatic market opportunities of our lifetime—bigger than the rise of China and India; more sustainable than any bailout package.

Through quantitative data, profiles of individual women, and stories of winning companies, Women Want More provides business leaders with the understanding and practices they need to capture their share of the rising ""female economy.""

In Women Want More, Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, two of the world’s leading authorities on the retail business, argue that women are the key to fixing the economy. Based on a groundbreaking study and offering tremendous insight into the purchasing habits and power of women, Women Want More doesn’t just offer a glimpse into consumer behavior; it reveals what consumer behavior says about human psychology and desire.

A BMW in a Costco parking lot? A working class family with a 50-inch plasma TV? What''s going on in the mind of the new consumer?

Today''s consumers can seem impossible to understand, and even harder to please. For instance, the average mall shopper will spend about $100, then leave when she hits that limit. She''ll probably buy shoes rather than clothing, because she doesn''t want to think about her dress size. And the store most likely to get her money isn''t the one with the nicest display or the deepest discounts-it''s the one closest to her parking spot.

In his consulting with dozens of leading companies, Michael J. Silverstein has interviewed thousands of customers, extracting fascinating patterns about what really drives their purchase decisions. His first book, the acclaimed bestseller Trading Up, has taught a generation of marketers about the "new luxury" phenomenon, and why consumers will happily pay a steep premium for goods and services that are emotionally satisfying, from golf clubs to bathroom fixtures to beauty products.

But Trading Up revealed only part of the story of the new consumer. The same middle-class people who are happily trading up at Victoria''s Secret and Panera are going on treasure hunts at Costco and Home Depot. And they are often getting as much emotional satisfaction in the discount stores as in the luxury stores. TREASURE HUNT shows how even the most mundane shopping-for things like paper towels and pet food-has become an adventure rather than a tedious chore.

In just about every category, both the high end and the low end are growing and innovation- rich. Many middle-class consumers gladly spend $5 a day for a Starbucks venti latte; others spend forty cents a day on home-brewed coffee, feel good about their frugality, and save up the difference to buy Apple''s newest Nano. TREASURE HUNT explains the success of companies as diverse as Dollar General, H. E. Butt, eBay, Commerce Bank, and Tchibo.

But beware: in our bifurcated global market, businesses need a clear strategy for aiming high or low, while avoiding the treacherous middle, where so many have recently stumbled. If your offering isn''t exciting enough to inspire trading up, but not enough of a bargain to satisfy the treasure hunters, you''ll have no emotional connection with your target audience. And then, as many fallen companies have discovered, your tried-and-true marketing strategies will go into a severe stall.

TREASURE HUNT takes us into the homes of real people making real decisions, and into the CEO''s offices of innovative companies finding new ways to accommodate them. Written with the same flair, empathy, and intelligence that made Trading Up an instant classic, this is an essential guide to the moods and habits of the constantly changing consumer.

Rocket tells the story of how sixteen remarkable business leaders created great brands. Leslie Wexner tells you how he turned a two-store chain into a $6.5 billion worldwide brand called Victoria Secret, and Howard Schultz shares how he took his passion for a little coffee shop in Seattle and grew it into a 22,000-store chain, just to name two. Every story is connected to a “how-to” lesson, and by the end, you’ll have what you need to turn your best customers into apostles, cravers, and brand ambassadors.

A must-have guide for everyone who wants to grow their business faster than a competitor, this authentic, vibrant, and engaging book brings you the latest practical techniques for knowing your customers’ desires and behaviors in order to deliver intimately rewarding experiences every time they shop—including knowing what they need before they do. Included is a “self critique” to identify where you are currently before you transform your career and company by mastering how to:

• Create a demand-space map and predict how big a share of a demand space you can win with the proper mix of emotional and functional benefits satisfying the attributes of that space• Determine a strategic direction for where to place investment bets, identify which brands are best suited to win, and which are most responsive to investment• Deliver all the core benefits of a particular demand space in your product—from packaging, shelving, pricing, and promotion to message development, store operations, delivery, and employee engagement• Maintain a long-term vision to continuously quantify and modify for ongoing improvement, while using your successes to convert more champions along the way

With Rocket, you can rise into a cycle of renewal, energy, and power that can launch startups to phenomenal success and turn around the fate of multinational corporations.