Seeing the How: Transforming What People Do, Not Buy, to Gain Market Advantage
Allen P. Adamson
Matt Holt/An Imprint of Ben Bella Books (May 2023)

“People don’t want quarter-inch drills. They want quarter-inch holes.” Theodore Levitt

Why did Allen Adamson write this book?

“This book is my exploration of the growing group of innovators — smart marketers all — who have transformed the way we live our lives through experience innovation, not product innovation. They’ve launched companies that have become critical players in a fundamental transformation of day-to-day life — from which you, my dear reader, can learn from and perform your own experience variations.”

This is precisely what Peter Drucker has in mind when observing, “It’s not about selling. That’s not what it is. It’s about finding out, it’s building a deep relationship with your customer, knowing what it is they want, need, and then [during] out how to give it to them. That to me is what marketing is, which is why marketing needs to take the reins in creating the business, not just selling what others make.”

In essence, since the ancient markets in the Middle East, the primary purpose of marketing has been to create demand for whatever is offered for sale or trade. That is what Levitt meant when stressing the appeal of what a drill can do: it is a means to an end.

The best way to see the HOW of high-impact marketing is to take what Adamson describes as “a closer look” at real-world situations — of customer experiences — with a diversity of companies. They include (in alpha order) Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Audible, Calendly, Casper, CourseHorse, Delta, Discord, Ford, Instacart, National Geographic, Netflix, Policygenius, Rent the Runway, Robinhood, Shet and WoodSpoon, Sodexo, StitchFix, United Rentals, Warby Parker, Zola, and Zoom. The core principles of transformation that Adamson advocates are relevant to almost any organization, whatever its size and nature may be. A total commitment to these principles — and to rigorous and resilient implementation of appropriate strategies (“hammers”) that drive appropriate tactics (“nails”) — are required to achieve and then sustain a decisive competitive advantage. See the HOW and then apply it.

These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Adamson’s coverage:

o Customers Are Open to — and Ready for — New and Better experiences (Pages 10-13)
o Customer Experience Is Driving Morezv Growth than Product Differentiation (16-25)
o Focus In and Drill Down  (29-39)
o “We Can Solve Our Own Problems Better Than Anyone Else Can” (42-43)
o Understand What Has Not (as Yet) Been Done…and Do It (46-47)

o The Young Are Taking Ownership (54-56)
o Customization, Personalization, and Growth: Netflix, Dell, Progressive Insurance, Facebook, and WeWork (62-70)
o A Closer Look: Casper (83-86)
o A Closer Look: Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic (92-97)
o Making Repairs and Making a Lifelong Customer (101-103)

o A Closer Look: Ford (107-115)
o A Closer Look: The Tangled Web That Is Health Care (118-122)
o A Closer Look: Rent the Runway (127-132)
o To Build It So They Will Come, YTou Hve to Have equipment: United Rentals (134-139)
o Changing the Way We Get and Stay PLaces, Changing the Culture  (143-146)

o A Closer Look: Policygenius (154-159)
o The COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us online (167-168)
o A Closer Look: Stanford University (168-171)
o Making Your Product Dance on the Shelves (189-190)
o A Closer Look: How Apple Brougbht the Customers to Them (191-192)
o A Closer Look: Zoom (203-206)

Allen P. Adamson provides an abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel in this book in order to help to prepare as many people as possible to understand HOW to “transform what people do, not buy, to gain market advantage.”  However, in my opinion, that is not his ultimate objective. What is? Again, my opinion, I think his ultimate objective is to [begin italics] maximize value created for all customers [end italics], whatever the given product or service may be.  In fact, I think he wants to maximize the value that can be created for others in ALL relationships, whatever their nature or extent may be. That includes customers, of course, but also colleagues, family members and friends, neighbors, …you get the idea.

Those who read this book with appropriate care will see HOW to do that.

Here are two concluding suggestions: Highlight key passages, and, keep a lined notebook near at hand  in which you record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines) and page references. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key material later.