Confession: I picked up this book on the BOGO discount table at our local independant bookstore (Empire Books) for $1. That should have been my first clue that it wouldn’t make my top ten list of useful books. But it was little. And cute. And a dollar.
The Trendmaster’s Guide by Robyn Waters is built on a good premise: tracking and predicting trends to help you figure out what customers want next. My bachelor’s degree is in advertising with a minor in marketing, so this is the type of book I typically find interesting. And although I am self-employed, I’m definitely not a corporate type. Typically the short books that executives love (think: Who Moved My Cheese) fall flat to me. This one is no exception. It’s laid out in chapters by the alphabet. (“K is for Keep it Simple,” “S is for Soul.”) While the alphabetical categorization isn’t nearly as elementary as it could have been, the truth is, the book told me nothing. It seems Waters filled the entire thing with anecdotes about her favorite brands, her experience while working in the Trend and Design department at Target, and tales from her world travels. It was mildly entertaining, but I know nothing more about detecting and predicting trends than I did before reading the book. I do, however, know about a cool brand of aromatherapy cleaning products, that Rod Stewart purchased a very expensive piece of real estate in The World development, and that Waters backed into an elephant during a run in Cambodia. Like I said, entertaining.
The book only took about an hour and a half to read, and that was mostly in between playing with my kids and through commercial breaks during the evening news. So at least I didn’t waste a ton of time.
Verdict: Don’t be deceived by the cute, little, well-designed book. That’s about all it is.
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