Microtrends

Critical Praise

"Penn has a keen mind, and a fascinating sense of what makes America and the world tick, and you see it on every page."
—Bill Gates

"The ideas in this book will help you see the world in a new way."
—Bill Clinton

"Brilliant!"
—Tony Blair

"Probably the most powerful man in Washington you've never heard of."
—Washington Post

"World-class marketing begins with cutting-edge consumer insights, and Mark Penn is a master at spotting them."
—Mary Dillion, global chief marketing officer, McDonald's

"The guru of small things…Mark Penn is more than a high-powered Democratic pollster: His ideas helped transform the Clinton presidency into a service provider for various niche voters."
—New York Times Magazine

"I enjoyed thumbing through the book and re-reading individual chapters on special interest groups. It is definitely a great book for entrepreneurs seeking to gather information on underlying trends that will produce shifts in the future of many businesses. In his conclusion, Penn summarizes all the facts and figures by stating that the nation as a whole is changing, and that there is a big difference between what people think and what the numbers reflect. This is a keeper for the bookshelf to refer to over and over again. I highly recommend it for American voters who want to see where the election is headed."
-Myshelf.com

"Mark Penn has written is a wonderful new book that you will rush to read. Loaded with fantastic research that at first might be counter-intuitive, things you do know provide the ground of realization that his research might just be correct. I was wowed with the Cougar article as well as the article on the INCREASE in popularity of classical music. Microtrends offers a lot to talk about and many amusing sections that I predict will be quoted by the media in the very near future."
-Culturalretrospection.blogspot.com

"Chapters can be digested in 10 minutes or so at bedtime, and their lessons are fun to ponder as you drift off to dreamland."
-Historywire.com

"Entrepreneurs, businesses and politicians who can spot these elusive subsets in an increasingly fragmented society are the ones who will profit by creating start-ups, exploiting new markets and running successful campaigns."
-Usatoday.com/money

"Critics might say the book appeals primarily to a niche group of readers suffering from attention deficit disorder. There are 15 short chapters, each of which is divided into a few subchapters, with 75 groups profiled in total. That gives Microtrends a breezy feel and spares Penn the burden of having to know too much about any particular subject. But the book rarely degenerates into superficiality, in part because Penn adopts a clear point of view in each chapter, backs it up with compelling statistics, and inserts his personal experience where relevant."
-Businessweek.com

"Today's microtrend hunters have to be ready to abandon their own prejudices, sift through the data and find the small, new, intense groups that may never grow beyond 1% but that will play an critical role in shaping tomorrow's zeitgeist.
-Forbes.com

"This is a fascinating look at trends that are currently shaping our world. Penn has done more then identify microtrends, he has brought them to the light of day with Harris poll statistics, interesting graphs and observations on what it all means."
-Monstersandcritics.com/

"Penn has written a highly readable book that amazes as it entertains. Loaded with fantastic research that at first might be counter-intuitive, things you do know provide the ground of realization that his research might just be correct. I was wowed with the Cougar article as well as the article on the INCREASE in popularity of classical music. Microtrends offers a lot to talk about and many amusing sections that I predict will be quoted by the media in the very near future."
http://jweaver.wordpress.com

"Penn highlights everything from religion to politics, from leisure pursuits to relationships. MICROTRENDS will take the reader deep into the worlds of polling, targeting, and psychographic analysis, reaching tantalizing conclusions through engaging analysis."
-Worldwideretro.com

"Some of the trends he notices, based on a decade's worth of survey research and demographic data crunching, are often illuminating and even fascinating. Penn is careful not to predict too much about the future, and that's refreshing."
-Marcambinder.theatlantic.com

"The Clintons' polling guru, coiner of "soccer mom," and CEO of PR giant Burson-Marsteller identifies 75 emerging groups just waiting to be exploited by a savvy company or politician. And each one gets handled in five pages or less. Our three favorites: Cougars- No one has created appropriate vacation spots or birthday cards for women who date younger men. Get on it, Hallmark!- Extreme Commuters People who travel at least 90 minutes each way to work are the perfect audience for meals in a cup, satellite radio, and big houses in the sticks. Caffeine Crazies- As even 10-year-olds become espresso heads, caffeine-fortified foods and buzz bars (no alcohol, just stimulants) are percolating possibilities."
-David Lidsky, FastCompany.com

"His worldview is not materialistic; he knows that voters don't always vote their pocket-books; they vote their values and aspirations. His are an attempt to explain why people often make choices that are inexplicable to the naked eye."
-Politicalwire.com

"A forthcoming book by Mark J. Penn, the CEO of PR heavyweight Burson-Marsteller, proposes that - are you ready? - geeks are not antisocial losers. According to his polling about social trends, which he relates in Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, the most enthusiastic technology users also love a good party and enjoy talking to other people."
-Advice.cio.com

"In the realm of business books, this one is unique, and fun to listen to. The book is read by Brett Barry, and his reading helps to enliven some of the more pedantic sections of the book. In addition, the audio edition includes a conversation with the book's author about not only the book, but also microtrends in general. The chapters in this book are very short, and it is a great book to listen to if you only have a few minutes at a time to listen to it."
-Largeprintreviews.com

"Unless you're part of these "small forces behind tomorrow's big changes," you might not even be aware they exist. But like subtle seismic shifts in the earth, they can quickly and dramatically change the landscape. They demand our attention - and our creativity.
-Columbiatribune.com

"Microtrends highlights everything from religion to politics, from leisure pursuits to relationships, and will take the listener into the worlds of polling, targeting, and psychographic analysis, reaching tantalizing conclusions through engaging analysis."
-Wilsonyang.com

"Thought provoking, engaging and useful, the book's insights beg the next question: how do you spot a microtrend ahead of the competition?"
-Bernaisesource.blog.com

"The central premise of the book Microtrends is that only one percent of the population is enough to launch a business or social movement. This is one microtrend that prevails in North America, including Canada."
-Boomerwatch.ca

"Microtrends is a book you'll return to often over the next few years to track the accuracy and validity of its predictions."
-Cglibrary.blogspot.com

"... makes sense that the megatrends movement sparked by a best seller 25 years ago has now been sliced and diced into microtrends. One man behind this shift to the niche is pollster Mark J. Penn, CEO of the PR firm Burson Marsteller."
- Businessdailynews.org