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Bookshelf In today's overcrowded world of endless new products and con- stant interruptions, it's not the brand- new innovation or the splashy ad cam- paign that is going to grab customer attention. It's the fun thing, the value-added extra that comes with the product the con- sumer actually wants to buy and makes it cool. In his remarkably enjoyable book Free Prize Inside, Seth Godin compares that value- added extra to the prize that comes in every box of Cracker Jacks. He believes any employee, at any com- pany, serving any market, can come up with a similar free prize that will make existing products desirable. It might be finding a new outlet for sales—or putting a freebie inside the box. As Godin asks, "Do people want the fortune cookie or the for- tune?" The book goes on to explore how to invent the free prize and how to get others onboard with the new idea. And yes, there's a free prize at the end. (Portfolio, $19.95) What does a Harley Davidson rider have in common with a devout Mormon? According to Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, they're both members of powerful, suc- cessful cults—and that's not as pejo- rative as it might sound at first. Determining what makes a cult member loyal to his organization offers clues into what makes a consumer loyal to a specific brand, 56 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2004 soms into a self-actualized individual. Thus maverick brands like Apple Computers, which have thousands of evangelical consumers, must posi- tion themselves, not as the product for everyone, but as the product for someone who is just a little outside the norm. "One of the greatest dreads marketers have is turning off any potential customers," writes Atkins. "Well, to generate cultlike devotion to your brand ... you must target the alienated and simultane- ously separate your organization from the mainstream." To research his book, Atkin interviewed sorority sisters, Deadheads, cult deprogram- mers, Marines, Wiccans, and fan club members. He explains the cult- like appeal generated by Saturn, Nike, jetBlue, and eBay. It's a whole lot of fun—and eye-opening at the same time. (Portfolio, $24.95) and Atkin has come up with a four-step process. A person feels alienation for the world around him; he becomes open to a different environ- ment; he feels safe among the members of this new group; and there he blos- In 1991, Royal Dutch Shell planned to dismantle an oil storage tanker and platform in the North Sea by blow- ing it up and allowing its oil sludge and heavy metals to sink to the bot- tom of the sea. The environmental organization Greenpeace mounted a vehement—and visible—campaign that ultimately persuaded Shell to tow the tanker back to shore for environmentally sound disposal. This example shows the growing power of today's movement toward social responsibility, which forces compa- nies to consider their reputations and their expanded circle of stake- holders if they want to continue to do business. What Matters Most, by Jeffrey Hollender and Stephen Fenichell, is unapologetically passion- ate about CSR and its profound implications. It covers the entire field, from the origins of socially responsi- ble investing to case studies of com- mitted entrepreneurs. Corporate social responsibility, the authors believe, is "a broad social movement, centered in the corporation much as the antiwar movement was centered on college campuses. It will, we believe, have deep and lasting effects on our values and beliefs as well as the world's future." (Basic Books, $26) While leaders must have a variety of powerful skills, one of the most impor- tant is the ability to convince employ- ees, stakeholders, and consumers to agree with them— that is, they must be able to change people's minds. Anyone who's ever tried to do that knows it's not simple, but a fascinat- ing look at how the process is achieved is laid out in Howard Gardner's Changing Minds. Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at Harvard, opens with a detailed dissection of various types of intelligence and the factors that work at shaping them. He also examines the levers that come into play as an individual shifts his beliefs: reason, research, resonance, redescriptions, rewards, real-world events, and resistances. Once lead- ers—or politicians or CEOs—under- stand the factors that influence peo- ple's minds, they can "conceptualize