Like many non-fiction books this book is extremely informative, but this one stands out by also having an exceptional sense of humour. The overall read felt interactive and there are a lot of instances from the book as I recall instigated a laugh. The inspiration to read the book, Alchemy struck me when I attended a CIM event in Cardiff, which entailed an interesting talk from the author, Rory Sutherland. He is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, UK. He is known to be an expert on branding, internet marketing, and consumer behaviour trends.
A constant reiteration from his talk and the book is his unconventionality. He believes that is a personality marketers need to embrace to attain success. The name ‘Alchemy’ was said to be inspired by the scientist Alchemist as he too believes experiments happen accidentally outside the rational boundaries. Needless to say, the book is highly recommended to marketers but concurrently also suitable to consumers. The author has ventured the idea why we buy what we buy.
Rory Sutherland has used numerous real-world case studies and a diverse array of subject matters ranging from political views, economic theories, scientific phenomena like the placebo effect, fundamentals of human behaviour, and so on to explain marketing. He has also pointed out how advertisers have derived strategies from events of nature like flowers attracting bees. He has further explained how an advertising strategy can be reformed by simply focusing on the efficacy rather than the efficiency. And he challenges the mainstream idea of doing what is safe. Taking the road not taken may seem risky but how can blindly following the herd where the most competition lies be considered a safe bet?
The book has further gone on to demonstrate how it is all relative. Marketing may not have the power to change the product itself but it certainly has the power to change people’s perceptions about the product. It may not always be easy and ideal to please everyone at the same time when a diverse audience is targeted but the book suggests a strategy of creating multivariate choices and generating value out of nothing. One of the biggest revelations from the book is where he has illustrated that if the world is unable to solve the unsolvable, it is not because we are not smart enough but it is because we are not stupid enough to think outside the box. In conclusion, the book has logically explained why logic always doesn’t work and what it takes to be a true alchemist.
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