I came across this book by accident,while travelling. The colorful cover caught my eye, but soon after reading a few chapters I was hooked. It's the perfect beach book. Plastic is now a word that can conjure the idea of "cheap" or "fake" but it was not always so. Fenichell starts us at the beginning of the discovery of the various materials like man-made rubber and other things we now take for granted, and tells the story of each innovation as though we are standing there in the lab and the inventor yells "Eureka!" Stories about the inventors range from funny (you know Goodyear is going to eventually succeed because of his famous name, but he has many misadventures before success arrives) to poignant, in the stories where someone desperately wants to achieve fame and fortune but their "plastic" product fails to catch on and their name disappears into oblivion.
My only criticism is the chapter on my grandfather, who plays a prominent role in the history of plastic. Fenichell simplifies and distorts some of the facts about my grandfather's company, but I forgive him in that it makes the reading light and entertaining in the end (well, a couple of chapters get bogged down by technical explanations of certain chemical processes). This is a book for anyone interested in American history, sociology,and pop psychology: plastics of all kinds make up an inextricable part of every aspect of our daily lives.

This is a scholarly, tongue in cheek, thoroughly enjoyable peon to the most despicably of substances. Histories of science and industry could learn much from Mr. Fenichill's pleasing blend of knowledge and humor. This is one of my favorite books.

Ever wonder about where things come from, how did they discover nylon, rayon, bakelite, tupperware, saran wrap? This book has the answers. Very readable.

It is refreshing to read a management or marketing book that is rational and entertaining.

Scott Bedbury brings to live a solid and well-organized set of principles about branding at both the product and corporate levels, and liberally sprinkles each with examples from his work at Nike and Starbucks. He is also not shy about noting the glories and failures of other branding efforts.

If you are not responsible for branding, the book is still worth reading as it clearly illustrates what branding is, what brand is not, and how branding should evolve. If you are responsible for brand management, then this is required reading.

This is an extraordinary book. The best book on branding that I have read. (I have read almost all of them).

Not only are the real world examples tied to two of the greatest brands in the world: Nike and Starbucks, but the author has a perspective on branding that I thought was keenly insightful and useful to almost anyone who needs to work with and understand brands.

As a an owner of a marketing agency and a professor of strategic communications all I can say is I'm glad I read it (and wish that I had written it.)

I was fortunate enough to work briefly with Scott Bedbury during an internship at Silicon Valley startup Tellme Networks in summer of 2000. So I can vouch for the fact that not only is he a visionary business thinker, but he is also one of the most genuinely likable people I have ever met. So it was with some excitement that I picked up his book ...

As the wizard behind the brands of Nike and Starbucks, Scott probably has on of the best resumes on the planet for writing a book on developing a strong brand. The book is an excellent introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the concept of "brand", as well as a terrific resource for those engaged in the daily struggle of trying to build a powerful one.

The book covers how to discover your brand, how to manage the growth of your brand, how to champion the brand within a large company where everybody might not "get it", and how to build a strong brand by helping communities.

Real-life examples abound, highlighting the benefits that can accrue to a company with a strong brand and the disastrous consequences of ignoring issues of brand. Throughout the book we learn of brands that "get it" (Nike, Harley Davidson), brands that fell from glory (Marlboro, Levi's), brands that were revived (IBM, Apple), and brands that have never got it (Exxon, Microsoft).

What makes the book stand out in particular is Scott's wealth of personal experiences that he peppers throughout the pages. Some great examples include:
-Scott's early efforts to widen Nike's brand focus from hardcore "sports" to the more inclusive "fitness".
-Scott's decision at Nike to avoid traditional outsourced market research in favor of internal Brand Strength Monitor (BSM) focus groups. (Interestingly, Scott blames Nike's abandoning of BSM for its inability to properly anticipate or respond to its labor controversy)
-Scott's involvement in the difficult decision to allow Starbucks coffee to be served on United Airlines, highlighting the difficult decision Growth versus Brand Dilution. (how do you recreate the "coffee house" atmosphere and serve a perfect cup at 30,000 feet?)
-Scott's hot tub encounter with Microsoft's Steve Ballmer (you'll have to read it to find out)

Overall, Scott has done an excellent job of effectively communicating his experiences. A New Brand World is an excellent read for anyone interested in learning about or mastering the concept of branding.

If you're looking for a very technical book on marketing plans or vehicles development and brand asset management, it may not be your choice.

This book offers some fresh thoughts for marketers and brand managers on what's a brand and what kind of areas (e.g. short-term financial trade-off decisions) that will impact a brand's health.

Within this book, this includes some clear thoughts and ideas on how to "maintain" a brand, areas should pay attention to and helpful cases sharing for better illustrate the ideas. Unexpectedly, the authors captured less advertising part but put more emphasis on the people, culture, product, retail environment rather than marketing / advertising.

If you're looking for a more balance brand management overview, suggest to go for David Aaker's books, some Kotler's books and finally read this one to have a holistic idea on this topic.

I respect Dr. Mobius who has a tremendous reputation as a pioneering global fund manager working for Templeton Group of mutual funds. However I found the book a little superficial and at some places wacky. Also while there is no doubt about his economic acumen, I found his political thinking questionable.

To start with the fact that he really likes Estonia. In fact he dedicated to this small Baltic country as much space as to Russia or Brazil (while zero to such important market as Poland and zilch to Ukraine). His idea was that investing to Estonia is like investing to Russia (because Estonian main trade partner is Russia) but without Russian risks.

I have nothing against Estonia per se and I even agree with his concept of "gateway" country. He brings an example of such successful "gateway" country - the Netherlands. But while the sizes of Netherlands and Estonia are similar, the population numbers are not. The Netherlands has 15 million people, while Estonia only 1.5 million. 1.5 million is also one-sixth of population of Russian capital city of Moscow.

Also many Estonians of Russian ethnic origin (a substantial minority) are unhappy since Estonian government made their lives difficult by enacting a discriminating legislation, leaving them to face a choice to either leave the country or go through the painful process of naturalization. It doesn't make Estonia automatically a "cleft country" but the potential is there. This potential danger should "boost" Estonian country risk as high as Russian country risk (but to my view without the advantage of Russian "economy of scale").

Another his passage, which to my opinion is simply strange, is where he talks about the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad. He writes, "until World War II it was part of Prussia, and now the Russians refuse to give it up" (page 60). Mark Mobius (who is German citizen) should be more careful in saying things like that, because it's silly and not true. He should be aware that Germany has renounced her claim to the former province of East Prussia (60% of which now is in Poland and 40% is in Russia).

I think if one day the present European border system is challenged, that very day Mr. Mobius could say good-buy to all his Templeton investment holdings in Europe. For sure it would be naive to expect a fund manager to be familiar with European geopolitics, but an international investor as prominent as he shouldn't repeat these kinds of beer cellar-type fallacies.

Dr. Mobius is much more convincing when he writes about Hong Kong and Thailand. He used to be a resident of Hong Kong for many years. I was impressed by the author's grasp of Asian economies and cultural context. To my humble opinion Dr. Mobius should have limited himself to this region, which he obviously understands well. His coverage of Eastern Europe and Latin America I didn't find convincing and I didn't buy his notion of South Africa as an emerging market.

All in all it is not a heavyweight book, although it's not totally devoid of refreshing ideas. I've enjoyed his shots at Gorge Soros. I've learned about Dr. Mobius more than I learned about investing in emerging markets. For one thing there is no doubt about his political sympathies - he let it slip a number of times. On one page he criticizes "labor unions and leftist lawyers" with theirs "typical obstructionist tactics". A redeeming feature is the fact the author doesn't seem to take himself too seriously - in fact I think he has a good sense of humor. Buy it if you'd like to read about common sense investing rather than sophisticated investment strategies and have time for a light, but engaging summer read.

Mark Mobius wrote this emerging markets investment bible for major players in the financial industry. Fortunately, he used language that a novice investor can understand. While some of his more than 80 "Mobius rules" for investing may seem simplistic and clichéd, Mobius backs up his snappy, one-sentence rules with coherent instructions. The book has a friendly, conversational tone. His adventures visiting less-developed countries where he wants to invest are richly detailed. They offer a real glimpse into how business is conducted in markets such as Russia, Brazil, and Hong Kong. While the book's focus is toward investors with the means to travel, it shows how even small investors can capitalize on emerging markets. We [...] recommend this book to anyone in the stock market - particularly those who want to invest in emerging markets, but have no idea where to begin.

I don't know how many people there are on earth with Mark Mobius's lifestyle, but there can't be many who both have his background and are also willing to share his insights like he does in this book. With no traditional family life to speak of, Mobius presents a picture of himself continually jetting from continent to continent, with no place to lay his head but the cot on his private jet or whatever business hotel he happens to be staying in.

Let me mention a couple of things that this book is not. It is not a guide to every emerging market in existence describing the pros and cons of each. Mobius selects several countries as examples (Brazil, Thailand, Russia, Estonia, South Africa, Nigeria) and then drills down to specific companies for flavor. This book is also not an economic theory-type text, where the author might present empirical reasons why emerging markets can make good investments by marshalling statistics. Obviously, if Mobius did not believe that emerging markets can make good investments, he would not have spent his career in this area, but a lot of the theoretical aspects of emerging markets remain unspoken.

The format of the book feels something like an all-day seminar by Mobius on the promises and pitfalls of his kind of investing, sprinkled with quirky humor here and there, along the lines of "denial is not just a river in Egypt..." (har, har har). It is as if you have been given the role of a junior analyst to tag along with him to company meetings all over the world, with him giving you his "lessons learned" in the rides back to the airport.

In terms of specific investment ideas, Mobius appears to love low (normalized) PEs, especially in the 4x to 7x range, particularly when competitors sell at multiples from 11x to over 20x. He also likes companies selling at a discount to book value. Then there is all of the "softer" stuff, such as quality of management, which is of paramount importance. In particular, his comments in this area spur me to greater due diligence in straining to learn more about the backgrounds of company managements in faraway places. If I can't learn anything positive about them, it might be better to stay away.

Particularly due to his long tenure in Hong Kong, I was surprised that Mobius did not spill more ink in his book focusing on China. One takeaway I have from his review of the world is how under whelmed he is by the idea of investing in China. His outlook is completely global, and any potential investment in China must be weighted and sifted against anywhere else. China might have a great future, but at what multiple to earnings?

If you want some musings and anecdotes from a person with a real track record in international investing (as opposed to an ivory-tower viewpoint on how things ought to be) this book is for you.