We Are All Weird

Seth Godin argues that the mass market is giving way to tribes of people with their own tastes, from World of Warcraft players and LARPers to pop fan bases, diet camps such as paleo and vegan, and sports fans. For generations, he writes, marketers, industrialists and politicians told consumers what to buy and want, and catering to the masses was efficient but narrowed choice. Godin calls on marketers to celebrate choice instead, offering people more options and more freedom to act on their own values. He holds that weird is now the normal state of things and that only companies which grasp this stand any chance of surviving.

Kevan Lee, marketing director at Buffer, put it on his list of favorite marketing books, and Bucur's Shelter Hostel co-founder Irina Botnari called it a bible for a fast-changing world in which businesses must adapt quickly.