THE NEW LAW OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY: The Revolutionary New Demand Strategy for Faster Growth and Higher Profits

The central premise seems obvious: if you want profits, give consumers what they want. But Kash, who runs the Chicago-based consulting firm the Cambridge Group, points out that the prevalent supply-side economic model means companies spend their greatest efforts developing efficient mass production techniques, then stimulating consumer demand through marketing and publicity. He suggests the money would be better spent identifying the biggest "demand segments" for their products and services. "[A] business must understand the demand in its market before it creates supply," he says, in order to develop the products that will offer their best customers the most value—in many cases, at higher costs those customers are willing to absorb in exchange for enhanced benefits. Kash's examples, drawn in large part from his client list, cover the corporate spectrum, from the food and beverage industry and technology manufacturers to financial service providers. The case histories are packed with details of Kash's meticulous quests to discover consumer demands—why, for example, frequent business-class travelers are willing to sacrifice in-flight entertainment for leg room, or why certain credit card users will accept high interest rates to get low monthly payments—but the intense focus on using that information for maximizing profit, particularly through the ability to charge higher prices for specialized goods, may limit the book's appeal to the rarefied corporate decision makers Kash writes about. (On sale Sept. 17)