Reading Demographics, Seeing Markets

If you haven't read Richard Florida's new book Who's Your City? you should! As a follow up to his Rise of the Creative Class, his new book makes an interesting argument that directly challenges Thomas Friedman's bestselling book The World Is Flat.

Florida says globalization is real and uneven. Rather than leveling the playing field by making information and commerce flows across borders easier, he argue that globalization is causing a spiky word, a world where development and progress is uneven. It is occuring in what he calls Megatropolises. He also claims the growth of these areas is driven by the creative classes, the educated and mobile.

He uses census and other research data to make his case. Any good marketer has to use census and demographic data. These data define the four corners of any market you are trying to reach.

Read his book.