Rocket Book Summary - Rocket Book explained in key points

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Rocket summary

Name: Rocket
Rating: 4.1 (16 reviews)
Author: Michael J. Silverstein, Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sajdeh

Michael J. Silverstein, Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sajdeh

Eight Lessons to Secure Infinite Growth

4.1 (16 ratings)

13 mins

Brief summary

Rocket by Michael J. Silverstein, Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sajdeh is a business book that reveals the secrets of successful enterprise transformations, emphasizing the importance of speed, scale, and agility in today's fast-paced markets.

Topics

Growth Hacking Small Businesses

Table of Contents

Rocket
Summary of 6 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Fire your company to the stars.

For most companies, the road to success is paved with hard work over the course of years and years, taking one small step at a time. But then there are some companies – rocket companies – that take off unexpectedly to achieve massive success in a way that seems to defy all logic and expectations.

So what’s their secret?

Well, at the heart of many of these companies’ success is their relationship with their customers; you should never underestimate the power of an engaged, loyal customer to spread the gospel of your brand.

And while this is a core aspect of many companies’ overall strategies, it is just one of the many lessons to be learned from some of the most successful companies in the world today.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how Les Wexner revolutionized women’s underwear;
what 2/20/80 means; and
how to turn a customer into an apostle.

Sometimes you’ve got to tell consumers what they want.

What do successful brands have in common?

They know that consumers aren’t interested in abstract concepts like performance statistics and technical specifications; customers want to see and touch products that they can relate to in an instant. To accomplish this, brands need to create products that aren’t just innovative, but also intuitive.

In fact, you can open your customers’ eyes to a new world by simply forming a new market. Just take the serial entrepreneur Les Wexner, who, in the 1980s, identified the huge gap between the luxury and budget markets for women’s undergarments.

Wexner noticed that although women wanted to be sexy, they couldn’t do so without breaking the bank. It was this realization that led him to found Victoria’s Secret, a brand that endeavored to forge a new market for glamorous women’s underwear that was neither too cheap nor over-the-top luxurious.

By forging a middle ground in the market, he enabled countless women to rediscover underwear as lingerie – and the business results were incredible.

But even if you have a stellar brand and a lucrative market, you should never be satisfied; it’s essential to continually reappraise your market and reinvent your brand. For instance, when Victoria’s Secret’s annual revenue stabilized at $2 billion, Wexner went looking for ways to rebrand the company.

His search led him to hire the authors, who conducted 100 interviews with young women to gather data on their relationships to the brand.

The results?

Most of the women were only wearing Victoria’s Secret products on the weekend and would rather sacrifice glamour for comfort during the week. So, armed with this information, Wexner developed models that were both sexy and comfortable. Helped along by this change, the company’s annual revenue is now over $8 billion!

The more loyal a customer, the more revenue they generate.

Did you know that the most loyal customers to a brand can generate up to eight times more revenue than their personal purchases alone?

The more loyal a customer, the more they pitch your brand to others. These are your apostle consumers and they’re worth more than anything else. So, while these dedicated consumers will return time and again to buy your products, they’ll also spread the word about your company.

Constantly re-evaluate the needs of your core consumers.

When a company is faced with impending failure, management often looks back to past decisions that produced previous successes. But as a rocket company, to go backward you first have to learn what your customers want now.

It’s crucial to constantly take stock of what your core customers need. If your business starts to slow down, it might be time to rethink your brand’s demand spaces, a category that helps you determine the unique needs of your customers and the different moments or spaces in which they occur.

First impressions are crucial and every aspect of your brand should be aesthetically pleasing.

Have you ever considered the sensory impression that consumers get when engaging with your brand?

Well, if the answer is anything remotely ugly or unappealing, it’s time to reconsider your brand’s aesthetics. After all, rocket companies know that brands need to appeal to every sense.

Passionate employees make for satisfied customers.

Your employees are the first people your customers interact with, so be sure to have only the best people on your team. Remember, every new hire is meaningful because new employees are the future of your brand.

In the same way that good wine doesn’t start with bad grapes, passionate employees need to come prepared with the right attitude on day one.

Excellent virtual relationships with your customers are vital in the digital age.

Did you know that 83 percent of Americans say they would rather give up fast food than go without internet access? It’s true, and it’s because the internet offers consumers instant gratification at the mere click of a mouse.

As a result, your brand needs to pay serious attention to its internet presence. The digital world has paved new avenues for understanding and connecting with its customers, and it’s imperative to take advantage of the rise of big data analysis.

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What is Rocket about?

Rocket (2015) is an inside look at the success of brands like Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, whose rapid rise had nothing to do with luck. These blinks share the proven science of brand building that propelled companies like these to such impressive growth and immense success.

Who should read Rocket?

Founders and CEOs looking to grow their small business or start-up
Young entrepreneurs
Brand developers and marketers

About the Author

Michael J. Silverstein, Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sajdeh are senior partners and managing directors at The Boston Consulting Group. Silverstein is the best-selling author of Trading Up, The $10 Trillion Prize, Women Want More and Treasure Hunt.

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