The Invisible Touch: The Four Keys
to Modern Marketing by Harry
Beckwith
Lively Reminiscences In Combination With Visions Of New Adventures
The beauty of marketing is that it happens when were looking but not
noticing. Before you know it, were using Yahoo! as a search engine, even
though serious researchers will tell you that Alta Vista and Dogpile are
better. Were buying products that cost more and perform worse, simply
because the marketing and branding of those products tells us theres a
value there, even if objective analysis tells us otherwise. In The Invisible
Touch, Harry Beckwith tells us the obvious--what was right in front of our
faces. But because of the blinders we wear, because of the way weve
been educated, socialized, or just plain bamboozled, we cant see it as
clearly as he can. Thus, in each of his four keys to modern marketing--
price, branding, packaging, relationships--he offers counterintuitive
information that could make or break a business plan. For example, he
explains in great detail why a higher price is better than a lower one; why

every business, from Apple Computer to the U.S. Army, is a brand-name
to be cherished and nurtured; why the orangest orange sells better than
the least orange orange, even if both pieces of fruit taste exactly the
same; and why the best service providers always remember your name
and what you like to drink. This is a business book, but one that everyone
who works for a living should read. Pick any page, and youll find insights
that could make you a better teacher, a better salesperson, a better
employee in any trade. Beckwith drives home the idea that were all in the
business of marketing ourselves, and were in that business every waking
hour. --Lou Schuler
Personal Review: The Invisible Touch: The Four Keys to Modern
Marketing by Harry Beckwith
Note: The review that follows is of a book that was published on August 4,
2009.
Having read and reviewed all of Harry Beckwith's previous books, I was
especially eager to read his latest in which a provides "more engaging,
practical, and down-to-earth insights" from one of America's most trusted
marketing experts. After sharing his thoughts about research and its limits,
various fallacies of marketing, and what he thinks "customer satisfaction" is
(and isn't), and he reviews and then discusses in much greater depth the
four keys to modern marketing (i.e. price, brand, packaging, and
relationships) that were discussed (to varying degree) in his previously
published books. Here are a few of the "nuggets" inserted within or
provided at the conclusion of most chapters:
Price:
"Push price higher. Higher prices don't just talk; they tempt."
"The bigger your price, the higher your perceived quality."
Brand:
"Brands, then, are not simply tools for attracting business, which is the
conventional view of them. A brand does not merely attract clients, it
convinces clients that they got just what the brand promised - even when
they didn't."
Packaging:
"Look as great as you are."
"Build prettier mousetraps."
"Your package is your service."
Relationships:
"To make and keep a sale, make and keep a powerful connection."
"Create an oasis."

"Avoid blind dates."
"To build trust, build consistency - in everything you do."
Beckwith carefully creates a context for each of these and other insights,
all of them based on his wide and deep range of real-world experiences.
Think of him as a pragmatic idealist in that he is almost wholly preoccupied
with understanding what works, what doesn't, and why (then sharing what
he learns with as many people as possible) while retaining an abiding faith
in the essential goodness of most people and in what can yet be
accomplished to improve the quality of products and services as well as to
strengthen relationships with others.
With regard to the title of this book, it is appropriate for two reasons: First,
Beckwith examines in much greater depth many of the concepts first
introduced in Selling the Invisible; also, for those who are frequent guests
of a Ritz-Carlton hotel, it calls to mind what the company's founder, César
Ritz, observed long ago: "People like to be served, but invisibly." Beckwith
is eager to help those who read this to possess "the invisible touch" and
then apply it effectively in relationships with those whom they are
privileged to serve. Yes, he would insist, it really is a privilege to serve
others. In my opinion, this is Harry Beckwith's most valuable book thus far.
It remains for each reader to decide which of his insights and suggestions
are most appropriate to her or his own circumstances.
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