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The website Book Guys (@PaulTheBookGuy) discovered this article gem by Emily Temple, editor of flavorpill (@flavorpill). Despite grim news of brick-and-mortar bookstores closing, there are still bookshops open that are wonders to the eye and beckon customers to come see!

We can’t overestimate the importance of bookstores — they’re community centers, places to browse and discover, and monuments to literature all at once — so we’ve put together a list of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, from Belgium to Japan to Slovakia.

See the photos and read this in full.

Also see our blogposts, "20 More Beautiful Bookstores from Around the World" and "The 20 Coolest Bookstores in the World."

If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The American demographic landscape has changed significantly, as reflected in the 2010 US Census compiled by the US Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau). The shifts related to race, age, gender, ethnicity, geography, income, and other key marketing drivers profoundly impact the USA and how brands communicate their messages to target audiences. Adweek (@Adweek) has partnered with Draftfcb (@Draftfcb), to present The New America (@The_New_America), a website “dedicated to providing timely and topical news and insights on what the metrics mean for marketers, ad agencies, publishers, and technology companies.”

A few articles of interest:

·         Higher Numbers for Higher Education: More than 30% of adults now have bachelor’s degrees

·         Multigenerational Households: Number of children living with a grandparent increases

·         Coming of Age in the Down Economy: Pew finds young Americans are underemployed but optimistic

·         Man Down: The future isn’t rosy for American males

·         An Unmarried Boomer: The growing number of middle-ages singles has significant implications

·         5 Discoveries from the 2010 Decennial Census That Advertisers Should Know:

     1.    The US population is an older one.

     2.    We are an ethnic soup spread throughout the country.

     3.    The growth of the Latino population is substantial.

     4.    Multiracial identification is growing.

     5.    Internal migration from the North and East to the South and West continues.

See The New America.

How will these changes influence your publishing agenda in the coming months and years? Write your comments below.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you analyze demographics to maximize your brand’s marketing communication strategy.

Be sure to bookmark and use daily our SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.

Brand owners must pay attention to their “digital balance sheet” as the rise of ecommerce, the popularity of mobile devices, and the growth of social media reshape the trading climate internationally, according to The Digital Manifesto: How Companies and Countries Can Win in the Digital Economy by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (@BCG_Consultant).

The management consultancy says the Internet economy of the G20 countries — a group including Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, and the USA — should hit $4.2tr in 2016, up from $2.3tr in 2010 due in large part to the rapid expansion of the Web user base, which is set to surge from 1.9bn to 3bn during the same period (45% of the global population).

“No company or country can afford to ignore this development. Every business needs to go digital,” says David Dean, a coauthor of the report and a senior partner at BCG. “The ‘new’ Internet is no longer largely Western, accessed from your PC. It is now global, ubiquitous, and participatory.”

The BCG report charts several major shifts in the use and nature of the Internet:

·         From a Luxury to an Ordinary Good.

·         From Developed to Emerging Markets.

·         From PC to Mobile.

·         From Passive to Participatory.

BCG says companies that make extensive use of the Internet — including social media — to sell, market, and interact with their customers and suppliers grow faster than those that do not.

The study recommends that brands focus on their “digital balance sheet:”

digital assets comprised of

·         Information and analytics about customers, suppliers, employees, and competitors

·         Connectivity and feedback loops that lubricate the digital enterprise

·         Intellectual property that bestows a competitive digital advantage

·         The people, culture, and capabilities needed to execute and deliver

and digital liabilities (ways of working that handicap the ability to exploit their digital assets) of

·         Organizational structures, incentives, and cultures that collectively discourage adaptability and risk taking

·         IT systems, processes, and tools that limit flexibility and focus

·         Rigid strategies unsuited to a volatile business environment

Read the news release.

Read The Digital Manifesto (registration required).

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you determine your own brand’s digital balance sheet.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Social media outlets including blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, have had an upsurge in credibility over the past year, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2012 (@EdelmanPR), which examines trust in 4 key institutions — government, business, media, and NGOs — as well as communications channels and sources, measuring attitudes across 25 countries.

Trust in government shows an exceptionally sharp drop in the 2012 Barometer. Trust in business is also decreasing. But trust in social media has taken a dramatic increase.

Overall, there is a huge drop in trust for CEOs while trust in persons such as regular employees and “a person like yourself” is increasing dramatically. In other words, people tend to distrust messages communicated by CEOs through traditional corporate channels, but have increased trust in messages from their peers, communicated through for example social media channels.

Read more here.

In this video, Richard Edelman introduces the findings from the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer.

Read the Executive Summary.

See the Slide Presentation.

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard for marketing and publishing professionals.

According to a survey of senior executives conducted by Weber Shandwick (@WeberShandwick) in partnership with Forbes Insights (@ForbesInsights), 84% believe their brand’s sociability is not up to world-class standards.

In the report “Socializing Your Brand: A Brand’s Guide to Sociability”  Weber Shandwick offers 9 tips. The study finds that being a world class social brand means interacting with target audiences and creating original content that heightens the interactive experience, going beyond broadcasting news, deals, or events..

1. It’s not the medium — and it’s more than the message

2. Put your brands in motion

3. Integrate or die

4. Make social central

5. Listen more than you talk

6. Count what matters — meaningful engagement

7. Think global

8. Go outside to get inside

9. Be vigilant

Read the report.

Infographic: horizontal pdf / vertical jpg

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Branding tab.

The Los Angeles Times (@latimesbiz) reviews the book Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership by Ruma Bose (@rumabose) and Lou Faust (@Newdea), published by Berrett-Koehler (@BKpub), which lays out 8 “Teresa principles” that business leaders should adopt:

1.    dream it simple, say it strong

2.    to get to the angels, deal with the devil

3.    wait, then pick your moment

4.    embrace the power of doubt

5.    discover the joy of discipline

6.    communicate in a language people understand

7.    pay attention to the janitor

8.    use the power of silence.

The first step to leading like Mother Teresa is to decide "What are you Mother Teresa of?" What’s the vision you are capable of bringing to reality?

Read this in full.

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Leadership tab.

Because Somersault (@smrsault) is interested in effectively communicating messages, whether it’s a subject line on an email message, a day-long seminar, or a long-term branding campaign, we’re sharing with you this video that poignantly demonstrates what NOT to do when attempting to reach an audience during a presentation. It’s produced for Habitudes For Communicators by Tim Elmore (@TimElmore), president of Growing Leaders (@GrowingLeaders). Can you relate to it? ☺

Let Somersault help you clearly communicate your message (your content) to your audience.

In the September/October 2011 issue of Outreach (@Outreach), Bobby Gruenewald (@bobbygwald), pastor and innovation leader at YouVersion (@YouVersion), offered trend analyses to help church leaders be more effective in 2012:

1. Trend: Permanence to Mobility. Question: If people are increasingly mobile now, how does this shape the opportunities we offer to engage them in ministry?

2. Trend: Consumer to Producer/Consumer. Question: How can we move content creation beyond just our team and harness the creativity of the church?

3. Trend: Content to Conversation. Question: How can we build conversation around our teaching and what’s happening in our church?

4. Trend: Programmed to On-Demand. Question: How can we make what we do more adaptable? How can we go from one-size-fits-all programming to something that is highly customizable—when and where people need it?

Read this in full.

Bookmark and use daily Somersault’s (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Leadership and Innovation tabs.

On digital book world (@DigiBookWorld), editorial director Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) spoke with book industry experts, observers, and players to get their opinion on what’s ahead for us in this fast changing industry:

1. We will see more self-published best-sellers next year with an exponential rise in the number of million-selling authors.

2. Large publishing companies will go through major restructurings, creating new positions and redundancies of all shapes and sizes.

3. Amazon will come out with a larger tablet with an 8.9-inch screen and it will be priced at $299 or lower.

4. Apple will come out with a smaller iPad at a reduced price.

5. Sony will get a second life in the e-reader game when Pottermore launches in the Spring.

6. Literary agencies will engage in a campaign to communicate the value of their services to the book industry.

7. Authors will become disenchanted with the rights they sign away to publishers. Shorter and more flexible copyright terms will become more attractive to authors.

8. The standard ebook royalty from major publishing houses will rise next year and will escalate with increased sales.

9. Standards of what an app is and what a book is will change and apps will eventually be sold in the iBookstore.

10. More publishing companies will form in-house transmedia groups.

Read this in full.

Over on paidContent (@paidContent), Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) writes “What’s Coming in 2012: Book Publishing,” part of the comprehensive series on the topic of all content, Coming in 2012.

·         Amazon and Barnes & Noble make a deal, sort of.

·         Ebook pricing will shift to quality-focused debates.

·         One big-six publisher will try a subscription scheme.

Read this in full.

And Noelle Skodzinski (@NoelleSki), editor of Publishing Executive (@pubexec), presents the results of a survey of her magazine’s readers concerning

·         the top 10 challenges publishing executives are facing,

·         the top 11 growth areas publishers are seeing, and

·         the top 11 publishing technologies/solutions for which publishers will be shopping in 2012.

Read this in full.

Stay current with news about the publishing world by bookmarking Somersault’s (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard.