Disruptive Marketing

CHAPTER 1

THE DISRUPTIVE MINDSET

Create, Engage, Adapt

The true scarce commodity is increasingly human attention.

—SATYA NADELLA,Chief executive officer, Microsoft

ONE HOT AND humid evening in late August 1922 a sound wave coursed through the New York City sky. Only those with a radio console tuned to 660 AM could hear the male voice, speaking in a “you’d-better-not-miss-this” tone, which traveled those airwaves.

The station was not WFAN Sports Radio, “The FAN,” which currently inhabits that frequency, where on-air hosts spend hours talking about the failures of the Jets and the Knicks. This station, whose call letters were WEAF, pumped out a steady stream of talk, news, and cultural tidbits interspersed with jazz and swing—the popular music ...