For twenty years Andy Cohen has been igniting imaginations and spurring innovation for companies like American Express, AOL, Charles Schwab, L'Oreal, Club Med and Clorox, picking up branding and marketing awards and even a coveted Clio award for his work. His approach? Fascinatingly enough, it is based on Cohen's expertise not only in marketing, but in magic.

It sounds out-of-the-box because Cohen's business lessons, which use magic as metaphor, are most certainly unconventional. In a skillfully woven fable, Cohen clearly illustrates how challenging conventional beliefs and connecting with an audience have a real and valid place in today's thriving companies. Follow the Other Hand (St. Martin's Press, hardcover, October, 2006) combines a compelling story with business case histories that show how to stimulate growth and profit by letting ideas thrive and grow in all kinds of companies -- from the fictional company at the heart of Cohen's story to real-life businesses like OnStar, Starbucks, JetBlue and Jones Natural Soda.

The main character in Cohen's story, Jonathan West, is faced with the challenge of growing a family business as importers of olive oil. A colleague suggests a session with Merlin, a magician who slowly reveals that the secrets behind his famed magic tricks are the same ones that drive business forward. They are:
-Think differently.
-Build trust with your customer
-Develop an innovative brand that gets recognized
-Make creative business solutions happen
-Discover your competitive edge

Each of these steps will open the door to a company that sees itself more clearly and recognizes the value of looking at problems in new and different ways.

"To survive today," writes Cohen, "you must be able to come up with more than just great ideas; you also need to be able to produce ideas on demand. To accomplish that task you have to explore new ways to innovate."

Andy Cohen is founder of advertising agency Exposed Brick and marketing think tank AC. He has generated over $1.5 billion in direct sales for his Fortune 1000 clients, is frequently invited to speak on marketing, innovation, brand advertising, and change management, and serves on the adjunct faculty at NYU and Duke CE. In May, he shared the stage with Tom Peters and Seth Godin at the World Innovation Conference in New York.