I have been intrigued about Free Gift Inside since Rich wrote his review last month. Obviously there is the similarity in title to Seth Godin's Free Prize Inside and they both make references to cereal.

I decided to a more detailed comparsion of these two titles.

Cover
Author	Stephen Brown	Seth Godin
Publisher	Capstone/Wiley	Portfolio
Publication Date	October 2003	May 2004
Packaging	Paperback	Hardcover
Cereal Box	No	Yes
Book Size (HxW Inches)	9.12 x 6.34	7.38 x 5.31
Amazon US Sales Rank	541,889	710
Amazon UK Sales Rank	78,865	9,549
Allconsuming.net Weblog Links	4	83
What is a Free Gift/Prize?	There are 15 "free gifts" in the book. These are special sections of text that support the points he makes.	The element of a product that makes a product remarkable (what makes it want to be talked about).
Examples Used	Elbert Hubbard, Patrick Gilmore, Dean Kamen, and Stalin World	Three Dog Bakery, Jay Gouliard (General Mills), FedEx, and Nathan Michaud (Island Institute)
References to one another	"Ampification, by contrast, pertains to the marketing of marketing: The fact, for example, that buzz marketing is being buzz marketed in Business Week and Harvard Business Review or that Seth Godin's best-selling book on viral marketing is itself an exemplar of viral marketing. Nowadays it's not enough to make an excellent product and market it excellently. The excellent marketing must be excellently marketed as well." [pg120-121]	None found

Now, everyone will want to think there is some controversy here. I honestly don't think there is. Seth wrote a follow-up to Purple Cow with Free Prize Inside and continues to talk about the importance of being remarkable.

Stephen, on the other hand, tells readers early on that they should ignore their customers. He suggests actions to take that will cut through your skeptical customer base. He says tricks, exclusivity, amplification, secrets, entertainment are the ways to get the attention of prospects.

Both are great reads. I recommend both books.