Crowd Surfing
Surviving and Thriving in the Age of Consumer Empowerment
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
The way people buy has gone through a massive revolution in recent years: thanks to blogs, review sites and chat rooms, we no longer have to rely on what a company says about its products and services - we can read what our fellow consumers think about what they've bought, and make our own decisions bearing those views in minds. The result? Empowered customers who know exactly what they want and who can now explore many ways to get it.
Many companies, however, just won't accept that things have changed and haven't adjusted their marketing efforts to match. In Crowd Surfing, David Brain and Martin Thomas explain what marketers, advertisers and brand specialists need to do to communicate with today's savvier consumers. They include case studies of successes and failures from the business world and beyond, and interview leaders such as Michael Dell and Sebastian Coe to help illustrate their points.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Marketing consultants Thomas and Brain offer a well-meaning if woefully dated paean to the power of the consumer. In the brave new world of blogging, YouTube and Consumerist.com, business leaders must harness the energy, ideas and enthusiasm of their customers, rather than relying on the talent and budget of their marketing departments a lesson politicians would also be well-advised to learn; the authors speak admiringly of Obama's campaign, and less so of Hillary Clinton's, which seemed tainted by the power of her political machine. They urge marketers to forgo expensive advertising campaigns and didactic attitudes in favor of giving their customers, partners and employees a greater say in business operations. Drawing on such successes as gethuman.com and Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign, they warn against underestimating the average Joe Blogger and praise such "social corporations" as Apple, which go to great lengths to meet customers and stakeholders face to face. The practical advice and enthusiasm about new media is admirable, but the information particularly their analysis of the 2008 election already feels stale.
