Harnessing the Groundswell – new book by Bernoff and Schadler

Barbaraanalysts, Books, social media

While the wildly successful “Groundswell” book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff continues winning acclaim — most recently from the American Marketing Association — Josh has announced work in progress on a new book. This time, he’s teamed with Ted Schadler as co-author. The title is “Harnessing the Groundswell: Drive Your Business With Empowered Employees and Customers”. The authors say … Read More

Analysts as authors: extending influence through books

BarbaraAnalyst relations, Books, Influencer ranking, influencer relations

May marks the 1-year anniversary of the release of Charlene Li’s and Josh Bernoff’s book, Groundswell.  Several industry analysts have released books since then. I figure it’s a good time to shout out to some recent analyst authors and talk a little about why writing books can be such an important activity for market influencers and influencer relations professionals alike. For IT industry analysts and other … Read More

Do awards influence decision-makers?

BarbaraBooks, Decision-makers

Can winning industry awards help sell products and services? According to the Influencer Marketing book, the answer is no: “Industry awards are primarily self-congratulatory ‘feel good’ exercises, which have limited marketing value and all but zero influence on the top decision-makers.” — Nick Hayes and Duncan Brown They do credit awards with some value in the early stage of a … Read More

Recessionary marketing: prepare for cuts in spend, jobs

BarbaraBooks, Influencer marketing

The tech outlook keeps sliding in the wrong direction — IDC revising forecasts downward, NPD forecasting lighter holiday spend on consumer electronics, etc. — and sooner or later that means cuts in marketing spend and marketing jobs. In terms of marketing spend, adopting influencer relations should be a priority. Influencer identification and engagement can improve measurable results from marketing, despite … Read More

Your brand is dead, long live your brand

BarbaraBooks, Branding

Can you measure branding through tangible improvements in operations and the bottomline? Are your branding investments aimed directly at changing customer behavior? Is brand equity a myth that exists in the minds of marketers? These are some of the questions that Jonathan Salem Baskin raises in his new book, Branding Only Works on Cattle. He talked about his ideas for … Read More

WOMMA invites comment on Influencer Marketing Handbook

BarbaraBooks, Influencer marketing

Tarah Remington was in touch with Influencer50 today, with a heads up that the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has released a draft of the WOMMA Influencer Handbook for public comment. The handbook is about best practices in the use of influencer marketing: “WOMMA believes influencer marketing is real and here to stay. It is not a myth, or … Read More

IRG’s Katsaros and Christy on Briefing Industy Analysts

BarbaraAnalyst relations, Books

In conjunction with their new book, “Getting It Right the First Time: How Innovative Companies Anticipate Demand”, Internet Research Group principals Peter Christy and John Katsaros offer a one-page analyst perspective on do’s and don’ts for high tech vendors intent on briefing industry analysts. I suggest that analyst relations managers read the book and consider giving their spokespeople each a … Read More