Download The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume II by Dave Balter

In April I wrote about Dave Balter’s creative book promotion for The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume II. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Grapevine, his first book on the power of word of mouth (WOM). Today, I’m happy to share with you that you can download the book for free. All you need to do is download the PDF from one of the blogs that Dave has given exclusive rights to. My favorites include:

Brand Autopsy by John Moore who shares his thoughts on Creationalist WOM vs. Evolutionist WOM and why he isn’t a fan of the BzzAgent model.

Seth Godin’s Blog who shares some thoughts on self-publishing.

Chris Brogan who offers his thoughts and reservations on “managed word of mouth.”

Brand Autopsy and Chris Brogan’s blog offer the best conversation on word of mouth as a method. They touch upon the many struggles I myself face with the medium.

Full disclosure – I’m a bzzagent (I’m a big fan of learning about marketing techniques by participating in them) and I’m participating in The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume II bzz campaign. I was not participating in it when I first wrote about this book. I don’t believe in using my blog to promote products from bzz campaigns I may be participating in, it feels too fake and too forced (part of my own reservations with the medium). However, I’m making an exception to my rule because of the author, the book and its ties to marketing.

Can you outlive your reputation?

Today I had a meeting with Avanade. Avanade is a global IT consultancy with unique connections to Accenture and Microsoft. Avanade is not what this post is about.

When I hear the name Accenture I venture down memory lane, recalling their re-branding efforts and how (or if) they’ve paid off. I can rarely remember the name Accenture, but I still have a quick recall of Anderson Consulting. When someone speaks about Accenture my brain automatically jumps to oh yeah, Anderson Consulting. It poses the question – Can you outlive your reputation?

The name trick my brain plays on me reminds me of my parents. Growing up there was a small grocery store in the village in which we lived. It was named IGA. However, my parents rarely called it that, because when they moved into the village it went by a different name, Corns, I think. I used to wonder why they could never remember the new name. It took years for them to call it by its proper name, only to have the store bought by another chain, its name changed once again.

Maybe it’s nostalgia that makes us recall things by what we first knew them as. Or maybe it’s a resistance to change. Whatever the reason, there’s a lesson for marketers to take away. Name changes are hard. Don’t go about them lightly, unless no one knows who you are. And if that’s the case, change your name, make it memorable and make a splash. But don’t change it again after that. Unless of course, you’re trying to outlive a scandal.

Image by Slack12

Joseph Jaffe, Delta Airlines and a call to action

Joseph Jaffe, writer of the blog Jaffe Juice shares with his readers his hellish trip aboard a recent Delta flight to Sao Paulo. But the post is about so much more than just bad service. The post is a call to action, an attempt to create a bigger voice so that Delta might hear it.

That’s the value Jaffe brings to his readers, he offers them the opportunity to live his experiments. His latest call to action is to create a petition of sorts, or an outline of bad experiences on Delta. I was more than happy to join in and I encourage you to do so as well. Just visit Jaffe Juice and add your story to the comments.

And if you’re curious, this is my story.…Coming home from Las Vegas (to Boston) and knowing that no meal would be served I pick up a salad from a vending cart near the gate. Unfortunately I neglect to pick up utensils. Once on the flight a flight attendant with a cart of sandwiches for purchase comes along. I ask for some utensils and am told "I'm sorry, utensils are reserved for those purchasing food." After apologizing for my neglect and pointing out the idiocy of this policy I'm still told no. Thankfully, the person sitting next to me (obviously amused by the interchange) purchases a sandwich, asks for utensils and hands them over to me. But I, with my plastic fork in hand, haven't flown Delta since. I'm not a frequent flyer by any means, but I do fly often enough that Delta certainly could have recouped their lost profits on that plastic fork denied me.

In the News - jet trouble for Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma sells company jet to save money – that’s one of the headlines that ran in the San Francisco Business Times this past Wednesday. But no worries, the company will begin leasing the CEO’s jet. It will be slightly smaller, but hey, tough times call for tough measures…

Williams-Sonoma isn’t the only company trying to figure out ways to cut expenses and increase profits. But this cut back smells of greed, not a good image to portray it today’s economic times. Should Williams-Sonoma react to the story? I’m not sure they have an outlet to (other than traditional media); a breeze through their company site offers no access to the voice of Williams-Sonoma. The company appears somewhat sterile, very corporate and very investor focused.

That brings up the question, should there be a voice, or a personality, behind Williams-Sonoma? If there was would it make the headline feel a little less bitter than it does today?

Image credit: cmiper

When communicating, reword, don't repeat

One hat that a marketer wears is that of a communicator. A marketer's touch can mean the difference between incomprehension and understanding; between bewilderment and excitement. Recently, I was reminded that great communicators have one thing in common. They know to reword, not to repeat. Too many of us repeat ourselves only to be met with the same blank stares and the same frustration. It happens every day around customer service centers and corporate boardrooms alike. If only each one of us, when met with the blank stare of incomprehension, took a moment, rephrased our thoughts and reworded instead of repeating. There would be a lot less frustration for everyone. Let this post serve as a reminder to you (as it will to me); next time someone doesn't understand you, reword, don't repeat.

Image credit: hebedesign