Age of Conversation book AVAILABLE

AoC Badge

Today the group-authored “Age of Conversation” book is published and available for purchase.

Here’s some of the latest press:

AdAge
Social Computing
Media Post’s Marketing Daily
Media Daily News
Marketing Profs Daily Fix
Fast Company
BusinessWeek
PSFK
Des Moines Register

Even Tom Fishburne, of Brand Camp, seems to be getting behind my chapter dedicated to authenticity-based branding.

Brand Camp

I’ve bought my copy (plus all proceeds go to charity) and I hope you buy yours.

This was a great exercise in social marketing. A small idea – one comment on a blog – caught on and took over the marketing/design side of social networks and blogs and quickly turned into full blown book. I am proud and honored to part of this unique and revolutionary process.

Coming soon… Age of Conversation Book

A few weeks back, I mentioned that I’d been asked to contribute a chapter to an upcoming book, The Age of Conversation, dedicated to conversation as a marketing strategy. As anyone active in the blogosphere (or modern marketing circles) knows, conversations are the cornerstone of social marketing.

I’m proud to have been a part of this book project.

As ordering information becomes available, I’ll let you know.

Here are some of the details…

age_conversation_cover.jpg

Launch date: Monday, July 16th

Formats/Prices:
Hardbacks $29.99
Paperbacks $16.95
E-book $9.99

All proceeds from all book sales will be donated to Variety, the Children’s Charity. We’ll also be setting up a way for people to donate more than the of the book price, if they choose to. We’ll be designating the funds to the native countries of our authors.

Here’s a list of the contributing authors:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich

Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Mitch Joel
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Krishna De
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Pollinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman

Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’shea is on his way

Well, today is my last day at Cre8tive Group. 18 months ago I was presented w/ an opportunity to choose between staying in big business Corporate America or jumping to a small business and now I know I made the right decision.

Not only do small businesses dominate the economy and the job market, there is almost unlimited room for growth and professional development opportunities that are simply not available to most employees in a Fortune 500 organization. That said, I also learned a tremendous amount during my days in Corporate America, but I believe I’ve found my heart in small business. And that comes in no small part from Cre8tive Group. It is with both anticipation and sadness that I move into the next phase of my career. I will truly miss the people (and clients) of Cre8tive Group. They are a wonderful, caring group that has meant a lot to me over the years. The growth over the last few quarters is only one indication of the great things to come for Cre8tive.

So, it is with great joy that I announce that I’m joining EOP Architects as their Director of Marketing. This firm is widely considered to be the best design-focused firm in the area. They design and build some of the most inspiring structures around and I’m proud to bring my marketing and branding expertise to bear on their behalf. I honestly believe that once more people are aware and turned on to what EOP is capable of, explosive growth is will be inevitable. The partners are great and I cannot wait to meet and learn more about the staff.

This blog will remain the same. I have not been able to devote as much time to it as I’d like recently. But I do hope to be able to continue to provide practical results-oriented marketing commentary. Blogging has developed into one of my passions and I’ve met some wonderful people online. I hope to to use this as a platform to document and transfer practical marketing knowledge as I apply it w/ EOP.

So, I’ll probably add an “Architecture” category as I learn more about the space. Like most design people, I’m intrigued by architecture and I believe that it is one of the few design disciplines that truly has the ability to shape culture and make a direct impact on society.

I’m excited about this new opportunity and hope you are as well. And lastly, I have to thank Dr. Seuss for one of the best motivational and inspiring books I’ve ever read (note the title of this post). “Oh the Place You’ll Go” has always been a guiding force for me – and I’m reading it to my daughter almost nightly hoping that that the positivity and reality will set deeply within her.

So with that, I’m off to EOP. Talk to you soon.

Marketing (r)evolution Carnival #5 – May 29, 2007

Marketing (r)evolution Carnival - Nick Rice Blog

Welcome to the May 29, 2007 edition of marketing (r)evolution carnival hosted by Nick Rice at Strategic Design.

Millennium Mommy presents Priscilla Ortiz – Journal to Prosperity, Path to Freedom Inc.: 5 Marketing Tools for Home-Based Businesses posted at Priscilla Ortiz – Journal to Prosperity, Path to Freedom Inc..

Millennium Mommy presents DOUBLECLICK UNVEILS ONLINE MARKETPLACE posted at Priscilla Ortiz – Journal to Prosperity, Path to Freedom Inc..

Matt OConnor presents Do You Really Want To Make A Lot Of Money? posted at Adventures In Internet Marketing.

David presents LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA reports strong sales for the First Quarter of 2007 posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “Luxury goods manufacturer Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton reports that overall sales grew to 3.804 billion euros ($5.16 billion dollars) for the 1st quarter. The strong growth is led by strong demand on Tag Heuer watches. The blog includes articles about Tag Hauer marketing campaign, and online strategy to increase brand awareness”

David presents Enhancing Customer Shopping Experience posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “Business strategies to make your retail location stand out and increase sales.”

John McCrea presents The Secret Sales Power of Underwear posted at The Small Business Leap, saying, “Mix together women’s underwear, music lessons, and the U.S. Postal Service and what do you get? An explosion in sales and a 1,080% Return on Marketing Investment – that’s what!”

Brandon Peele presents Marketing: The Authenticity Fallacy posted at GT.

advertising

Tushar Mathur presents Earn $300 per signup from your blog posted at Life of a Resident Alien….

shedwa presents Graffiti Artists Tag Subway Car for Adidas posted at shedwa.

Walter Burek presents The Copywriter Who Changed the History of Advertising posted at Inklings – The Copywriter’s Blog.

Jon Miles presents Coming Soon: Advertisements on Toilet Paper posted at The Business Plan Blog.

Adam V presents Crowne Plaza® unveils first national TV ad campaign posted at brandividual.com.

Adam V presents Advertising technology that lights the nights posted at brandividual.com, saying, “GlowSkin(TM)Active Illumination Technology manufacturer Safe Lites, LLC in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal McCann announced today an exciting new advertising initiative that will hit the streets of Los Angeles and New York to promote the new feature film VACANCY starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. GlowSkin is a powered lighting system that glows, rather than shines, and is designed to stand up to harsh outdoor conditions while improving the visibility of vehicles, equipment, people, or nearly anything.”

David presents Is Your Advertising? Sexy? posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “This article explains how to create sensual advertisements”

Robinson Go presents A Comprehensive Blogging Guide posted at Robinson Go dot Com, saying, “This is a future comprehensive blogging guide to help all aspiring bloggers from the newbie to the above average blogger with future posts on internet marketing. I believe this is a good tip for your readers who may exhibit enthusiasm for blogging online and may value tips and tricks on Advertising Google AdSense and other ad programs on the Internet. Thanks.”

branding

Al Nye presents Unum Provident Makes Big Splash With Stupid Logo posted at Al Nye The Lawyer Guy.

Joshua Dorkin presents Improving Your Brand With Promotional Advertising by TimeForBlogging posted at Time For Blogging.

Shama Hyder presents From Generic to Best Seller- 5 Steps to Changing your Personal Brand Name posted at SHAMA HYDER. com, saying, “Personal Branding.”

creativity

shedwa presents Design Your Own Oval Kleenex Box posted at shedwa.

Rob Frappier presents Choose Your Own ADventure posted at “Advertising–a judicious mixture of flattery and threats.” (Northrop Frye).

marketing

Joshua Dorkin presents 9 Steps To Growing Your Business Using Forum Marketing posted at Time For Blogging.

John Wesley presents Use Social Media Arbitrage to Drive Traffic with StumbleUpon. posted at Pick the Brain.

Lead Optimize presents The Sales Leads are in the Details posted at Lead Optimize.com, saying, “Attention to the smallest details of your site can bring huge rewards.”

David presents Fabric and Fiber Shows posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “List of Tradeshows to help Designers, and Manufacturers market their products to retailers”

CA presents Is this the beginning of the end of primary marketing research companies? posted at Atlantic Canada’s Small Business Blog, saying, “How will Web 2.0 impact Primary Marketing Research companies”

Susan Payton presents Marketing Tip #1: Continuously market and grow your business by keeping in constant contact. posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “This post is an outline of how to help market and grow your business by keeping in constant contact with your customers and clients.”

Susan Payton presents Marketing Tip #2: Market Your Business with Little or No Money posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “This is a marketing tip on how to market your business with little or no money.”

Susan Payton presents Marketing Tip #3: Market your business by showing appreciation to your customers posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “This entry offers a tip on how to market to your customers by showing appreciation”

Patsy presents Businesses Take Note! Youth Demand Integrated Marketing Strategy posted at Biz Talk – Roanoke’s Business Blog.

Susan Payton presents Marketing Tip #4: Market your business by writing articles posted at eggmarketingblog.com.

Christopher J. Brunner presents Direct Mail Marketing Tips (1 of 2) posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “Tips for producing and distributing effective direct mail marketing.”

Susan Payton presents Marketing Tip #5: Marketing Your business with Creative Networking posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “marketing tip, how to market your business with creative networking.”

Matt McDonald presents Don’t be a Guitar Marketing Hero posted at Interaction Marketing, saying, “A short post about not following the leader, but becoming the leader.”

Rob Frappier presents Forget The Focus Group, Bring On The MRI posted at “Advertising–a judicious mixture of flattery and threats.” (Northrop Frye).

Susan Payton presents Shoestring Marketing Tip #6: More ways to Market Your Business with Networking posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “More Shoestring Marketing Tips: Networking”

Christopher J. Brunner presents Expanding Your Business Overseas: Why and Why Not? posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “The first in a four-part post series that explores expanding your business to the global market, including the why’s and why not’s for doing so, international labor laws, protecting your product from idea theft and the money and taxes involved with such a venture.”

Business Card Guru presents Business Cards posted at Business Cards, saying, “Business Cards are a great Marketing tool. Make the best of them.”

Susan Payton presents Small Business Marketing Tip #8: Admitting When You Are Wrong! posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “This article illustrates how a misunderstanding with a customer lead to a stronger client relationship.”

Lead Optimize presents Make Your Site Say, “Can I help you?” posted at Lead Optimize.com, saying, “Make yourself available through your website to help your visitors become customers.”

strategy

Steven Silvers presents Anti-corporate groups target innocent marketing promotions for ScrewedTube attacks. posted at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com, saying, “Activists with video cameras raise concerns that the public square is becoming too dangerous for the common brand publicity stunt.”

David presents Co-Branding posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “Co-branding involves combining two or more brands into a single product or service. Companies engage in co-branding to leverage strong brand. It is becoming a popular business practice to strive for a positive association between different brands that can develop synergy”

Susan Payton presents Small Business Marketing Tip #7: The Element of Surprise as a Marketing Strategy posted at eggmarketingblog.com, saying, “The element of surprise as a marketing strategy”

Steven Silvers presents Rankles over U.S. News best colleges list hint at bigger issue with media rankings. posted at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com, saying, “Information-age transparency turns what used to be slam-dunk annual marketing promotions into ongoing controversies about news media methods.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of marketing (r)evolution carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , , nick rice

The Age of Conversation book

I’ve just submitted my chapter to The Age of Conversation book which is the brainchild of Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton. My chapter is entitled, “Authenticity-based Branding”.

Here is a preview:

I’ve yet to see a Brand Manager that focuses on conversation when it comes to branding. They typically look at promotions, advertising, logos, packaging and taglines. Now, I’m not going to say stop focusing on advertising or logo consistency or the unique cache of your tagline. Those are all important elements of your overall marketing plan. But to name that “branding” and call it a day is misguided. What I will say is that if you continue to ignore and stifle conversation between employees, suppliers, customers and their acquaintances, you’re not actively influencing your brand to the degree you should be.

The book pitch is to have 100 of the top marketing/business/design/PR/etc… bloggers each submit a chapter. Even the book idea is very web 2.0.

Here’s the list of the contributing authors:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Mitch Joel
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Krishna De
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiel
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Pollinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman

It’s a pretty amazing group of folks if you click around their sites. I was honored when asked to participate and am excited to help make a difference. The proceeds of the e-book will benefit Variety, the Children’s Charity. Helping those that help others is a driving force at Cre8tive Group – in fact we’ve built our entire business around it. I’ll keep you in the loop as more details are made public.

5 Ways to Join the Conversation Economy

It’s no secret that the web is moving to a conversation platform. That’s one of the major check boxes for all “Web 2.0” apps online. You can have a 2.0 look (big fonts, clean simple design, and gradient color buttons), but to truly be 2.0 you have to build your site around information sharing and user contribution.

Well that’s easy to do if you’re a start-up. But what’s the benefit to Fortune 500 companies that are decades or centuries old? It’s hard to wrap your head around this paradigm shift if you’ve been pushing information out to your customers for the last 20+ years. In the old model, a company would buy enough airtime and/or print advertising to throw their message out in the market. It was a shotgun approach in the purest sense. Even as media-scarcity began to evaporate (think cable TV versus network or niche magazines versus the NY Times), new targeting models came about to direct budget dollars to more appropriate mediums. But it’s was still a one way conversation. Focus groups and the occasional talk to a sales person became the primary method of hearing what was going on with customers.

Today, we understand the world has changed. The TV industrial complex is all but gone. That’s not to say that no one will ever advertise on TV again; but we now understand that the expense to do so rarely generates a worthwhile return on budget dollars. There’s only one true mass market TV event – the SuperBowl – and that has pretty much sucked from an advertising point of view for the last few years.

The music industry is falling apart. Why would a band sell their souls to a record label when they can get online distribution on their own? When was the last time you walked into a CD or record store and bought something? The world has changed.

Ten years ago we had no idea what Amazon and eBay would do the marketplace. They built systems around trust – not to mention the innovations around warehousing, shipping and distribution. Trust comes from real people giving recommendations, ratings, comments and reviews. That’s not a new concept. The difference is that today, it’s enabled by high speed web technology.

So where do you start? How do you get on the bus? Whoa, slow down a sec. You don’t think you need to be on that bus? Well, if you don’t you’ll continue to see your profit slip. You’ll continue to get bashed on Technorati (didn’t know that was happening did you?). You’ll continue to look for ways to cut costs instead of grow revenue. And you’ll continue to feel the seismic shift underfoot until you fall in the crack. The world has changed. Consumers want, and sometimes demand, to participate in your brand – your half of the conversation.

So, here are my five ways you can start to revamp your business around the conversational economy/web:

  1. Make it easy for consumers to talk about you – good and bad.
    If you sell products or services, let users submit testimonials, reviews and ratings on your site. If you’re making good products or selling valuable services, you shouldn’t have to worry because you’ll see glowing reviews. If not, you’ve most likely found the source of your profitability or market share issues.
  2. Customers are always right.
    Even when they’re wrong, in their heads, they’re right. You have an opportunity to educate them; but at the end of the day, they choose whether to stay with you or leave. You cannot control that. How you handle the education part makes a big difference in their decision.
  3. Stop trying to please everyone.
    Make an awesome product for one segment. Dominate that group of users. Turn them into your biggest advocates. When you try to make something for everyone, you end up with mush. Think Apple. The only way to survive the conversational web or economy is to have people talking about you. They can either love you or hate you, but if you’re stuck in the middle, you’re toast.
  4. Understand that each and every customer counts.
    Like Chris Anderson said, “the ants have megaphones.” You have to recognize vocal supporters and address vocal critics. One bad review by an influential blogger and you’ve lost a lot of opportunities and credibility in the marketplace. People don’t trust mass media. They trust people like themselves. If you feel like addressing individual users is too much hassle, you now see how far you have to come to truly participate in the new marketplace.
  5. Do something worth conversation.
    I’m not talking about a press stunt. I’m talking about developing offerings that people love. I’m talking about delivering customers service that is delightfully unexpected. Simply meeting expectations doesn’t count anymore. There are too many options to pick from. That mentality comes from a scarcity mindset and we live in an abundant world. Create joy. Make a difference. Get people talking.

Customers have always talked about brands, products and services. Today, through web technology, they can influence 100X the number of people with very little time and effort. It’s just a few keystrokes after all. Consumers have always owned the brand of businesses they interact with. Today they control the brand. Conversation is the key – true two-way conversation. Stop pushing content out. Starting interacting and engaging with your audience. Your eyes and ears will be opened and you’ll benefit and create loyalty if you do it right.

(adapted from my Fast Company blog post earlier this week)

Change part II

gapingvoid by hugh macleod

Hugh and I must be working through similar thoughts…. Two days in a row.

Change is constant…

GapingVoid - Hugh Macleod

from hugh macleod of gapingvoid

Time and time again Hugh really nails it.

Moral of the story: embrace re-invention or become irrelevant and wither away.

What have you changed or re-invented in your organization this year?

I’d like to thank the academy…

When I started blogging a year and a half ago, one of the goals I set for myself was to be nominated for one of the blog awards. I was delightfully surprised when I was checking my email this week to find that I’d been nominated for Best Marketing Blog, Best Design, and Best Blog Host (not entirely sure what that one means to be honest). So, a minor goal – but a goal accomplished none the least.

I really do appreciate the comments and emails generated by this blog. It has developed into more than I could ever imagine. And so, to you the readers, I say thanks. I hope to commit more time to writing in the near future. There have been some professional developments on my end that I think you’ll enjoying hearing about.

PS. and yes, I did have to vote for myself. Hey you never know, it may come down to that one vote. Remember Florida???? I hope we can keep the digital “chads” to a minimum.

Marketing (r)evolution Carnival #4 – April 10, 2007

Marketing (r)evolution Carnival - Nick Rice

Welcome to the April 10, 2007 edition of Marketing (r)evolution Carnival hosted at Strategic Design by Nick Rice.

Advertising

shedwa presents Greenpeace Tries to Make Kleenex Cry posted at shedwa.

shedwa presents shedwa: MTV Makes Puberty Fun Again posted at shedwa.

Branding

Mr Credit Card presents Discover Credit Card change Brand Names posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog, saying, “Hi – this is my first post.”

Creativity

The Positivity Blog presents 8 Ways to Spark Your Creativity posted at Henrik Edberg.

Marketing

Laura Ricci presents Capturing Marketshare With a Conversation Starter posted at Laura’s Winning Ideas, saying, “Great idea for continuing the conversation with a prospect and strategy used by one auto manufacturer.”

Matt OConnor presents Mining Gold From The Internet posted at Adventures In Internet Marketing.

GameProducer.net presents What a DVD Store Could Learn About Marketing posted at Game Producer, saying, “A story about how DVD store chose to lose $1000+ to save $5…”

Bill Sheridan presents Podium Power posted at The Freestyle Entrepreneur.

Matt OConnor presents The Best Internet Marketing Strategies posted at Adventures In Internet Marketing.

Strategy

almomento presents 9 Ways To Incorporate Win-Win Philosophy Into Your Business posted at BurstCreativity.

Steven Silvers presents The good, bad and ugly of creating research to get publicity. posted at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com, saying, “Each week a slew of companies and organizations announce new research findings designed to generate buzz for their brand, product or cause. And much of it does way more harm than good.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Marketing (r)evolution Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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