Saturday, June 27, 2009

25/52: "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott

Book 25/52: "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott, 4/5 Stars
This book is definitely a must-read for those that are around the promotion and marketing of products and services. Scott does a wonderful job of covering the soup to nuts process of understanding your story, telling your story and then getting others to tell your story for you. His point is clear and hammered home, the old way of pushing your story via a general broadcast is not only expensive, but ineffective, in today’s world where pitching a good story to the right people—focus on the targeted few instead of the masses—is more likely to get many others talking about your story.
  • Focus on your buyers, not your product. How do customers relate to your product? What problem do you solve? What does Starbucks really sell?
  • Write in plain language; in the language of your customers. Invite them to engage in a dialogue instead of broadcasting your monologue.
I preach similar techniques; it's not about the features of your product/service. In fact, it's not about the product or service at all--it's the relationship that customers have with your wares. What emotional connection--what need--does it satisfy?

If you are a fan of novels/movies then think about Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne. Basically, they have the same template: ugly, romantic guy vies against handsome, dumb guy for heart of beautiful girl. In the former, the hero duels with swords and in the latter he duels with tennis racquets. The point is that the template defines the emotional connection — the duel for love — and the nouns, namely the sword or the racquet are irrelevant because they are interchangeable. If we apply the principles from Meerman's book, we'd see that it is paramount to focus on the template, not the instrument, i.e., the buyer and not the product.

The New Rules also talks about dialogue instead of monologue, engagement instead of broadcast. The Internet has made the world smaller. If I wanted to, right now, I could find someone online in another country and engage them in conversation. Even better, if I knew that they might have some interest in my product or service, by engaging them in conversation I've revealed that I'm a real person — I exist in the world — and that comfort can easily be translated to a stronger pitch for my wares to a potential customer or a journalist.

While reading The New Rules of Marketing and PR, think about the verbs that your customers use and the emotions that you can tap into to strengthen that connection... then get out there and do it.

GOAL: 52 books in 52 weeks!

Book #24 = "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, 1/5 Stars
Book #22 = "My Favorite Place on Earth" by Jerry Camarillo Dunn, 4/5 Stars
Book #21 = "Wisdom 2.0" by Soren Gordhamer, 4/5 Stars
Book #20 = "Oath Of Gold" by Elizabeth Moon, 5/5 Stars
Book #19 = "The Age Of Engage" by Denise Shiffman, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, 4/5 Stars
Book #16 = "Divided Allegiance" by Elizabeth Moon, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = "The Curious Incident of the Dog..." by Mark Haddon, 2/5 Stars
Book #14 = "The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" by Elizabeth Moon, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #13 = "Love Is The Killer App" by Tim Sanders, 4/5 Stars
Book #12 = "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, 5/5 Stars
Book #10 = "The Finder" by Colin Harrison, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #9 = "Veronika Decides To Die" by Paulo Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Book #8 = "By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept" by Paulo Coelho, 3/5 Stars
Book #7 = "Stiff" by Mary Roach, 2/5 Stars
Book #6 = "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1/5 Stars
Book #5 = "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 3/5 Stars
Book #4 = "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho, 2/5 Stars
Book #3 = "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #2 = "My Ishmael" by Dan Quinn, 2/5 Stars
Book #1 = "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars


READ MORE!

1 comment:

David Meerman Scott said...

52 books in 52 weeks is quite an undertaking. Thanks for including my book as one of the ones you read. David