After going through all the stages of grief and finally resting on acceptance, I came to terms that I needed to find an outside book for our book review. I did not know where to begin and started to explore all my options. I decided to go to Barnes and Noble to see what books where available. I went to the e-marketing section and found the bestseller The New Rules of Marketing and PR written by David Meerman Scott. After reading the summary about the new dynamics of e-marketing and how many businesses are falling behind, I decided this was the book I wanted to read.
The theme of the book was about how the strategic concept of marketing has changed due to the advent of e-marketing and its effects. No longer can business continue their big one-way communication marketing campaigns. Today, more consumers go online to research the products and services they intend to purchase and do not want to be attacked by product spin offs or untrustworthy one-way messages. DM Scott emphasizes that without understanding your customers and engaging them, a business is failing to develop their customer-base. Technological advances in digital communications have allowed small businesses to compete with larger scaled businesses and put up a successful fight. It is imperative for marketers to understand these changes and how to properly implement new social media services and programs to effectively engage their customer-base.
Great Take-Away from the book: No one cares about your product. What they care about is their problem and the solution you have to offer. Therefore, marketers need to understand their customer-base and communicate with them. E-Marketing has enabled businesses to do just this. Businesses that do not seize the opportunity to engage their customer-base will be left behind.
Great Example: David M Scott gives the e-marketing example of The Million Dollar Coupon in his book. This marketing campaign was developed by a man that wanted to sell his mansion and needed to drive as many viewers to his web site to advertise his property. Instead of doling out a large amount of funding for a traditional advertisement campaign, the seller set up a web site with a printable coupon for one million dollars off the house. He also utilized the catchy domain www.themilliondollarcoupon.com to advertise his property. What the seller did on his own replaced the need of an expensive realtor or advertisement agency.
Overall this book was well-written and simple to follow. Readers could pick any chapter in the book, dive in and begin reading and understanding. Essentially the book offers one large theme: marketing has changed and we need to stop looking at it like we once did. David Meerman Scott does an excellent job of defining how the rules have changed and what aspects of e-marketing businesses can use to reach their customers.
Links:
User Reviews of The New Rules of Marketing and PR
DM Scott's Website
http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/
DM Scott's Blog
DM Scott's Bio
http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/bio.htm
The Million Dollar Coupon
http://www.milliondollarcoupon.com
DM Scott’s Vimeo Page
George, thanks for the review. This book was very influential in changing the direction of our company about 12 months ago. The power of "inbound" or "pull" marketing is immense. It won't replace "push" marketing entirely, but it will become a dominant part of the marketing mix.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, Many thanks for taking the time to review my book. Glad that you liked it. David
ReplyDeleteKey take-away is real interesting. A very realistic approach to marketing in the "e-world." So many internet sites don't address a specific problem. These are the sites that most likely do not get many 2nd time viewers.
ReplyDeleteNice informative Post. MBA Marketing Books guide to be shared
ReplyDelete