Joe Jaffe is someone that you ignore at your own risk – and at some effort. With his blogs, his podcasts, his books, and perhaps most important of all, his attitude, he is a masterful advocate for his beliefs and a passionate debater of those who disagree.
So when I saw that Jaffe was offering up free copies of his new book Join the Conversation to bloggers willing to write a review, I leapt at the offer, and borrowed “Life after the 30 second Spot” from the Ottawa Public Library to boot.
So. What to say about Join the Conversation? There’s so much in the book that – to me, and to Jaffe – seems incontrovertible. The arguments he began in “Life After 30” are fleshed out here. Summed up, Jaffe is saying that the old rules simply do not apply any more in terms of marketing and communication, and that businesses which truly wish to succeed have to learn some new rules.
Those rules focus on the desire of consumers (or is that prosumers?) to participate with the brands they drive, fly, live in, eat, and use every day. They also focus on the many, many instances of companies trying to ignore, evade, manipulate, or fake that participation at their peril, from Starwood Hotels building an elaborate – nad empty – Second Life hotel that becomes the site of a loving remake of the Shining before being dismantled, to the infamous Sony PSP fake blog, to… well, it’s too depressing to list them all.
If you’re thinking about all this Web 2.0 stuff and how it might apply to your business, you could do much worse that to use this book as a sampler. Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that Jaffe uses it not only as a ‘product’ – an end in itself – but as a repeated prompt to go to the book’s site and continue the experience.
I think Jaffe’s really on to something here. If you’re going to build the case that conversation and participation is what it’s all about, then don’t just WRITE about it, DO it. As I write this review on a Saturday morning, a CBC Radio show called “The Age of Persuasion” is beginning. The show, by ad-guy Terry O’Reilly, is not a bad show. But in several seasons, he’s NEVER talked about advertising as anything other than a one-way, tactical discipline. The show web site? One page. No contact; no feedback; no conversation at all. The contrast couldn’t be more clear.
And his passion and faith in what he’s writing are undeniable.
But what’s the weakness of the book? (There have to be SOME weaknesses, don’t there?) As a longtime blogger myself, and as someone who believes that Jaffe’s points are valid, my biggest concern is that we end up ‘in the bubble’ – a criticism already levelled by folks such as Strumpette.
Are folks like Jaffe simply peddling snake oil? People have criticized Jaffe, his counterparts at Crayon, as well as folks like Shel
If you’re reading this from “inside the bubble” – I think Join the Conversation is a great read for the multitude of examples, for the passion of its arguments, and for the undeniable pithiness of Joe Jaffe. And if you’re reading this from “outside the bubble”, the book is still a great read. For what it’s worth, I think Jaffe is on target way more often than he’s off.
And while I don’t necessarily believe that companies that don’t “join the conversation” are all doomed, I do believe that those who do buy into Jaffe’s line of argument will, over the long-term, reap the benefits.
Well worth the $15 it’s apparently on sale for at Amazon, and probably even worth the list price of $30.
Ciao,
Bob.
3 comments:
I received the link to your blog about "Join the Conversation" which led me to the blog posting you wrote about students not responding to your blog. I totally agree with you that as students in our last term of a course that is all about communicating we should have came across your blog, however in our defense, though blogging and podcasts are mentioned in our course it's never really explained to us how to use them or whether or not they are an important tool for us to be using. Are they something that we as students should be creating and responding to?
In response to your blog posting "Join the Conversation" I think that companies are going to have to start communicating with consumers or they're going to crash. In this day and age when there are so many manufacturers of similar products all with relatively similar prices we as the consumer want to see why we should buy a certain product as opposed to a similar one. Personally I research almost any purchase I make over $35 before I go out and buy it. To me a company's website often makes or breaks the deal for me. If I can easily navigate it, find the information I want and have a way to communicate with the company then I'm likely to buy from them. Companies that don't post reviews of their products and the price turn me off pretty quickly. Whether the big companies like it or not our generation demands transparency in everything. If we feel something is being hidden from us then we'll find that information. It is definitely in a company's best interest to just provide us with all available information so that we don't get it from other sources who may not paint such a pretty picture. I am also a fan of "interactive products". I think it is necessary for every company to have a website and if they're really smart they'll have their website posted on their product. I think in the coming years we'll see many companies like this. The internet can be a great tool if utilized properly. I think that companies that reward their loyal customers by offering such things as coupons, or points that can accumulate every time you buy a new product from them will thrive in the future. Like it or not, to many of us the internet is a second-home and companies should be using it to their advantage.
Thanks, Chelsica for your comments. You have a lot of interesting points that I'd like to follow up on.
First, you say that "though blogging and podcasts are mentioned in our course it's never really explained to us how to use them or whether or not they are an important tool for us to be using. Are they something that we as students should be creating and responding to?"
OF COURSE YOU SHOULD BE. As a communicator, you will be recommending the strategies and tactics that your organization should be using to advance their goals. Why not figure out those tools now so you can be a more valuable asset to your organization later? Also, if you want to be hired, why not create your digital footprint and show people what you can do/
Second, I think you're spot on with your research comment. And look at sites like consumerist to see what happens when companies don't follow through with their customers. Look at the iPod. It's not just a device. The iPod is a great example of how a brand is a PROMISE, not just a product, a design, logo, slogan, or an image. iPods have been able to consistently deliver to consumers everything they want. Their competition hasn't.
Keep the conversation going!
Chelsica -- you might be interested in this post (from my boss, who should get well soon, by the way) about some of what's happening at Centennial College in their PR program: http://tinyurl.com/223bm3
Might be time to ask your profs why they raen't doing something similar.
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