Monday, January 26, 2009

Book Review: The Nature of Marketing: Marketing to the Swarm as well as the Herd by Chuck Brymer

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.
ADMAVEN RATES THE NATURE OF MARKETING: 4/5

Chuck Brymer's The Nature of Marketing takes an unbiased look at the basic principles of social media and 2.0 advertising. At times preachy and overly enthusiastic, (it is written, after all, by the President and CEO of DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc.) when taken as a whole Nature delivers a good representation of how the advertising industry got to where we are today and what the future may hold.

Premised on the idea that consumers now behave as flocks of social animals, moving to or away from brands as they collectively sense each others' reactions is an interesting take on the precept of social networking as a game changing factor in modern advertising. Though I did tire of the exhaustive use of, "flocking", "swarms", and others laced throughout the book, the message is accurate.

Unfortunately Mr. Brymer comes up short on case study material - citing stale examples such as Dell, Lego, and McDonalds. To be fair, DDB had a hand in all of the aforementioned social media endeavors, and they have a right to be proud. On the other hand, the connection is made far too quickly between social media and ROI. Little or no credit is given to brands themselves or economic forces.

Case studies aside, I fully endorse the sentiment and tone of the book. Rather than relying on catchy buzzwords or self-coined terms (of which there are a few), The Nature of Marketing presents more substantial thinking. The idea that, "our view is to serve a larger goal, which is to help people find what they are looking for and improve their lives within the context of a community that both seeks and deposits information in real time" (page 52) speaks to the fundamentals of successful social media campaigns, and reveals Mr. Brymer's experience as an advertising executive.

I recommend giving The Nature of Marketing a read - at 200 pages with pictures it is not a huge commitment - keeping in mind the book delivers on the big picture of social media and Web 2.0 advertising, but falls short on supporting details.

MORE ON THE NATURE OF MARKETING: MARKETING TO THE SWARM AS WELL AS THE HERD:

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