jointheconversation

media type="custom" key="874511"bibliography / Join the Conversation
related: communication, conversation, marketing twitter: [|jaffejuice] youtube: [|jaffejuicetv] editing: [|Web Books]


 * A Review of** **[|Join the Conversation]** by Joseph Jaffe, Wiley, 2007 (320 pages, $29.95)

Traditional advertising used to be a one-way street in terms of communication. Today consumers are increasingly opting toward services and products that allow them to have a voice, to join the conversation. Companies that continue to yell at their customers are found irrelevant by such mindful consumers. The increasing levels of interaction are redefining the way travel and tourism is developed and sold.

Jaffe suggests that it is time to change the dynamic. When marketing moves away from one-way persuasion to an open conversation, those selling a service see their clients as individuals rather than a faceless demographic.

In my 2008 seminar in Quito, I asked participants what conversations they would like. The answer was two-fold - tour operators, hotel owners and travel agents want more visitors, but they also articulated the desire to employ tourism as a means of job-creation and that of raising Ecuador's profile in the world. "We want to be respected," colleagues told me. "Ecuador has a lot to show the world."

A similar point comes across when working with tourism pros in Mexico who see the Web 2.0 revolution as a way of getting the word out about Mexico's cultural and natural diversity and how they as local guides and entrepreneurs can benefit from tourism.

That said, I only wish that [|Join the Conversation] were available in Spanish as the lessons this book teaches should be shared around the world as well.

Excerpts
Consumers are no longer passive recipients, targets, empty vessels waiting to be filled with marketng messages, products and services. They are connectors -- nodes that connect the dots and enhance the conversation. As content creators, they are literally creating the world ... a world in which you just need to find your place. (p. xvii)

Communication is the very distinct process of marketer generated or initiated messaging, often without any concern of consideration for the intended recipient. Communication is one-way, unidirectional and carefully controlled in its implementation. Conversation, on the other hand, is a two-way dialogue or a stream of messaging between two or more parties with like-minded or shared beliefs. Conversation is organic, nonlinear, unpredictable and natural. (pp 2-3)

In social media, everyone is a critic. (p. 5)

The new reality is simply that an individual -- someone like you and me -- can have real power. Marketers spend their days worrying about losing control of their brand. They should be more focused on the fact that they never had control of their brand. They were simply able to scream louder than the individual. (p. 115)

In a new marketing world where conversation trumps communication, there is no hegemony, only partnership. (p. 33)

A post without a comment is like a dog without a bone. Pretty sad and lonely … I contend that blogs without comments turned on are in fact not blogs at all. My position is that comments are mandatory. (p. 86)

Marketer/sponsors have got to step up and put their money where their consumers’ loyal and passionate mouths are. There’s way too much watching from the sidelines right now. (p. 163)

Meet our consumers halfway. Work with them, not against them. Treat them as equals on some – but not all – levels. Ultimately there is a difference between partners and partnership and it’s up to you to find the sweet spot that resides somewhere in the middle of the continuum. (p. 236)

What seems like today’s failure is often tomorrow’s delayed success … It is incumbent upon us to think big picture, long term and stay the course, especially when naysayers jump on the bandwagon and try to derail innovation and progress. (p. 259)