The Book – update, case studies and reviews

The Book is imminent, which in publishing terms means two weeks or so. It’s due on the 3rd December in the UK, and 14th January in the US. Don’t ask why…

The book’s available for pre-order on various amazon sites. Because of the Christmas rush, we won’t be doing much in the way of formal promo until January, though I am discussing some of the book’s main themes at the CMO Summit next week, as an exclusive(!). I’m also at the Word of Mouth Marketing Forum in January.

One of the main features of the book is the use of case studies. We have twelve of them, and I’ve previously announced that Wipro, Adobe, Palm and Yahoo! are among them. I can now divulge that IBM and Nortel will also be included, along with several firms that declined to be identified for competitive reasons. More details on all the case studies is available here.

Finally, we’re delighted to have had the book reviewed by a dozen or so CMOs and other notables. The book reviews are posted here, and will also feature on the book cover. We’re really chuffed that so many took the time to read the draft and provide comments. Nick and I are indebted.

HP’s Lusher on AR and social media

Carter Lusher, AR head at HP and ex-Gartner analyst, posts on the use of social media by analyst firms (synopsis: not enough) and wonders on the impact of blogging on influence from analysts. Great issues.

The current position, as I see it, is that bloggers have relatively little influence on CIO-level execs and business folk. They do, however, have influence in the more techie arenas. Big generalisations, of course, but it seems to hold for most markets, and makes a reasonable starting hypothesis. Demographics are also an important feature of socila media’s reach (but this may be changing: if The Archers are podcasting, anyone can…). Country differences also exist (e.g. France is generally more blog-friendly…).

It’s important to recognise that bloggers are often influential because of their “day job” and just happen to blog nowadays. Richard Holway is a good example. Blogging is a means of access, and it allows previously inaccessible people to gain exposure. So you find DBAs and developers emerging as influential bloggers – their influence is expanded out to the web, beyond the confines of their employers.

In researching case studies for the book, I discovered that blogging and other social media need to be dedicated activities, with time and budget allocated. Otherwise it’s just dabbling, as Carter points out in IDC’s approach.

The key question is always, influential on whom? If analysts are trying to influence CIOs then there is no immediate need to blog, because CIOs generally don’t read them. James Governor is successful because he aims at the more techie audience, and is thus more influential on that audience.

The trick, then, is to monitor blog readership closely, and to respond when the sitation changes.

Book web page launched

The web site for the book is now live. Check it out at the imaginatively-titled http://www.influencermarketingbook.com/. The cover design is a draft, but we didn’t want to wait.

The site contains the table of contents and information on the case studies. It will shortly also list some further reading (or pre-reading, depending on how keen you are), which we’ll keep up to date.

I’ll continue to announce the case study participants here but the book site will also be updated.

More book-related news to follow…

More case studies – and an update on the book

Further to my initial announcement on case studies for the forthcoming book, I can reveal two more case study subjects. These are Wipro and Yahoo!, thus adding to Adobe and Palm (and more coming soon).

What is interesting about both Wipro and Yahoo (without giving too much away) is that they have established Influencer Relations departments or functions within their marketing operations. This trend is growing.

The book is complete in draft proof format, and is out for review by a select group of experts – I hope they like it. We also have a natty cover design. The book web site is under construction and should be up and running shortly. It’s all coming together (finally).

Announcing our first case studies

Our book, Influencer Marketing: influencing business decision-maker ecosystems, will feature a dozen state-of-the-art influencer marketing case studies. We’re proud and excited about these, since (a) there aren’t many around and (b) we worked bloody hard to find them all.

I’m delighted to reveal that Adobe and Palm will be case studies in the book, courtesy of our friends at Rubicon Consulting (thanks Nilofer).

More announcements coming soon. The book is due out in November.

Book case studies – announcing soon…

The easy part in writing a book is writing the book. The hard part is citing examples to illustrate the theory. So we’ve poured a fair amount of time and energy into tracking down cases studies, both from our own Influencer50 client base and beyond.

It turns out we’ve struck gold. We now expect to include twelve (count ‘em) case studies, most of which will be fully identified and attributed. The one or two shy firms are sensitive to the competitve advantage they are achieving. The others see the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership in the emerging Influencer Marketing discipline, and to be associated with the book. We’re humbled by their eagerness to be involved.

As case studies (usually) take ages to get approval we’ll be announcing them as we get sign-off. They’ll be released on this blog and the soon-to-be launched book web site.

Influencer Marketing – The Book

We’re delighted to announce that Butterworth-Heinemann has commissioned Nick Hayes and me to write a book on Influencer Marketing. BH has a strong reputation in titles on marketing, both for the academic world and general commerce. In particular it published the popular Connected Marketing in 2005.

The proposed date for publication is November 2007, so lots of hard work to do before then. Specifically, we’ll be including case studies of Influencer Marketing in practice from around the world, across as many sectors as we can. This is not a technology market only undertaking, nor is it an Influencer50 brochure. We are collaborating with Influencer Marketing providers and practitioners, to create a useful resource for marketers seeking to identify and capitalise on influencers.

If you’re interested in supplying a case study then please let me know at duncan.brown@influencer50.com. We have several lined up already but can always do with more.

Many thanks.