We help executives focus on what matters within digital marketing and media, and as well as the reports and research I'm sending, there are a few book recommendations that seem worth passing on. This is one of them - summary below, a review at the end of the link, and it's available in stock in our online bookstore.

After the marketing hit 'Life after the 30 second spot', confrontational author Joseph Jaffe explores the conversational nature of digital marketing and concludes that with the right attitude and something to say, brands can have a big part to play. There's no automatic right though, and Jaffe explores the problems as well as the successes.

Let me know what you think, and if there's a book you've enjoyed recently and want to recommend then mail over the title and we'll include it in the industry discussion board.


Danny Meadows-Klue
Founder and Chief Executive
Digital Strategy Consulting

Speed read

• Marketing is changing and firms need to prepare for a step change in the way they communicate with customers; the success of the classic techniques is falling, but transition to the new requires a fundamentally different type of thinking
• The balance of control has shifted radically since the days when marketers took ownership and control of the message; in the new digital spaces no one is in control and the equality of relationship between brand and consumer demands a new mindset for marketers
• Firms can take part in conversations in several ways and the approach of a 'Conversation' can be extended into a new model for marketing; it could be the central focus for a firm's marketing strategy and involve activities across myriad channels
• The search for new models is not restricted to the needs of the advertising campaign itself; new models are needed for agencies and other stakeholders
• Without an effective reading of the digital landscape, most brands perform poorly when trying to market themselves in these new social spaces
• Even if a brand is not ready to take the leap there are a series of steps they can immediately take to get a better understanding of the landscape they are working within; this will help with evaluating the real market situation and the choices they face

Joining in the marketing conversation
A new type of marketing industry
Jaffe sees the marketing industry as full of contradictions, embroiled in a time of great change that leaves most firms either lacking any direction, or lacking a direction that fits with the nature of the new landscape they're operating in. This echoes our experience at Digital where we've been coaching marketers in how to work effectively in a landscape so radically different from the one they were schooled in.

"Marketers have become so manic" says Jaffe. "They are high, then low, and always want the next big thing, but the next big thing is now. That's where the opportunity really is." It's part of what Jaffe describes as 'Facebook fatigue', citing many of the waves of hype in digital media as showcases in how to misread the landscape. "Second Life is a great example. Marketers fail miserably; they were given a new world and just failed to rise to the challenge." Part of the challenge is in the transience of classic marketing, he argues that one of the differences in thinking is that in online marketing firms need to be making a greater commitment to stay the course: "If we are going to help a firm do this, then they need to commit to their blogs or virtual spaces for at least 12 months".

Jaffe's five ways you too can join the conversation

1. Listen to a conversation
2. Respond to a conversation
3. Join - or be invited to join - a conversation already in progress
4. Catalyse a conversation
5. Start a conversation

The Six Cs and three phases of conversation

The Six Cs and three phases of conversation Jaffe argues that with the 4Ps of marketing being commoditised and consigned to a history we all know, a new approach is needed. The six Cs of marketing revolve around the consumer and reflect the three phases of conversation.

Source: Jaffe, 2008

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