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The Face-to-Face Book: Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace
THE BEST MARKETING BOOK OF THE YEAR
Winner of the American Marketing Association’s Berry-AMA prize
In 1848 gold was discovered in California, setting off a frenzy that sent men and women from across the American continent flocking to the West Coast in search of fortune. The Gold Rush brought wealth to some, but most left empty-handed.
Today, marketing consultants Ed Keller and Brad Fay say social media is unleashing a new kind of frenzy. Blinded by the shiny allure of sites like Facebook and Twitter, companies are spending billions, pinning their hopes on social media marketing without appreciating how social influence truly functions in the marketplace. That’s where Keller and Fay come in.
For the past six years, they have undertaken a unique, ongoing study of consumer conversations. The surprising result? Over 90 percent of consumer conversations still take place offline, primarily face to face. The implication is Social media is big and growing, but it is dwarfed by the real world in which people live and interact.
Make no mistake. There is a hugely important social wave rolling across the world of business today. New scientific evidence reveals that we humans are fundamentally social beings for whom social influence determines nearly every decision we make. And the greatest impact comes when those conversations happen face to face, as emotions and nonverbal cues are communicated along with words.
In The Face-to-Face Book , Keller and Fay offer key insights and recommendations for how businesses, both large and small, can best succeed in today’s socially motivated consumer marketplace by looking at how consumers act in real life as well as online. The authors share their extensive research and the stories of companies—large, such as Apple, General Mills, Kimberly–Clark, and Toyota, as well as innovative small businesses—that have hit pay dirt with a balanced and holistic approach to social marketing. They also discuss those that have bet big and lost by overcommitting to online social media alone.
The Face-to-Face Book does not overlook the extraordinary growth and importance of social media, which offers important new tools for businesses of all kinds; however, the authors caution against placing too grand a bet on online social media at the expense of other forms of social marketing.
This book is a celebration of the supremely social nature of all human beings and how that drives the consumer marketplace. It’s a story that will leave you thinking anew, and talking.
Winner of the American Marketing Association’s Berry-AMA prize
In 1848 gold was discovered in California, setting off a frenzy that sent men and women from across the American continent flocking to the West Coast in search of fortune. The Gold Rush brought wealth to some, but most left empty-handed.
Today, marketing consultants Ed Keller and Brad Fay say social media is unleashing a new kind of frenzy. Blinded by the shiny allure of sites like Facebook and Twitter, companies are spending billions, pinning their hopes on social media marketing without appreciating how social influence truly functions in the marketplace. That’s where Keller and Fay come in.
For the past six years, they have undertaken a unique, ongoing study of consumer conversations. The surprising result? Over 90 percent of consumer conversations still take place offline, primarily face to face. The implication is Social media is big and growing, but it is dwarfed by the real world in which people live and interact.
Make no mistake. There is a hugely important social wave rolling across the world of business today. New scientific evidence reveals that we humans are fundamentally social beings for whom social influence determines nearly every decision we make. And the greatest impact comes when those conversations happen face to face, as emotions and nonverbal cues are communicated along with words.
In The Face-to-Face Book , Keller and Fay offer key insights and recommendations for how businesses, both large and small, can best succeed in today’s socially motivated consumer marketplace by looking at how consumers act in real life as well as online. The authors share their extensive research and the stories of companies—large, such as Apple, General Mills, Kimberly–Clark, and Toyota, as well as innovative small businesses—that have hit pay dirt with a balanced and holistic approach to social marketing. They also discuss those that have bet big and lost by overcommitting to online social media alone.
The Face-to-Face Book does not overlook the extraordinary growth and importance of social media, which offers important new tools for businesses of all kinds; however, the authors caution against placing too grand a bet on online social media at the expense of other forms of social marketing.
This book is a celebration of the supremely social nature of all human beings and how that drives the consumer marketplace. It’s a story that will leave you thinking anew, and talking.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2012
3 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 13, 2012
The concept of the book intrigued me, but the authors didn't really make their case very well. I think they are correct about the notion of face to face marketing, but this was just not the best book I've read about the concept. I think The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell makes these points MUCH better.
November 5, 2020
Ever wonder if you should go all digital?
This book says no and they provide a lot of cases studies on how the consumer journey starts and ends. The author made the case strongly favouring word of mouth and show how it can be integrated into your marketing campaigns whether offline and online.
Lots of data given with charts in certain chapters. While the book title is interesting enough for me to pick up, the repetition of concepts and case studies bores me. It was not an easy read so I say if you're not a serious marketer and not trained in marketing metrics, you can give this book a skip.
Let me share with you my biggest takeaways;
1. Never ever stop your advertising campaign even when the economy is rough as people will come and find you when things get better. Reduce your budget but never stop advertising.
2. Word-of-mouth is the most powerful offline marketing channel and must be used together with online campaigns. The key here is to create advertising and marketing campaigns that people can take from online and talk about it offline where most of the recommendation and sales happen.
3. Good marketing should get people start talking about the products or services that ultimately leads people to buy.
4. Influencers are not people with millions of followers on social media. Most of the times these followers do not convert to sales. Focus on brand advocates, the grass root people that have large influence among their peers and friends. Sometimes they don't even have a social media account but wield big influence in the community.
5. Do not fear negative reviews as most people are positive and prefer to engage with other people about things they like rather than dislike
This book says no and they provide a lot of cases studies on how the consumer journey starts and ends. The author made the case strongly favouring word of mouth and show how it can be integrated into your marketing campaigns whether offline and online.
Lots of data given with charts in certain chapters. While the book title is interesting enough for me to pick up, the repetition of concepts and case studies bores me. It was not an easy read so I say if you're not a serious marketer and not trained in marketing metrics, you can give this book a skip.
Let me share with you my biggest takeaways;
1. Never ever stop your advertising campaign even when the economy is rough as people will come and find you when things get better. Reduce your budget but never stop advertising.
2. Word-of-mouth is the most powerful offline marketing channel and must be used together with online campaigns. The key here is to create advertising and marketing campaigns that people can take from online and talk about it offline where most of the recommendation and sales happen.
3. Good marketing should get people start talking about the products or services that ultimately leads people to buy.
4. Influencers are not people with millions of followers on social media. Most of the times these followers do not convert to sales. Focus on brand advocates, the grass root people that have large influence among their peers and friends. Sometimes they don't even have a social media account but wield big influence in the community.
5. Do not fear negative reviews as most people are positive and prefer to engage with other people about things they like rather than dislike
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2013
The Face-to-Face Book answers a lot of questions regarding how people communicate today with technology etc. It tells you how to influence offline conversations with tools we already have. I enjoyed how the book included many case studies so we had evidence to back up what they were saying. I also enjoyed the leadership quotes from Ken Mehlman, and the references to other great leaders.
February 9, 2014
Wonderful reading for every digital marketer and traditional marketer, too. Even advertisers need to read this book to understand how to build proper buzz and don't waste advertising budget.
Really clever cases and deep reading.
Really clever cases and deep reading.
July 5, 2012
Interesting read given all of the hub-bub about social media. Face to face marketing is still effective. Good case studies!
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October 2, 2013I didn't finish it as it was due back and I really wasn't 'into' it. I didn't get past the beginning where they are explaining their credibility. Perhaps I'll pick it up in the future.
January 26, 2014
It was like reading a long thesis - and they made their point towards the end of the book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews