Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

by Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church

Develop and harness a powerful, sustainable word-of-mouth movementHow did the 360-year-old scissor company, Fiskars, double its profit in key markets just by realizing its customers had already formed a community of avid scrapbookers? How is Best Buy planning to dominate the musical instruments market? By understanding the Brains on Fire model of tapping movements and stepping away from the old-school marketing "campaign" mentality.Brains on Fire offers original, practical and actionable steps for creating a word-of-mouth movement for corporations, products, services, and organizations. It takes you step-by-step through the necessary actions needed to start your own authentic movement.Develop and harness a powerful, sustainable, word-of-mouth movementDescribes 10 lessons to master and create a powerful, sustainable movementThe Brains on Fire blog is often ranked in the top 100 of AdAge's Power 150 Marketing Blogs

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Self Help, Buisness

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 5, 2010

Reviews

[Jarred Alexandrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed reading this book a lot and think there is a lot to consider and some practical tips that some business can implement. What I find is wrong with many business books like this is that it does not distinguish between which types of business can benefit from the advice and which cannot. it is assumed that all can...but of course there are many many types of businesses. I can see some business owners spending a lot of time trying to implement the advice in this book but wasting their time because the strategy wasn't right for them. that said, an interesting book that I would ultimately recommend.

[Kyle McManamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great book for uniting people around a common interest/cause/habit/whatever. The writing is engaging and light without frivolity and the insights are often those things that are right in front of you, but have before reading been invisible. Whenever I am involved in moving people to rally around something that matters, I will be thinking of this book and I will be recommending it to others for the rest of my life.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a seasoned marketer (like me), who need a refresher on the power of Word of Mouth Movement..this book is decent. This book gives you a good example of a company that does a successful campaign around creating a movement and talks about the company throughout the book. It's divided in 10 lessons with easy to grasp concept.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I somehow didn’t know about the Fiskateers. I feel like this book should be on the lists for community leader must-reads. Lots of good nuggets and actionable takeaways. Brain is swirling with ideas. 🧠

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, audiobook was really well read and I felt connected to the reader.

[Curt Bobbitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers six specific examples about how successful movements worked better than customary marketing campaigns. The underlining message is that the movement method that the consulting company Brains on Fire offers clients complements traditional branding in myriad ways.

The sample clients are Friscars, Rage against the Haze (a teen movement in South Carolina to reduce teen smoking), MI11 (the musical instrument store-within-a-store of Best Buys), Love146 (a movement to eliminate child trafficking worldwide), IndeBound (enthusiasm for independent bookstores), and Park Angels (a project of the Charleston Parks Conservatory).

The book's ten chapters or "lessons" emphasize the importance for companies of listening to their customers and giving them a degree of power in decision-making.

Section headings appear often through the book. No more than three consecutive pages of text ever appear without a section heading in large all caps or boldfaced title case. The personal, informal tone leads to many fragments, direct address, and sentences shorter than five words.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrative format of this book made it an enjoyable read and easy to remember the lessons taught. I really like the concept of empowering your fans to build a movement around your organization. The word-of-mouth approach is not one that public libraries rely on or listen to. I wish we listened more to what our "customers" were saying. There are some die-hard library users and we don't empower them to be our word-of-mouth ambassadors.
The other important discussion in this book from the point of view of a public library was about identity. What is the identity of the public library? "Put books and information into citizens hands for happiness, enlightenment and sense of community."

[Adam Pedowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well done primer on how companies and brands can identify and ignite (not create) movements among their customers. While there could have been greater industry and behavioral research and examples, the real-world case studies and results of actual Brains On Fire client work presents a compelling case for their perspective. And as to measurement (leadership concerns), I have personally been involved with movements that carry the market along with it. Here, the product/company can be wholly adopted into the parlance of the market, making their separation impossible. Igniting a strong and passionate enough movement can provide an unmatchable ROI.

[Kent Winward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read lots of marketing books -- being self-employed will do that to you. This particular book mirrored a lot of my own experiences as a business owner. I've never had the budget or the wherewithal to conduct the massive corporate campaigns this book talks about, but it was good to get a refresher on why treating clients or customers well creates the word of mouth that can help a business thrive.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know that this book is supposed to be a Marketing book, but it really does contain some life lessons in it as well.

Some tips I remember off the top of my head are:

1. listen to your customers.
2. Don't start a party and ask people to come, go to the party.
3. Everything online needs to drive offline interaction.
4. everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves
5. movements have shared ownership
6. Be fans of your fans

[Reuben Rail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the true soul of word-of-mouth marketing (and hopefully the future of marketing).

It shares great stories (case studies), the insider's view on igniting a community, and also helps to humble marketers in a general sense.

Pick it up. Read it. Live it.

[Suzanne LaVenture · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was asked to read this for an upcoming conference. In the beginning I was afraid it would be awful because it seemed directed to Sales & Marketing types. However, it was fairly interesting and I'm interested to see how we'll apply it to what we do. I'm all for igniting a movement!

[Ray Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to market in today's world by being inclusive and treating your followers are equals. Find and nurture your fan and have them build your business with you.

Great book from a company who has successfully created several movements

[Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book describing the modern reality of intelligence driving business. The Fiskateer story is inspiring but the whole book is about businesses becoming communities that by definition blow the doors off "reasonable growth" as they grow.

[Ayelet · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's sad this book took me 4 months to finish - business books are so hard to get into. I think the first few chapters go slower, but I read the last 30% of the book in an afternoon. There's a lot of good insights and inspiration in here, too.

[Mike Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much new here and it stays a little too high level throughout.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only I could market common sense, I would be rich!
Or maybe if only I could market what I learned as an undergraduate communications major

[Bobby Rettew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It ROCKED! Nuff Said!

[Garlin Gilchrist II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, practical, inspiring. The best book I’ve ever read on building communities and movements. I will be applying the principles shown to every future pubic endeavor I pursue.

[Rodolfo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to work and see for myself everything the book teaches in the MVP Program. I worth the reading but it didn't bring much news for me.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational and motivational. Provides a great "plan of action" for creating a movement at any brand or non-profit.

[Sensei Sarhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Profound book on creating word of mouth movements in business and causes. Very glad I read this book at this time

[Anthony Bovino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is necessary reading for all creative professionals!!! Highly recommended!

[Robbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, I like it. Ha!

[Erin O'sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool read on turning customers into advocates and word of mouth movements.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on "word of mouth" marketing!

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the philosophy of this book. It's a quick read, and extremely thought provoking compared to a lot of other 'engagement' books out there.

[Andrae Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about branding and building a sustainable business that will save you a ton on marketing by fostering conversation around your brand advocates

[Pat Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Just finished reading "Brains on Fire." It ignited me.. Highly recommend the brilliant thinking and approach by the folks at Brains on Fire. Buy it today.

[Marco Ambriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction alone is worth the price of the book! The differences between Campaigns and Movements. Really Good stuff. Looking forward to diving further into this book!