Crowd Surfing: Surviving and Thriving in the Age of Consumer Empowerment [Paperback]

 

 

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Having worked for David Brain it is no surprise that this book came to be written. David has long had an interest in where the internet will take the marketing and communications industry and how it will shape the future of many businesses.

David's firm, Edelman, is an early adopter of all things web 2.0 and, despite making a few mistakes in the past, it has also been responsible for a lot of the best practice that has shaped the development of online engagement. Having seen both saint and sinner at Edelman, David is well qualified to co-author this book and it's to his credit that he and Martin have done so in such an accessible way.

Crowd Surfing is going to be a huge disappointment to anyone looking for a crowd engagement blueprint to follow. This is a good thing: the `me too' crowd will not be much use to the healthy development of this communications discipline. Those looking for something engaging which will add to or challenge their thinking, or simply help them begin to make sense of all the online noise, will find it a satisfying read.

Brain and Thomas know their stuff and it's nice to read about a subject where the authors are clearly up to their elbows in it.

There are numerous examples of good and bad customer engagement here which give the uninitiated plenty of evidence to consider and there are some nice anecdotes from the experiences of many household names. What Brain and Thomas show is that for those with a pragmatic and flexible approach the theoretical accessibility of online engagement can be as
easy as the technological accessibility.

Crowd Surfing wisely offers no totemic thesis: to do so goes against the grain of the subject matter. What it shows is that the same principles which deliver first class offline communications, (trustworthiness, transparency, responsiveness and diligence) also deliver excellent online communications. As a companion to web 2.0 engagement Crowd Surfing is thought-provoking without being doctrinal, accessible without being simplistic and offers a unique and engaging insight for the inexperienced.

This is an excellent book full of insights, easy to read and a source of lost of questions. One of those few worth adding to the library of `social intelligence' (markets, brands, influence, consumer...)

Crowd surfing is an engaging, well-written, well -informed and (in a good way) quick read. It is a business book rather than a geek's book: laying out the wider picture of the major long-term shifts in the relationship between large organisations (business, political, governmental) and their constituencies, enabled by technology. It is about the impact - for businesses and society - of organisations and their leaders no longer being in control, as the balance of power shifts to individuals in their thousands. Thankfully, the book does not get stuck in this year's passing technology trend, or who the current bête-noir blogger is.

Well done to David Brain and Martin Thomas for the prescience in highlighting Obama's `leadership of the crowd' as he raised millions from small donations, enabled millions to become active phone canvassers and connected with a wide network of interest groups. When read in the light of the presidential election result it does seem clear that successful political campaigning will never be the same. Well done also for clarifying how the online world has pushed Apple into being even more of a closed, less connected control-freak business in surprising contrast to how it has pushed Microsoft into being a more open, partnering, more human business.

The book is very rounded in terms of the universe of constituencies but probably stronger on the impact in the consumer and voter arena than on citizens, investors and employees.

Overall this is an excellent explanation of what is already known, rather than a source of major new insight. We all need to understand the issues raised.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Crowd Surfing
I managed to read it in a about a week of tube journeys. Crowd Surfing is about the social changes and the channels (both online and offline) that have facilitated democratic... Read more

Published on 24 Sep 2008 by Mr. G. Carroll

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy on the Eye. Good for the Brain
An immediate disclosure: David is my boss and I work with him closely, everyday. His has also kindly thanked me in Crowd Surfing. Read more

Published on 20 Sep 2008 by Robert Phillips

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