Communities Dominate Brands [Hardcover]

Tomi T Ahonen (Author), Alan Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2005

Communities Dominate Brands: Business and marketing challenges for the 21st century is a book about how the new phenomenon of digitally connected communities are emerging as a force to counterbalance the power of the big brands and advertising. The book explores the problems faced by branding, marketing and advertising facing multiple radical changes in this decade. Communities Dominate Brands discusses how disruptive effects of digitalisation and connectedness introduce threats and opportunities. The authors compellingly illustrate how modern consumers are forming communities and peer-groups to pool their power resulting in a dramatic revolution of how businesses interact with their customers. The book provides practical guidance of how to move from obsolete interruptive advertising to interactive engagement marketing and community based communications, with dozens of real business examples from around the world. Communities Dominate Brands addresses its topic from a marketing (including advertising and branding) perspective and maintains a rigorous focus on business and profit dimensions of the issues involved. The book discusses such recent phenomena as blogging, virtual environments, mobile phone based swarming and massively multiplayer games. The book introduces a new generation of consumers called Generation-C (for Community). The book also discusses such new concepts as the Connected Age, Reachability, the Four C's, Alpha Users, and introduces Communities as an unavoidable new element into the traditional communication model. Combining the digital trends, modern management theories, and emerging new customer behaviour, Communities Dominate Brands arrives to its conclusion, that traditional marketing methods are increasingly ineffective and even becoming counterproductive. The power of the brands and the abuses by marketing have created a vacuum for a counterbalance, and digitally connected communities, the blogosphere, gamers, and especially the always-on connectedness of those on mobile phone networks, are emerging as the counterforce to redress the balance. The power of smart mobs and digitally enlightened communities will react rapidly to marketing excesses as the natural force balancing the power of the brands. The way a business can and must interact with the powerful new communities is through engagement marketing, by enticing the communities to interact with the brands. Communities Dominate Brands covers the major changes taking place in business and industry worldwide from leading digitally connected societies such as Finland, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, UK and the USA. The authors discuss the business relevance of such community related technologies and phenomena such as blogging, CANs, iPod, MMOGs, MVNOs, PVRs, Ringing Tones, SMS text messaging, swarming, VOD. This is the definitive business book on the impact of new technologies, not explaining how technology works, but showing what businesses need to do to make money in the new digitally converging environment. Communities Dominate Brands analyses early successes of engaging communities by global brands such as Adidas, Apple, Audi, BBC, Boeing, Coca Cola, eBay, Ford, Google, Guinness, Hush Puppies, Lonely Planet, MTV, Nokia, Orange, Philips, Red Bull, Sony, Tesco, Tony & Guy, Vodafone, etc. The lessons are amplified with insights from rough punishment by communities suffered by Hutchison/Three networks, Kryptonite locks, Mazda, the Philippines Government, etc. Fully indexed, impeccably researched with documented sources, offering over 50 current business examples and over a dozen case studies, Communities Dominate Brands is a hands-on practical business handbook on how to adjust marketing to deal with communities. With tools such as the Four C's and Reachability, the authors provide a competitive head-start to all who want to achieve customer satisfaction and return business in the 21st century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: futuretext; Second Printing edition (March 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0954432738
• ISBN-13: 978-0954432737
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, deep book makes you think, May 6, 2005

By 

Aaron C (New York NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communities Dominate Brands (Hardcover)

This book impresses on every page with statistics, quotes, evidence and logic. The book proceeds logically from one concept to another. It forces the reader to re-examine assumptions, and constantly presents impressive examples from all around the world. The concepts are real, the trends sustainable and therefore their conclusions are indisputable.

The book is loaded with insightful examples and revealing case studies. The brand names and companies are all household names but the reader will be surprised how many unrelated industries are now involved with communities, from Adidas to Red Bull. Many times you have to put the book down to fully grasp the extent of their meaning.

There are chapters on blogging, on virtual worlds/videogaming and on cellphone based Generation-C. These are used as the three primary areas where digital communities already exist. The book then shows how just about every industry from TV and the internet to locksmiths and aerospace are feeling the impacts of communities.

The early part of the book discusses familiar themes of disruptive technologies, convergence and fragmentation. These are amplified with alarming facts, stats and examples. The second half of the book takes the reader deep into the near future, showing what changes are already happening to society. The book makes a compelling case as it so broadly provides examples from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, England, Finland, Holland etc, in addition to USA and Canada.

The book concludes with the earth-shattering impacts to all of business, that brand dominance is now being superceded by community power. But where most books might end at introducing a revolutionary new problem or issue, this book goes on with another chapter to explain how that problem can be solved.

A remarkable book, thoroughly captivating, immensely insightful. I recommend it to anyone in business or technology.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly practical book on hottest business topics today, November 18, 2005

By 

R Stevens - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communities Dominate Brands (Hardcover)

This amazing book continually impresses with vivid expert opinions and quotes with statistics and page after page of thoroughly documented examples. The book book proceeds logically through the management concerns of today, including disruptive technologies, convergence and fragmentation etc. Then it looks at the crisis facing traditional advertising, branding and marketing. The last three chapters of the book build on the earlier ones show how extensive a change is already happening with global players like Adidas, Red Bull, Boeing and Ford.

The book includes insightful and immediately usable theories. I particularly liked the Four C's the Alpha Users, Engagement Marketing and Generation-C. To top it off, the book includes 13 revealing case studies. I suggest you read Oh My News Korea, Twins Hong Kong and Habbo Hotel Finland to really see the future impacting traditional businesses. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, am now rereading it, and recommend it to anyone in business.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you haven't read this yet what a treat you have in store!, June 21, 2005

By 

Sian Kirwan "Sian" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communities Dominate Brands (Hardcover)

An excellent insight into what enpowered communities will want to do. For people who are interested in the rapidly growing opportunities of the mobile connected youth there are some brilliant inspirational ideas leaked.

What is the value of a blog? who is the writer? why have they felt compelled to write?

Well in this case it's because you will find nothing that has a better finger on the pulse of newly emerging connected communities - communities that have the power to ruin your brand or promote your competitors.