David Meerman Scott: “Carpe Diem”

A review of David Meerman Scott‘s latest book by Ariel Olson Surowidjojo ~

Opportunity knocks daily, if not hourly, for companies and organizations that are paying attention to the online discourse about their products and services. And public relations success depends on the ability to engage these discussions in “real-time.” That is to say, right now, while the issue, question or complaint is still relevant.

In his new book – Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now – David Meerman Scott expands the arguments for online consumer engagement laid out in his bestseller The New Rules of Marketing and PR to emphasize a critical ingredient for success: time.

The new media landscape now boasts a limitless number of tools for public communication and the conversation is happening faster than ever—a quick blaze of tweets and blog posts that flares into a news media frenzy and burns out before the company at the center of it all ever bothers to mount a response. Think Dave Carroll’s 2009 YouTube sensation “United breaks guitars” and United Airlines’ failure to respond publicly, while Taylor Guitars and Calton Cases both leveraged Carroll’s publicity to grow their customer bases and introduce new products.

Scott’s book is full of examples of companies that succeeded because they had the “speed and agility” to seize an opportunity to meaningfully engage with their customers online. But this requires more than a generic set of social media tools harnessed to push out new products and information according to a company’s internal timeline. Public relations priorities are increasingly, and often unexpectedly, set by customers. Businesses and organizations need to adapt by providing helpful and authentic responses in “real-time,” because tomorrow may be too late.

Related posts:

1. David Meerman Scott on The Media Savvy Leader
2. David Meerman Scott: Creating Authoritative Voice
3. The News Is Dead. Long Live the News!
4. Corporate Blogs: the Realities and Purpose
5. How to Salvage Toyota’s Brand Reputation

Tags: Featured

Category: Brand Journalism, Featured, Reputation management