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

Book description

Develop and harness a powerful, sustainable word-of-mouth movement

How 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 movement

  • Describes 10 lessons to master and create a powerful, sustainable movement

  • The Brains on Fire blog is often ranked in the top 100 of AdAge's Power 150 Marketing Blogs

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgments
    1. LOVE
  3. Introduction
    1. IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE, STUPID
    2. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
    3. WHAT IS A MOVEMENT?
    4. CAMPAIGNS VERSUS MOVEMENTS
    5. CAMPAIGNS HAVE A BEGINNING AND AN END
    6. MOVEMENTS GO ON AS LONG AS KINDRED SPIRITS ARE INVOLVED
    7. CAMPAIGNS ARE PART OF THE WAR VOCABULARY
    8. MOVEMENTS ARE PART OF THE EVANGELIST VOCABULARY
    9. CAMPAIGNS ARE DRY AND EMOTIONALLY DETACHED
    10. MOVEMENTS ARE ROOTED IN PASSION
    11. CAMPAIGNS RELY ON TRADITIONAL MEDIA
    12. MOVEMENTS RELY ON WORD OF MOUTH, WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE THE MEDIUM
    13. CAMPAIGNS ARE PART OF THE CREATIONIST THEORY
    14. MOVEMENTS ARE PART OF THE EVOLUTIONIST THEORY
    15. CAMPAIGNS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF
    16. MOVEMENTS ARE OTHERS TALKING ABOUT YOU
    17. CAMPAIGNS ARE AN ON-OFF SWITCH
    18. MOVEMENTS ARE A VOLUME DIAL
    19. CAMPAIGNS EMBRACE AN US-VERSUS-THEM MENTALITY
    20. MOVEMENTS SAY, "WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER"
    21. SO WHO INSIDE YOUR COMPANY SHOULD OWN THE MOVEMENT?
    22. ONE LAST THING
  4. 1. Movements Aren't about the Product Conversation; They're about the Passion Conversation
    1. 1.1. THE NEW PERSPECTIVE
    2. 1.2. REFRAME THE CONVERSATION
    3. 1.3. EXAMPLES? HERE ARE SOME FROM OUR OWN EXPERIENCE
      1. 1.3.1. Rage against the Haze
      2. 1.3.2. The Fiskateers
      3. 1.3.3. IndieBound
      4. 1.3.4. The Park Angels
      5. 1.3.5. Mi11
    4. 1.4. IT'S REFRAMING THE CONVERSATION
    5. 1.5. SIMPLE? NEVER. EFFECTIVE? ABSOLUTELY
    6. 1.6. WHY AM I LOOKING FOR THE PASSION CONVERSATION AGAIN?
    7. 1.7. PASSION STARTS WITH PURPOSE
    8. 1.8. THE PASSION CONVERSATION NEEDS TO BE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
      1. 1.8.1. If We Randomly Chose One of Your Employees and One of Your Customers and Put Them in a Room Together, Would a Passionate Brand Lovefest Break Out between These Two Strangers?
      2. 1.8.2. If Your Company Were (Heaven Forbid) to BeHit by a Bus Tomorrow and Exterminated, Would Your Brand Live On without You? In Other Words, Is Your Customer's Brand Loyalty So Strong That It's Self-Sustaining?
      3. 1.8.3. Can Your Brand Cross Its Heart and Make an Ironclad Promise to Your Customers? Do You Know What That Promise Is?
      4. 1.8.4. Do You Have Talented People Invading You with Resumes? Are the Best of the Best Dying to Work for You?
      5. 1.8.5. If You Threw an Optional Employee Party, How Many of Your Employees Would Attend?
      6. 1.8.6. Is the Entrepreneurial Inspiration That Gave Birth to Your Company Still Alive and Well? Prove It
      7. 1.8.7. Does the World Know about Your Brand Solely through Traditional Media Advertising and Promotion? Or Do You Rely on That Effective and Efficient Word-of-Mouth Advertising?
      8. 1.8.8. Are Your Employees Encouraged and Empowered to Speak Their Minds—or Shut Up and Work?
      9. 1.8.9. Do Your Financial Goals Have a Death Grip on Your Trachea?
      10. 1.8.10. What Is So Important about Your Brand That You Would Work on It without Compensation?
    9. 1.9. HOW DO YOU FIND THE PASSION CONVERSATION?
    10. 1.10. IT DOESN'T END WITH PARTICIPATION
    11. 1.11. BUT I DON'T HAVE A SEXY PRODUCT LIKE GUITARS AND KAYAKS
  5. 2. Movements Start with the First Conversation
    1. 2.1. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DON'T KNOW
    2. 2.2. BURN THE NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
    3. 2.3. A CASE FOR AGENCY VISIBILITY
    4. 2.4. REMEMBER, IT'S PASSION, NOT PRODUCT
    5. 2.5. THE FIRST CONVERSATIONS ALLOW THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A STORY
    6. 2.6. SOUL IS A KEY INGREDIENT
    7. 2.7. THE FIRST CONVERSATIONS GET BUY-IN
    8. 2.8. WHO SHOULD YOU BE TALKING TO?
  6. 3. Movements Have Inspirational Leadership
    1. 3.1. HOW TO FIND A MOVEMENT'S LEADERS
    2. 3.2. FINDING TEEN LEADERS
    3. 3.3. FINDING LEADERS OF A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MOVEMENT
    4. 3.4. GROWING INFLUENCE CREATES LOYALTY
    5. 3.5. PASSIONATE PEOPLE PUT IN THE HARD WORK
    6. 3.6. REMEMBER, IT TAKES ONLY ONE
    7. 3.7. QUIET LEADERS
    8. 3.8. BUT I WANT ONLY THE COOL, SEXY PEOPLE TO BE THE LEADERS OF MY MOVEMENT
  7. 4. Movements Have a Barrier of Entry
    1. 4.1. AND HERE COMES THE QUANTITY VERSUS QUALITY DEBATE
    2. 4.2. EXCLUSIVITY
    3. 4.3. BARRIER OF ENTRY AS A RELATIONSHIP BUILDER
  8. 5. Movements Empower People with Knowledge
    1. 5.1. EMPOWERING TEENAGERS ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE
    2. 5.2. PASSION IN MADISON
      1. 5.2.1. DNA
      2. 5.2.2. Scrap U
      3. 5.2.3. Infection
      4. 5.2.4. How to Be an Ambassador
      5. 5.2.5. Bring It Home
    3. 5.3. THE FAN CYCLE
      1. 5.3.1. Participation
      2. 5.3.2. Evangelism
      3. 5.3.3. Ownership
    4. 5.4. EMPOWER PEOPLE WITH KNOWLEDGE? WHAT ABOUT KEEPING YOUR SECRETS?
  9. 6. Movements Have Shared Ownership
    1. 6.1. HAVE THE COURAGE TO GIVE UP OWNERSHIP
    2. 6.2. BECOME FANS OF YOUR FANS
    3. 6.3. SHARED OWNERSHIP STARTS AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF A MOVEMENT
    4. 6.4. FISKATEERS COMING TO THE RESCUE
    5. 6.5. SHARED OWNERSHIP ALLOWS YOUR FANS TO PICK UP THE BANNER AND MARCH FORWARD
    6. 6.6. BUT THEY'RE NOT USING OUR LOGO THE RIGHT WAY
    7. 6.7. SHARED OWNERSHIP LETS "YOUR" MESSAGE BECOME "OUR" MESSAGE
    8. 6.8. WHAT SHARED OWNERSHIP MEANS FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS
      1. 6.8.1. You Have Permission to Change the System
  10. 7. Movements Have Powerful Identities
    1. 7.1. IDENTITY VERSUS BRAND
    2. 7.2. IT'S EASY TO PROMISE; IT'S HARD TO COMMIT
    3. 7.3. SOLID IDENTITIES ARE POLARIZING
    4. 7.4. SO BACK TO THE QUESTION AT HAND
    5. 7.5. NUMBERS DON'T MATTER, BUT NUMBERING DOES
    6. 7.6. THE RALLYING CRY
    7. 7.7. IDENTITY AFFECTS EVERYTHING
    8. 7.8. DON'T DENY YOUR DNA
    9. 7.9. SAME TRIBE
    10. 7.10. YOUR IDENTITY ISN'T THE IDENTITY OF YOUR COMPETITION
  11. 8. Movements Live Both Online and Off-Line
    1. 8.1. A HISTORY LESSON ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
    2. 8.2. REAL PEOPLE + REAL COMMUNITIES = COMMONALITY
    3. 8.3. DEEPENING RELATIONSHIPS HAVE TO BE ACCOMPLISHED ONLINE AND OFF
    4. 8.4. IT'S NOT ONLINE VERSUS OFF-LINE; IT'S ONLINE WITH OFF-LINE
    5. 8.5. GO WHERE THE PARTY IS HAPPENING
    6. 8.6. YES, ONLINE IS IMPORTANT
  12. 9. Movements Make Advocates Feel Like Rock Stars
    1. 9.1. LIFTING UP YOUR CUSTOMERS
    2. 9.2. DON'T YOU WANNA BE IN THE CLUB?
    3. 9.3. THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE
    4. 9.4. SWAG THAT EMPOWERS
    5. 9.5. THE CLOSEST THING TO BEING A ROCK STAR
    6. 9.6. RESPONSIBILITY = APPRECIATION = OWNERSHIP = ROCK STARS
    7. 9.7. THE LITTLE THINGS ARE BIG THINGS
    8. 9.8. TRUST
  13. 10. Movements Get Results
    1. 10.1. CLOSENESS TO CUSTOMERS
    2. 10.2. RESULTS, RETURN ON INVESTMENT, THE BOTTOM LINE
    3. 10.3. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
    4. 10.4. BONUS LESSON: MOVEMENTS FIGHT AN INJUSTICE
  14. 11. Your Turn
  15. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2010
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470614181