Jaffe Juice

Z.E.R.O. Paid Media as the New Marketing Model

A month after the book launches, I'm finally getting to the blog post about my 4th book, which I've co-authored with my former client and current friend, Maarten Albarda.

Why has it taken me so long to write about it? I suppose a number of reasons:

1. I've been really busy with Evol8tion work, extensive travel and a ton of speaking, including giving the Z.E.R.O. Keynote, which I'm happy to say is extremely tight and being tremendously well received. Normally it takes me a while to find the perfect presentation mix, but with Z.E.R.O., I've hit the ground running...
2. I've had blogger's block or writer's blog or something to that effect. Writing a book really takes everything out of you and I've been waiting to find my writing groove at least on the blog
3. What I have been doing is writing Online Spin on MediaPost bi-monthly. It's been just over a year now and I'm happy to announce that I'm moving to the "Lead Off" position on Monday's, alternating with Maarten, who makes his debut next Monday.
4. Most importantly, Z.E.R.O. marketing is all about slow burn and long tail. It's about using existing customers to gain new ones. It's about utilizing customers and advocates in innovative ways, leveraging existing assets as opposed to piggy bagging on the borrowed interest and/or equity of middlemen.

So with that said, I am pleased and proud to present Z.E.R.O.: Zero Paid Media as the New Marketing Model

In Z.E.R.O., our position is that a perfect storm is coming…in fact it may already be here. To make this case, we introduce several key arguments: business, economic, consumer, media and creative cases – any of which could – by itself - be enough to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but when combined presents a perfect storm scenario.

Our central premise is that if media inflation continues to outpace and run away from economic inflation, the bottom may fall out the media model. Put simply, it will become practically impossible to maintain minimum acceptable levels of reach, frequency, share of voice and presence in the marketplace.

Our solution for this eventuality is the Z.E.R.O. Manifesto, which holds that in a perfect world, the optimal paid media budget would be zero. In other words, brands would not need to spend a dime on paid media, because they would have enough customers; enough word-of-mouth; enough rabid fans and advocates; enough referrals; enough partnerships with entrepreneurs, startups and technology investments; and last but not least, enough assets to activate, amplify and monetize. What is an asset? Your people. Your products. Your packaging. Your clothing. Your billboards. Your trucks. Your stores. Your website. Your content.

Talk is cheap. So many books outline a problem, without putting forward a solution. Section 3 introduces a 10-point action plan, which presents 5 ways companies can implement Z.E.R.O. Internally (Cultural, Organizational), as well as 5 ways they can truly bring Z.E.R.O. to life externally (Strategic, Tactical). From compensation to budget setting; from flipping the funnel to innovation. It's all inside.

Whilst the Z.E.R.O. Vision is for brands to shift from being tenants (renting media) to landlords (owning assets), the "hidden message" here is the paid media will continue to exist (after all the world is not perfect), BUT it shifts from being the "go to" first port of call or star of the show to the final piece of the puzzle; a topper up or co-star / supporting member of the cast/ensemble. That's a significant shift as is the call-to-action for brands to audit their connections and ultimately strive for a 50:50 mix between direct:indirect (assets:media) by 2020.    

Z.E.R.O. is not for everyone and I think it's important to manage expectations. This book is specifically written for C-suite executives that work for leading brands. Which doesn't mean to say that if you are a small business owner, this book isn't for you. In fact, you should look at the struggles and challenges presenting themselves to larger companies as your "foot in the door" or gain. In the 10-point action plan for example, the first 5 items that Maarten writes about from first-hand invaluable experience should all be second nature to you and non-issues. So skip past these if you like...or plan for the time when you get so big that you too will suck (as Jay Chiat once said)

And now comes the part where I ask for your help. 

1. Buy the book. For yourself. Your clients, colleagues, partners, superiors, subordinates, friends, enemies, frienemies!
2. If you buy in bulk, I will do my best to help you out. Just contact me. I'll also try and sign copies for you, which can be done a variety of ways
3. Please review the book on Amazon.com, BN.com etc.
4. Going back to Life after the 30-second spot and Using New Marketing to Prove New Marketing (UNM2PNM) which is very keeping with the Z.E.R.O. theme, if you agree to review the book, I'll send you a copy with my compliments.

Maarten and I know that this book will leave a lot of people very uncomfortable, but it's tough love at worst and a game changer at best. Maarten and I put it this way: if we're wrong about this, you're a winner because you diversified your portfolio, you retook control as a marketer and you invested in your customer...but if we're right about this, well then you just obliterated your competition, potentially changed the game and who knows...perhaps transformed marketing from a cost center to a revenue generator. Maybe you even discovered the next Snapchat, GroupOn or Instagram in the process.

So if you haven't done so already, please give Z.E.R.O. a try. Based on the reactions we're getting from brand marketers who have embraced #zeropaidmedia already,  you'll be glad you did!

Be a hero. Commit to Z.E.R.O.

Related articles

Startups Need To Embrace Zero Paid Media Marketing

Z.E.R.O. Adds Up To New Ways To Approach Marketing

Earned, Owned And Paid Media: How They Impact Your Social Media Campaign

Startups Need To Embrace Zero Paid Media Marketing

Paid Media: it would be so much easier if only robots were on twitter.

From Z.E.R.O. to Hero via Kickstarter

It's hard to resist making this a looooooooooooong post, so instead I'll do my best to be as brief and succinct as possible, so here goes...

My good friend and ex-client, Maarten Albarda and I are co-authoring a book together. It's my 4th book (after Life after the 30-second spot, Join the Conversation and Flip the Funnel) and Maarten's first. Besides sharing the same vision and passion for the subject, we're bringing a 1-2 punch to the table in the form of advertising-agency perspective on the giant elephant in the room: media or rather paid media.

The book is called z.e.r.o. and the sub-title, "zero paid media as the new marketing model" kind of says it all (and in less than 140 characters).

The book posits that in a perfect world, your paid media budget would be z.e.r.o. - literally, but also figuratively in the form of an acronym which stands for Zealots (advocacy), Entrepreneurship (innovation), Retention (customer centricity) and Owned Assets (moving from tenant to landlord)

On one hand, it's me returning to my "Life after" roots, but on the other other (and more poignantly), it's our set up of our premonition of a perfect storm approaching in marketing; one in which the bottom could conceivably fall out of the media model. Fortunately, the world is not perfect and change takes longer than we expect, but then again...just look at how your world has changed in the past few years to validate the fact that sitting and doing nothing is not a viable solution.

For me, it's a bold move for two reasons:

1. I've made the move from being a 3-time published author to self-publishing (thanks to Richard @ Wiley for everything to get me this far and props to my new home, Archway Publishing)
2. We're kickstarting this revolution and here's how you can play a key role.

Kickstarter component:

• Go to Kickstarter and visit our page or just search Kickstarter for Z.E.R.O. or zero
• Check out the video and the overview of the book
• Review the various pledge rewards and become a backer. We've named them after famous misers.
• From the Hetty Green and Warren Buffet (digital and hardcover copies respectively) to the maximum reward, which delivers 10 autographed books and an in-person keynote from either Maarten or myself (only 2 available per person)
• The no-brainer and value rewards are the Mr Burns and Mr Krabs respectively, that also include a 140-character acknowledgement (plug) in the book itself

We just pre-launched the book and Kickstarter campaign at the Festival of Media in Montreux, but here's the crazy part...in just over 24 hours after I hit the publish button (in stealth mode), we've almost hit our initial funding goal of $10,000. With your help, we'll push this over the edge and see how far we can take it.

The wild thing is that the book will become it's own case study insofar that it will demonstrate how we were able to self-publish our book for "z.e.r.o." by tapping into our advocates and leveraging our owned assets. It's U.N.M.2.P.N.M. circa 2005 retooled for 2013.

So...if you're part of my community and/or appreciate my content, show your support on Kickstarter with the pledge amount (or more if your heart desires). I will post regular updates over the 6 week period to acknowledge my backers (which would be you)

And all things being equal, Z.E.R.O. will launch in September of 2013 and will contain the 10-point action plan towards implementing this bold vision towards helping marketing evolve, normalize and allocate scarce resources to a re-prioritized hierarchy of connection points.

 

Jaffe Juice #162 - Face Off with author Ed Keller

I recently sat down with Ed Keller, one half of the book Face-to-Face with co-author, Brad Fay (does that make him "Face" or "Face"?) and one half of the firm, Keller-Fay. He's also the author of "The Influentials," which I found to be really landmark in terms of understanding influence, particularly from a word-of-mouth point of view.

Ed and the book Face-to-Face, focuses on REAL word-of-mouth in the REAL world (IRL). Considering that 90% of all conversations about brands take place "offline", he may be onto something here...

So here's our conversation about funnel flipping, cavemen recommendations, facebook, facebook and facebook and influence, amongst many other topics...

Be sure to forward this to any brand marketers you think would benefit from the discussion.

Listen to it LIVE (left click) or download it HERE (right click)

Subscribe to the show via iTunes here

 

Jaffe Juice #160 - Jaffe and Joel discuss Nike as a Technology company

Is Nike a Shoe company? An apparel company? A health and fitness lifestyle company? Or a technology company? DigiDay Brian Morrissey's insight and my purchase of a Nike Fuel Band prompts a great discussion about brands, branding and the future of marketing and consumer engagement in a digital world. 

Join the Conversation dammit (it's not a cliche when I coined the term and wrote the book on it!) @jaffejuice on Twitter and @mitchjoel on Twitter.

And be sure to forward this to any brand marketers you think would benefit from the discussion and ultimately give their perspective on the theme at hand.

Listen to it LIVE (left click) or download it HERE (right click)

Subscribe to the show via iTunes here

JJTV #133 - FourSquare Check Ins are for the Birds

The other day I went to Bryant Park Grill for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by an "on brand" FourSquare tie-in which was equally matched by the reaction/participation of the store.

It's really not that difficult people.

PS I'll be back for a drink there for sure. Anyone want to join me?

What do you think? Let me know.

• Share JJTV with your Chief Marketing Officer, colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV - FourSquare Check Ins are for the Birds. Here's why: http://bit.ly/foursquareforbirds
• Subscribe to the show via iTunes or YouTube
• Leave a video comment

Jaffe Juice #148 - Chatting with Zuberance CEO Rob Fuggetta about Advocacy and Incentivization

I recently sat down with Zuberance CEO, Rob Fuggetta to talk about advocacy and incentivization.

He's a fan of Flip the Funnel but doesn't subscribe to the idea of rewarding and recognizing the contributions of advocates in the form of giving them something back.

I do.

So we debated and had a conversation.

Hope you enjoy it as well.

Listen to it LIVE (left click) or download it here (right click)

Subscribe to the show via iTunes here

Dear Delta Airlines...I'm back! (did you miss me?)

If you've been following my little #deltaskelter journey from June of 2008 thru September of 2010, I'm happy to say that I finally get to close the book on this drawn-out backwards and forwards.

I guess I have Twitter to thank, but really the kudos goes to ^JF on @DeltaAssist, who played the proverbial Ace of Spades in the Flip the Funnel Deck of Card. He talked to me. He asked if I'd be open to talking on the phone:

He heard me. He listened to me. We had a conversation. He solved my problem. It worked both ways. I even offered to give a keynote presentation of Flip the Funnel to his colleagues.

As far as I'm concerned, the matter is (finally!!!) closed.

Here's what I learned in this very elaborate case of customer activism in an increasingly digital, connected and social world:

1. It's never - and I mean - NEVER too late to solve a problem and come good with a slighted customer
2. Whilst blogging might have been the first sign of this phenomenon i.e. customer activism - example: Dell Hell, Twitter is the Tipping Point.
3. My acronym of what it takes to be a social brand i.e. R.E.A.C.H. (Responsive-Empathetic-Accessible-Connected-Human) really does apply and really does work.
4. Anyone can be turned around if there is genuine, authentic committment and intent.
5. It's important for "customer activists" to be as vocal about the problem's resolution as they were about the problem itself. In fact, companies have a right to (and should) ask for this. It's only fair
6. Whilst Jonathan Salem Baskin has a great point about cost-cutting as a false prophet madsquerading as innovation: Responding to online complaints is a tax that companies pay because of the chronic mismatch between what consumers expect from brands and what they ultimately get (this is without question one of the most brilliant quotes I've read in a long time), he's anywhere on the continuum of mistaken to just plain wrong about the importance of making the effort to engage customers on their terms and on their turf: Tools like Twitter aren't some dream of customer empowerment, but rather the nightmare reality of the broken relationships between consumers and brands. Obviously I don't want to quote him out of context, so perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt insofar that he's referring to a deeper problem which Twitter is just exposing (and magnifying), as opposed to enabling or empowering per se.
7. Baskin continues that "an individualized response might momentarily bridge the gap, but it won't fix it. Never will." He's right if he's talking about a templatized or empty automated response - even if it is by a human (see: @bofa_help); but he's a little off the mark if it is prelude to a meaningful conversation or dialogue that ultimately leads to closure. This is the difference between the "A" of Acknowledgment without the "D" of Dialogue from the Flipped Funnel Customer Activization Process.
8. So is all of this worth it? Hell yeah. Delta lost probably somewhere in the region of $125,000 or 250,000 miles of business from me (and who knows how much more via negative word-of-mouth or referral halo) We get lost in the potential amplification of social media, when in reality all we should be focusing on the potential of one, singular customer at a time.
9. Highlighting is cool on TypePad although now that they've been acquired, hopefully it won't go away. Translation: This isn't rocket science. It's common sense. And it's good business sense. Our customers are human beings. Flawed. Emotional. Often irrational. They're also not "rules" to be engaged. They're not "one size" square pegs that fit into all square holes. Their holes are round. And oval. Sometimes all we need to do is to meet them halfway and/or treat them as individuals. Even craft or customize a solution that works for them. Harder than it sounds, I know...
10. "You don't get a second chance to make a good first impression; you do however get a second chance (or third in Delta's case) to make a good second (or third) impression." Delta has me back. It's probation as opposed to exoneration, but (for now), the slate is clean. 

Perhaps you see this is just kvetching by loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed "influencers" who have a blog and aren't afraid to use it. Maybe so, but that doesn't excuse the real symptom (hint: it starts with you), so now it's time to get working on the cure (hint: you again)

...and based on their behavior and performance of late, I think Delta is climbing and will "keep climbing" in terms of their ability to foster, nurture and more importantly, harness the power of loyalty, evangelism and advocacy.

Hopefully you will too.

Being grounded isn't much fun nowadays.

The Power(ed) of Social Media

 
WOW! It really is possible to keep a secret in a world where there are no secrets (only information you don't already have). I just got back from C.E.S. in Vegas and after hanging out with people like GaGa, Levar Burton, Brent Spiner, Scottie (Monty), Jeff Cutler, Chris Heuer, Brian Solis, Chris Brogan (not really), Bobbie Scoble (not really), Jeff Pulver (not really), Leo (really), Justine (i), Sarah (almost told her), Rick (sorry), Steve Rubel, Rohit (how was the Adult Film party?), David Churbuck and much much more, not a word or whisper about 00011110 (the binary equivalent of the magic number 30).

Sooooooo......after 3+ years after founding and building crayon into a social media strategic playa, today I get to announce that crayon is now the "powered crayon" (hat tip to Forrester's Augie Ray) AKA crayon has been acquired by Austin-based Powered, Inc.

Along with crayon, Powered has also acquired Portland-based StepChange, gurus extraordinaire in all things social networking and mobile apps, widgets and presence (fan pages etc) and New York-based Drillteam, demons in engaging brand loyalists and advocates in the form of offline and online seeding and activation programs.

I should probably also tell you that Powered itself is a leader in terms of creating, building and sustaining branded communities online.

You don't have to look too hard to connect the dots and see that the concept of "community" is an incredibly strong common thread that brings all four companies together - whether this lives in the form of social networking or a tupperware party.

We don't want to resort to the usual plethora of poppycock and bravado (other than solely mine of course) and we're mindful of empty promises - especially in the social media space. So for now, let's just say that the four compaines have combined to build - what we believe is - the first full service social media agency with scale.

Let me stress this is a work-in-progress and that we intend to prove ourselves and let our collective work speak for itself. We already have an arsenal of case studies, but now it's time to let 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 30.

I'll be constantly updating a list of resources that you can refer to for more information, including the social media press release and various blog entries from both inside our company (CMO Aaron Strout's post here, including answers to several FAQ's) and outside.

Update: Additional press/blog mentions:

• crayonista Greg Verdino's post
• MediaPost
• Adweek
• PaidContent.org
• Austin Statesman
• Web Strategy
• Agency Spy

For now, I wanted to do 3 things:

1. Share with you why I sold the company I started
2. Talk to you a little about my passion for what I think we can achieve
3. Give thanks

I actually don't look at this as selling (or certainly selling out), but rather "buying in." Whereas most company owners, founders or execs sell and as quickly as you can say "golden handcuffs", bolt....I'm joining a company that I think can do amazing things - not only for its shareholders and clients, but for the industry at large. More on that in a jiffy.

I have to say that being an "entrepreneur" or "small business owner" is probably the hardest and most worthwhile thing I've ever done professionally. I guess I was both when I left the traditional agency world in 2002 and formed my jaffe, LLC army-of-one, but when you have partners, employees, members or professional "dependents," it's a different ballgame altogether.

To explain why I sold crayon is to explain to you why I started crayon in the first place. I've always believed that it's easy as pie to be a prognosticator or pundit. Writing books or giving speeches about dumb companies making dumb decisions is just part of perpetuating the status quo. This is probably why there's so much (justified) backlash against self-proclaimed social-media experts. I didn't want to be part of the problem; I wanted to part of the solution. I wanted to be part of a team again. I wanted to turn strategic and creative ideas into reality and in doing so, prove that the vision in my books was credible and capable of moving mountains.

I believe that we did just that in the past 3 years for clients including the likes of Panasonic, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, American Airlines, H&R Block, Colorado Technical University, Facebook, ooVoo, GyPSii and much more.

So now it's time to kick that up a few hundred notches. I call it taking one step forward in order to leap forward 100 more steps in the process.

Those of you who know me are well aware that I'm "financially challenged". I'm also no operational guy. I'm an Interruptor and I wanted to focus on doing what I love and what I do best, as opposed to the incredibly complex and demanding rigor of running a company.

...and that's exactly what's happening. I get to ramp up my evangelism big time, focus on maximum damage and destabalization within the lethargic industry, whilst simultaneously helping our clients reap incredible rewards from implementing commitment-based programs that are head and shoulders ahead of their competition.

On the way into Vegas, I had a chat with my friend, Sean Finnegan, who heads up all of Starcom Mediavest's Digital Media. We debated whether business needed a dedicated social media department or the industry needed a dedicated social media agency. The counterargument was that social media was too important to be siloed or specialized into a vertical capability. I was itching to tell Sean the news, which quite clearly emphatically communicates where I sit on this debate.

Put succinctly, what percentage of traditional agencies TODAY truly gets (and delivers against) digital, let alone social? I rest my case. How on earth can we expect traditional agencies to master both digital AND social at the same time? On a different level, I'd argue that the same could be said about digital and P.R. agencies when it comes to social. And I did in this Adweek article and as you can see in the comments, the truth hurts.

Bottom line: social is both a horizontal and vertical imperative and I intend to do my part to help Powered become one of (if not the) leading social media agency that can deliver broad-based and profoundly transformational social media solutions to brands that need them.

With my third book, "Flip the Funnel" coming out in about a month's time, I expect to invest a good chunk of my time promoting and talking about the book; dividing my time between writing, speaking and conference events on the one hand and working closely with the group's clients on the other. I'm giddy with excitement about the rise of customer experience and how "retention can become the new acquisition" (more on that soon) and will be devoting much headspace to the central themes of the book.

I also intend to rededicate myself to blogging...yes, blogging. To hell with Posterous and Twitter. I'm all about the renaissance of blogging. I also plan to revive Jaffe Juice - the New Marketing Podcast, starting with a live podcast on Tuesday morning at 9am EST with all the new members of the Powered family talking about the momentous event. If you'd like to listen in and participate with questions, comments or challenges, here's the link. And last but not least, I'm going to continue building out Jaffe Juice TV (check it out why don't you and subscribe on iTunes or via YouTube)

Whereas Drillteam and StepChange will continue to operate as independent entities, crayon is very quickly rolling up into a bundled Powered package. That said, crayon's strategic solution of consulting, planning and advisory services will continue to be offered (only now with more oomph, diversity and scale).

And so finally to thanks. I wanted to start off by thanking my family for putting up with me working 7 days a week for the past 7 years and spending so much time on the road.

I want to thank my family of crayonistas: Greg, Jane, Amadeo, Kate and Gary for putting up with me until the end. In particular, I have to single out Greg Verdino, who is my right hand and without him, I would be lost.

I want to thank all of our clients. Your belief, support and most importantly, friendship, is invaluable beyond words. One of my most incredible memories from crayon will be the EQUAL partnership and bonds formed with our clients. I simply despise how so many agencies have a superiority complex and feel their clients "don't get it"; they do. Big time. I totally expect these relationships to continue; with genuine personal and professional respect as a mandatory.

Finally, I want to thank all the ex-crayonistas who played their part at some point in building this company, but for whatever reason moved on. As you can see there are a lot of them and I think this emphasizes how difficult it is to run a business that is so strongly reliant on talent and properly invest and manage the cultural, interpersonal and yes, even political dynamics that are part of the job. Every single person here is a star and many have gone on to achieve fantastic things since leaving (which is something that I'm pretty proud of). Your color from the big box will always remain "retired": Gary C, Francis, Shel, Neville, CC, Aaron, Michael, Chris, Steve, Scott, Melissa, Seni, Deb, Earl, Adam S, Adam B and Gary K (and if I left anyone out, I apologize and will you add you in ASAP.)

So I guess that's it for now. I'll be spending the next day or two trying to respond as much as possible to comments on this blog, Facebook, text messaging, e-mail, cell and yes, of course Twitter (there's a Twitter press conference today at 2pm EST, hashtag #powered). I hope you can join tomorrow's (Tuesday) podcast recording at 9am EST. I hope to see many of you and continue this conversation in person at some point....sooner rather than later. Perhaps at SXSW or next week's MarketingSherpa e-mail conference in Miami.

These are exciting times and the tide is going to rise like no end to float all boats that embrace change, and sink those that resist it (because of all those holes)

I'm a proud Sprint Ambassador

I have to take my hat off to the folks over at Sprint (PS You don't need to spend $1.2bn for advertising, just more programs like these) for their follow-through with the Sprint Ambassador program.

I was invited to participate in Round 3 of the program and this weekend I received a really cool phone, fully-loaded with all the bells and whistles. From what I understand, I received it before it even goes into stores.

It's the new - reversible - Samsung Upstage phone and as you'll see by the photographs, it doubles as a regular phone (conventional look and file), but also flips to create a multimedia screen.

Even cooler is how you can expand the screen to a more familiar portrait representation.

Yesterday and today alone, I must have told 15+ people about the phone, including a hands-on demonstration with my NYC cab driver (don't worry the light was red)

Today, I watched MSNBC live (United Airlines made an emergency landing), used the GPS coordinates for directions and listened to Gwen Stefani's song with Akon, "Sweet

Escape" (hey, I'm experimenting)

I also took a video of myself walking the streets of Manhattan and did some cool edits of a photograph of my daughter using Sepia tone and a Heart-shaped border.

This is - by far - one of the best examples of blogger/influencer outreach that I have seen. The smart follow-through and persistence was particularly noteworthy. So was the fact they didn't nix me after round 2, in which I was fairly quiet.

Above all, credit for finally nailing it by sending the best phone possible. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this phone (reactions to it on the street have been overwhelmingly positive and yes, I disclose the fact I got this for free and am an Ambassador, but have no skin in the game) and although I said I would probably never exchange my Blackberry/Cingular for Sprint, I am coming round...

Sprint Ambassador in the News

Article in Brandweek (subscription required) about the Sprint Ambassador program. It actually came about as I was talking to Brandweek reporter, Todd Wasserman about another story. When I told him about the Sprint Ambassador program, he actually wrote a dedicated article about it.

In the interview, I explained that I have no problem accepting this kind of "gift" (unlike traditional journalists), and have enjoyed giving them the visibility - where authentic, appropriate and relevant. That said, I stressed the importance of disclosure, transparency and integrity; not to mention respect for one's audience.

Here are a few snippets:

• ...Sprint launched the service last fall with no advertising.
• In all, about 400 people signed up for the program,
• The program netted the term "Sprint Ambasador Program" 389,000 hits on Google. Jaffe said that, in itself, was a sign of success. "You can’t buy 400,000 hits," he said.
• Such transparency represents a major risk for marketers looking to get their word out to the blogosphere, yet it remains a powerful, if untapped way to boost sales.
• In 2004, Procter & Gamble gave free Mr. Clean Auto Dry kits to bloggers and asked for their honest appraisals. Last year, Nokia launched the Nokia 7710 VIP Program, an effort similar to Sprint’s that gave free phones to 1,800 people around the world.