del.icio.us tags 03.07.08

Word of Mouth
Robbin at Brains on Fire can't figure out why folks in the C-suite are so freaked out about "loud and proud customers taking co-ownership of (their) success." As she says, "It requires letting go of control," something that the Barack Obama campaign, she points out (as well as Ron Paul, I point out) have been willing to do, to their benefit. In this election cycle, voter generated contact has increased the profile of candidates with minimal name recognition and have helped to turn out record numbers of voters at the polls. "Why," Robbin asks, "should a company care if its customers create art with your product or express their love in a song?"

Digital Advocacy
Katya at Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog has a list of 15 reasons why people make donations to organizations. Note, she says, that "'Because I loved the organization's brochure,' is not on there." What is? Word of mouth, great storytelling, a belief that they can have an impact, tax deductions, personal values, it's the cool/right thing to do. Check out the full list and consider adding a few of your own.

Fan Brands
Dave Armano is such a rock star. I would love to be able to think in terms of visuals and tell such simple yet fascinating stories through infographics in the way he does. This time it's the "Novelty Curve": the path from "I can't live without this" to "what was I thinking?"