Table of Contents

Foreword v
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv

Part 1
Word of Mouth Recommendations: Marketing's Holy Grail

CHAPTER 1 Stew Leonard's and the 30-Minute Recommendation 3
CHAPTER 2 Why Angie and Her List of RecommendationsAre Worth $1.4 Billion 9
CHAPTER 3 Fixing What Advertising Has Broken 21
CHAPTER 4 A Whole New Model for a Whole New World 29
CHAPTER 5 The Power of Positive Recommendations 39
CHAPTER 6 Why, Where, and How We Recommend 47
CHAPTER 7 Some Recommendations Are More Valuable Than Others:The Oprah Effect and the Infl uencer Ecosystem 63

Part 2
The Road Map to Recommendations

CHAPTER 8 Know: Understanding Where and How Your Brand-andYour Competitors-Are Talked About and Recommended 81
CHAPTER 9 Plan: Articulating Your Shareable Story, BoostingYour Search Ranking, and Formalizing Your Paid,Earned, and Owned Recommendable Brand Strategy 95
CHAPTER 10 Identify: Discovering Those People Whose RecommendationsInfluence Your Brand's Purchase Decisions 113
CHAPTER 11 Activate: Creating Compelling Content and ExperiencesThat Engage-The 90/10 Rule 125
CHAPTER 12 Protect: Identifying and Neutralizing DeterminedDetractors: Hear Me's, Reputation Terrorists,and Competitive Destroyers 139

Part 3
Beyond Marketing: Operationalizing Recommendations

CHAPTER 13 Customer Service That Gets You Recommended 153
CHAPTER 14 Attracting and Keeping the Best: Becoming theMost Recommended Place to Work 169
CHAPTER 15 Creating Products and Offerings Your CustomersTell You They Will Buy: Product Innovation and R&D 187
CHAPTER 16 Tying It All Together: Becoming a HighlyRecommended Business 201
Endnotes 215
Index 219

About the Author

PAUL M. RAND is the founder, president, and CEO of Zocalo Group, one of the world's leading digital, social media, and word of mouth marketing agencies and one of the fastest growing companies inside Omnicom Group. He also serves at the Chief Digital Officer for Ketchum, a leading global communications firm. He served as president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and is on the board of the national Council of Better Business Bureaus and vice chairman of the Dean's Advisory Board for DePaul University's Driehaus College of Business and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

WWW.HIGHLYRECOMMENDEDBOOK.COM

Reviews

"The book is well-written and easy to read. Rand introduces a few new concepts that are easy to implement into any type of marketing. It's a great book for those new to marketing, and it's a good refresher for those that have been in marketing for a while." BlogCritics 20130924