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Learn how you can use the revolutionary five-step marketing process that helped Microsoft, NBC Universal, and IBM achieve double-digit increases in sales. "When HP uses the Voice of the Customer methodology, our marketing campaign results improve dramatically: response rates improve 3X to 10x, sales increase 2x or more, and we can spend far less to get great results. When we don't use VOC, our results can suffer greatly." -Garry Dawson, Hewlett-Packard, Americas Advertising and Direct Marketing Manager "Ernan is a leading expert in creating disciplined "Voice of Customer" driven marketing processes. If you want to move from just talking about VOC to being a leader in implementing it, you must read this book." -Fred Neil, Global Head of CRM, Dell "Finally, someone has found the answer for how to succeed with customer focused marketing. Ernan has pioneered an impressive Voice of Customer process that enables marketers to engage customers on their terms. His book provides readers with a step by step guide for achieving the same levels of success as he has achieved for his impressive list of Fortune clients." -Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University In Voice of the Customer Marketing, Ernan Roman, the award-winning marketing guru who created the IDM (Integrated Direct Marketing) and Opt-in marketing methodologies shows you a proven, step-by-step process for understanding the expectations of your customers and prospects for more effective relationships and deeper levels of value. He then demonstrates how to use these insights to develop high impact, high return relationship marketing strategies and action plans which generate consistent double-digit increases in response and sales. The book's numerous case studies demonstrate the most effective uses of Voice of the Customer marketing in action, and the most frequent mistakes marketers make-trying to "manage" customers rather than continually engaging them. This book is essential reading for all marketers, whether in Fortune or Growth sized companies, who want dramatic increases in sales and marketing effectiveness.

Release Date: May 27, 2008

In 1964, NBC clerk Michael Eisner made $65 a week. Though he only took one business course in his life--accounting--he did have a head for business: as CEO of Disney, he earned over half a billion bucks in 1997. Though he had no foundation in finance, he averted the bloody dismemberment of Disney by takeover sharks when he took over in 1984, and by May 1998 he earned over $80 billion for Disney stockholders. Not bad for a guy who, on his first day in Walt's old office, met a manager of the film division BVD (Buena Vista Distribution) and innocently asked whether "Disney made underwear."In his memoir, Eisner doesn't air quite as much dirty laundry as we could hope he'd be dopey enough to do. Still, it is revealing, and since it's unheard-of for Hollywood potentates to spill any beans at all, this book is required reading for anyone interested in America's major export, popular culture.We learn a fair bit of personal stuff: the crucial impact of Eisner's sternly withholding father, who drove Michael to succeed and made him less than effusive himself in praising underlings; his favorite book in youth (The Catcher in the Rye); his encounters with more madcap Hollywood types; his brush with death from heart disease; the day he got the idea for Beverly Hills Cop by getting physically roughed up by a Beverly Hills cop; his plan to add the naughtier cartoon character Mortimer Mouse to Mickey's family.Eisner gives us his negotiating secret (be willing to walk), his view of prerelease audience testing of shows ("it's almost worthless"), his management strategy (incite raucous debate within strict institutional checks and balances, then make gut decisions), the key to success in movies and TV (strong two-man partnerships: Lew Wasserman and Sid Sheinberg at Universal, Bob Daly and Terry Semel at Warner Bros., and preeminently Eisner and Frank Wells at Disney). Eisner gives a provocative analysis ofwhy Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Ovitz proved disastrous partners for him at Disney, and even confesses to a few screwups of his own (losing his temper and helping to blow the Disney America historical park development). --Tim Appelo

Today's Hottest Trends for On-the-Spot Marketing! "A must read for media and marketers.”—Alan Cohen, CEO, OMD USA "What do fish tacos, data storage, and disaster relief all have in common? Each has harnessed the power of marketing that amplifies via the real-time social web. These and many other case studies are part of this engaging new book that details strategies for marketers to understand, evolve, and profit in the social age."—John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer, Young & Rubicam, and coauthor of Spend Shift "Understanding what's possible and how to use social media will be essential for every marketer; this book will hold your hand in this brave new world."—John Miller, CMO, NBC Universal TV Group "Like it or not, social media is here to stay. It needs to be understood, managed, and harnessed. This book tells you how. Read it!"—Zhihang Chi, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager, North America, Air China Limited "Beverly Macy is a true innovator and thought leader in the field of social media marketing."—Cathy Sandeen, Ph.D., MBA, Dean, UCLA Extension, University of California Los Angeles About the Book In an era when information travels at phenomenal speed along the “real-time Web, ” a brand can explode into popular culture overnight--and die just as quickly. As a marketer, how can you stay ahead of the curve? How do you control the chaos? Two words: Social Media. With The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing, you'll learn how to take advantage of today's "fluid" business environment and develop innovative ways to meet market demands. And here's the best part: all your tools--Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other sites--are free! Leading figures in the exciting new world of sophisticated social media marketing, Beverly Macy and Teri Thompson explain how you can use this global, real-time platform to change how consumers interact with your brand. They then present detailed case studies illustrating how top organizations and emerging brand giants have proven the remarkable effectiveness of social media marketing. Find out how: The American Red Cross turned a single "tweet" into $33 million worth of donations to earthquake victims in Haiti Orange County Transportation Authority engaged citizens to participate in transportation planning and use DIRE CTV boosted customer loyalty and trust by finding and solving complaints in real time EMC transformed business processes by leveraging workforce social media proficiency and "open" behavior models Marketers no longer have the luxury of time to develop, test, and measure a brand. Use the lessons in The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing to launch your brand in a fixed amount of time, accurately measure the impact of your activities, and instantly adjust to any unforeseen events.

NBC ME MY LIFE AS A PAGE IN A BOOK (A MOCK MEMOIR OF MY BIG '80s DAZE WITH THE PEACOCK NETWORK) From May 1984 to December 1985, actor/author/TV producer/singer Herbie J Pilato worked as a Page for NBC-TV in Burbank, California. Many Pages were excited by the frequent showbiz interactions that were accessible and provided by a major TV network facility. Some found work within and outside of the industry. Others found their job only uncovered a depressing, even insulting Hollywood experience. For

Spanning eight decades from the beginnings of commercial radio to the current era of international consolidation and emerging digital platforms, this pioneering volume illuminates the entire course of American broadcasting by offering the first comprehensive history of a major network. Bringing together wide-ranging original articles by leading scholars and industry insiders, it offers a comprehensive view of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) that brings into focus the development of this key American institution and the ways that it has intersected with, and influenced, the central events of our times. Programs, policy, industry practices and personnel, politics, audiences, marketing, and global influence all come into play. The story the book tells is not just about broadcasting but about a nation's attempt to construct itself as a culture--with all the underlying concerns, divisions, opportunities, and pleasures. Based on unprecedented research in the extensive NBC archives, NBC: America's Network includes a timeline of NBC's and broadcasting's development, making it a valuable resource for students and scholars as well as for anyone interested the history of media in the United States.

In 1926, the new NBC networks established an advisory board of prominent citizens to help it make program decisions as well as to deflect concerns over NBC’s dominance over radio. The council, which advised NBC on program development—especially cultural broadcasts and those aimed at rural audiences—influenced not only NBC’s policies but also decisions other radio organizations made, decisions that resonate in today’s electronic mediaThe council’s rulings had wide-ranging impact on society and the radio industry, addressing such issues as radio’s operation in the public interest; access of religious groups to the airwaves; personal attacks on individuals, especially the clergy; and coverage of controversial issues of public importance.  Principles adopted in these decrees kept undesirable shows off the air, and other networks, stations, and professional broadcast groups used the council’s decisions in establishing their own organizational guidelines.  Benjamin documents how these decrees had influence well after the council’s demise. Beginning in the early 1930s, the council denied use of NBC to birth control advocates.  This refusal revealed a pointed clash between traditional and modernistic elements in American society and laid down principles for broadcasting controversial issues.  This policy resonated throughout the next five decades with the implementation of the Fairness Doctrine.  The NBC Advisory Council and Radio Programming, 1926–1945 offers the first in-depth examination of the council, which reflected and shaped American society during the interwar period. Author Louise M. Benjamin tracks the council from its inception until it was quietly disbanded in 1945, insightfully critiquing the council’s influence on broadcast policies, analyzing early attempts at using the medium of radio to achieve political goals, and illustrating the council’s role in the development of program genres, including news, sitcoms, crime drama, soap operas, quiz shows, and variety programs.

A former Goldman Sachs trader and author of the widely praised "Goldman Sachs: A Culture of Success", Lisa Endlich knows everyone who's anyone in the world of philanthropy.Now, we venture inside that world with her as she interviews the top names in philanthropy today: Melinda Gates, one of the driving forces behind the largest philanthropic organization in the world, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Bob and Suzanne Wright - he's the former Vice-Chairman of GE and longtime head of NBC Universal, their Autism Speaks has become the number 1 autism organization worldwide; Bill Donaldson, former head of the SEC; Charles Best and Peter Bloom, the Chairman and CEO of the highly successful organization Donors Choose; Connie Duckworth, the former Goldman Sachs executive who left her coveted Wall Street job to start a not-for-profit rug merchant that focuses on providing employment to impoverished Afghan women and children; and, Anonymous - arguably the leading anonymous donor today, who's given away millions in secret.She also interviews: Bernie and Tim Marquez, CEO of Venoco oil; Philip and Donna Berber, former CEO of CyBerCorp; Tim Dibble, Private Equity, Year Up; Peter Bloom, partner, Atlantic private equity, chairman of Donorschoose. org; and, Paul Tudor Jones, founder of Tudor Investments and the Robin Hood Foundation. Endlich's widely praised skills (Goldman Sachs garned uniform accolades from the media) and unmatchable connections in philanthropy result in a book that's a terrific combination of engaging, smart writing and engrossing interviews.