Branded!: How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility

"You owe it to yourself, to your colleagues, and to your stakeholders to read this book. You'll be glad you did."

—From the Foreword by Dave Evans, author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day and the forthcoming Social Media: The Next Generation of Business Engagement, and cofounder, Digital Voodoo

Hoboken, New Jersey, October 27, 2010, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,-In this day and age, it’s common to see companies using social media to promote their products. Statistics have shown that forty-eight percent of Americans have personal profile pages on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or other social-networking sites, and this figure has doubled in the last couple of years. Many organizations have realized that consumers no longer buy products without first looking online for competitive pricing, so they’re using social networks, YouTube, mobile apps, and the likes to bring their websites to consumers with enticing deals and discounts. Written by retail and technology experts Bernie Brennan and Lori Schafer, BRANDED! HOW RETAILERS ENGAGE CONSUMERS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA AND MOBILITY (John Wiley & Sons, $29.95) includes detailed interviews and stories of the successful use of social media and mobility by some of the most prominent retailers and restaurants. 

As per Bernie Brennan “Branded! provides important information on the impact of social media and mobility in the retail and quick serve restaurant industries. It reviews the power of technology savvy consumers using these new communication channels. Equally important, Branded provides relevant information to executives in consumer-facing industries with unique insights though the successes of major retail leaders in this new digital era.” Lori Schafer adds that “retailers can no longer expect customers to find their stores.  They must bring the store to the customer—where she spends her time – on social media and on her phone.”

BRANDED! comprehensively reviews how retailers use social media and mobility to extend their strategy and culture, while improving market share and brand equity. It further discusses the importance for retailers to embrace transparency and engagement both with their employees and customers.  Branded devotes chapters to retail leaders including: Starbucks, with more than 14 million Facebook fans; Zappos, whose culture is its brand, with over 1.7 million follower on Twitter; Best Buy, a visionary leader in the “Connected Word;”  Wet Seal, an innovator in teen engagement through its Outfitter social network; Macy's, using its digital hub to engage customers across all channels;  JCPenney, embarking on a digital transformation through open culture; Pizza Hut, with its award-winning "killer" iPhone app & ubiquitous Tweetologist; and 1-800-Flowers.com, a trailblazer in mobile and social shopping.  This book is essential reading for leaders of all consumer-focused companies including boards of directors, CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, merchandising and marketing executives, operational executives, and industry consultants.  

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: 

Bernie Brennan is a consultant and investor in retail-related technology. He has served in a number of roles over thirty years in the retail industry, with seventeen of them as Chairman and CEO of Montgomery Ward, Sav-A-Stop Inc., and Household Merchandising. Brennan is a former Chairman of the National Retail Federation and earned the Gold Medal Award as Retailer of the Year.  

Lori Schafer is the Executive Advisor for SAS Institute's Retail Practice. Schafer, an entrepreneur with twenty-five years of experience in retail and consumer-packaged goods' technology, was CEO of Marketmax, Inc., and Vice President of SAS Global Retail. She serves on the board of directors of several retail and technology companies as well as the National Retail Federation.  

Please visit: www.brandedretailer.com for additional information. 

BRANDED!

How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Publication date: October 25, 2010

$29.95; Hardcover; 264 pages; ISBN: 978-0-470-76867-9