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Title:
Complete Guide to Internet Publicity
Review:
This 420-page paperback is written by a veteran of the Internet
publicity business. The text, divided into convenient subject
headings (e-mail newsletters; chat rooms; competitions; online
seminars, etc.) is supported by dozens of case studies, mainly from
O'Keefe's own experiences about what does and does not work.
However, don't be misled - this is definitely not a book about marketing on the Internet. You need to go elsewhere if you want a wide-ranging
discussion of all the aspects of marketing. This is specifically
about just one aspect of marketing, namely promotion and publicity.
Even on this topic, the book is incomplete, as it does not consider,
for example, advertising on the Web, or the use of a Web site as a
promotional tool in its own right. It certainly does not put the
publicity business into the broader marketing context and as such is a
somewhat impoverished book. It gives the impression that all one has to
do is run a successful promotional campaign, without noting that
promotion will not work unless the other aspects of the marketing mix
are also correct.
That said, the book provides a lot of interesting case studies and
food for thought. The chapters provide a lot of sensible (albeit
completely US-centric) advice. Whilst I disagree with some of the
comments the author makes (for example, about the usefulness of
Powerpoint presentations on a Web site), the author does not pull his
punches on what works and what doesn't, which is better than having a
bland description of all the possible techniques without critical
evaluation.
The chapters are largely about tactics and strategy, and
(thankfully) include little in the techie stuff of how precisely to
create a chat site and the like. It is assumed the reader has (or has
access to) the relevant technical knowledge. I found the chapter on
chat rooms unconvincing, and that on online seminars and on contests
so full of warnings of what can go wrong it would put me off trying
them for life.
The book can be recommended to anyone planning a major Internet-based
publicity campaign, but with the health warning again that publicity
is just one part of the marketing mix, and any reader depending just
on this book and thereby ignoring the remaining parts of the mix do so
at their peril.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Charles Oppenheim is Professor of Information Science at Loughborough
University. Prior to that he had a varied career in academia and the
electronic information industry. He is best known for his work on legal
issues for the information professional, but his professional interests
also cover topics such as citation studies, the value and impact of
information, the electronic information industry, information policies and knowledge management. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Like all ex-Infotainers, most of his hobbies are unpublishable, but he can reveal that he is an aficionado of T-shirts and sandals.
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