 I’m thrilled to have been profiled in Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's “Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message” (Kaplan Business, 2006).
The book profiles some of the web’s most influential content creators and examines how they are changing popular culture as well as the effect they have on consumers and some of the world’s biggest brands.
My involvement in the book stems from my pet project, SaveSURGE.org. I, along with friend and fellow soda enthusiast Avery Lund started SaveSURGE.org in 2002 after we realized that our favorite soda (Coca-Cola’s neon-green SURGE) was being pulled from store shelves nationwide.
What started out as a 5-page informational site has grown into a full-fledged community boasting over 500 pages of testimonials, photos, original artwork, a documentary and even songs about the world’s only Fully Loaded Citrus Soda.
As the community grew, so did the media buzz. The site was featured in the Associated Press (4/18/05), WCBS Radio in New York City (4/20/05), Fortune.com (4/19/05), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (10/14/03 & 11/1/02) and USAToday.com (7/31/03) – to name just a few. See all press clippings here.
Authors McConnell and Huba took notice and mentioned SaveSURGE.org in their blog and at many of their various speaking engagements. Having previously written the acclaimed “Creating Customer Evangelists”, Ben and Jackie have been touting the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing to some of the world’s largest companies.
Did SaveSURGE.org make an impact? Well, to make a long story short – yes. While Coca-Cola did not bring the original SURGE name back to the marketplace, it did launch a nearly-identical energy soda named Vault nationwide in 2006. One Coca-Cola executive even praised SaveSURGE.org, stating that the community was a big reason why Vault was brought to market.
In June 2005, Avery and I launched our own Vault community at VaultKicks.org. It’s the top destination on the web for Vault fans (even more-so than Coca-Cola’s official Vault website). Coca-Cola has been kind enough to let us announce some of their most important product news, such as the national launch and the new flavor, Vault Red Blitz.
In July 2006, during the writing of “Citizen Marketers”, Ben & Jackie traveled from their hometown of Chicago, IL to meet with me in my Carlisle, PA home. We discussed my experiences with SaveSURGE.org, VaultKicks.org and what companies can learn from their most passionate consumers.
“Citizen Marketers” was released in December 2006 to rave reviews. I believe it’s going to go a long way towards helping companies harness the power of their most dedicated fans and even their detractors.
Thanks to Ben and Jackie for all of their support and for including me in the book!
P.S. – If you have a copy of the book, I’m profiled on pages 97-105 ;)
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