The Power of Word of Mouth Movements | Geno Church

In today's episode of the a-Cast, host Marc Binkley interviews Word of Mouth Marketing hall of fame inductee, Geno Church. Geno is the Captain of the creative consulting firm called The Shared Ship. The Shared Ship works with individuals and organizations to transform their internal community as well as build movements of external community advocates.

Prior to The Shared Ship, Geno was the Director of Discovery and Strategy at Brains on Fire. During that time he worked on a number of radically innovative projects and high profile clients to help connect brands and customers through word of mouth movements. Geno is in demand as a keynote speaker and author of two spectacular books called Brains on Fire and The Passion Conversation.

In this interview, Geno shares his thoughts on the power of truly connecting with people. Geno expands on several great topics like the difference between storytelling and advertising, why real life connection is better than online communities, the Fiskar's brand community he helped build, the connection between employees and external customers and how marketers can better incorporate the use of community in their marketing toolkit.

Listen to this podcast and let us know what you think!

Time Stamps

1:24 - How did you get to this point in your career?
17:00 - The big challenge facing marketers today
20:31 - The difference between an advertising guy and a story maker
26:37 - How brands can manage the perceived 'loss of control'
33:38 - The connection between employee and customer communities
40:28 - The difference between the bottom line and The Fight.
44:08 - Word of Mouth isn't just about social media
51:32 - Can you build a great brand without a great culture?
59:29 - Tips on starting your own movement

References

Brains on Fire company

Dear Pirates for Good

First things First Manifesto

The Invisible Hook - The Hidden Economics of Pirates

WOMMA - Word of Mouth Marketing Association