Early reviews from the #BrandVandals bookclub

#BrandVandals by Steve Earl and me isn’t just a book; it’s a conversation about reputation wreckers, the modern weapons at their disposal and how organisations should look to go about building better defences. It continues the story of Brand Anarchy published last year.

#BrandVandals is a world first – a book with a hashtag as its title, meaning the online conversation and commentary about it can be captured easily.

We launched a bookclub for #BrandVandals about a month ago working with the team at Bloomsbury.

In a 24x7 era of digital communication there’s something wonderful about people taking the time to read and review a book. And it’s really fantastic to see people picking up our ideas and thinking.

Here are some of the early reviews from people that signed up.

Gritty and raw… a veritable romp

#BrandVandals is a veritable romp through the world of communication, public relations and everything else in between and around it, and makes for a thrilling read. […] The style is no-nonsense, plain English, jargon-free and enticing. It’s gritty and raw and a reflection of the world we are operating in and the reality of the types of conversations that take place about our brands, employees and organisations. Rachel Miller

Important reading material… a must read

“The book is a must read because the authors, perhaps for the first time, have understood the full extent of the reputational risk posed by social media – and explained in useful terms how organisations should be responding. There are lots of books on social media, many of which express pretty elementary thoughts. This one, however, provides important reading material for anyone working in corporate comms.” Alex Singleton

Timely and thoughtful

“This timely and thoughtful book looks at how social media can destroy corporate reputations and how companies can guard against this. The brand vandals of the title include disaffected shareholders, customers and staff, voicing their opinions to a global audience via the web. The fastest way to resolve a customer service issue, for example, is to complain noisily via Twitter, the authors note.” Frank Dillion

An assured grounding

#BrandVandals handles its subject with expertise – it does not preach, it hopes to prevent and with that you have a simply executed balance of understanding of the opportunity and landscape, complemented with direct strategy. Follow the course of action to put in the right people and right processes in place before situation #BrandVandals undoes the wrong people and wrong process. James Ainsworth

Practical advice for brands

#BrandVandals does far more than share tales of the war weary and the battle triumphant – it offers practical advice for brands. If the best defence is a good offence then using great content to create a little army of brand advocates goes a long way in a crisis. And authors Stephen and Steve say they can get us battle ready in just 90 days – if that’s anything like the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred x 3 then it’s going to be a tough one. Tough, but worth it. Angharad Welsh