REVIEW

Unleashing The Idea Virus, by Seth Godin, www.ideavirus.com



In the spirit of the season, this week's title is a gift, literally. Seth Godin's previous book Permission Marketing argues that "interruption advertising" is not working and that businesses need to form a relationship with the customer. He takes this idea a stage further in his latest book.

You can buy Unleashing The Idea Virus on the internet from Amazon or from a "real" book shop, or you can download the whole thing from his website (www.ideavirus.com). And you can choose the format - html, PDF, formatted for your Palmtop or even a Powerpoint presentation.

Practising what he preaches, Godin has sent his book out into the world and is waiting for the virus to hook people to his message and his brand. He claims that more than 100,000 downloads and more than 400,000 readers have formed a relationship with his theory and his brand.

Godin says he wrote Unleashing The Idea Virus in response to readers asking how to get a customer's attention in order to be able to bring them into the sort of relationship that he outlined in his earlier book.

The idea is simple: "An idea that just sits there is worthless. But an idea that moves, grows and infects everyone it touches... that is an idea virus."

Just as with his website, the solution is to create an idea, a message, and then set it to work. Consumers are immune to traditional marketing. The way to bring people into an active relationship with your brand is to stop marketing at them and get them marketing to each other.

Easier said than done, but the fact that the manifestation of his idea has caused this review and that a percentage of you will be reaching for your browser proves that there is something there.