Internal and external advocacy is a complex communication process, with many interwoven purposes, methods, and expected (or unexpected) outcomes. Judith Hoover and her contributors show what the advocacy processes are, using a fascinating set of case histories, and then analyze and evaluate them by means of rhetorical, cultural, critical, and argumentation theories. In doing so they blend organizational communication and classical rhetorical theory, and thus extend the concept of corporate advocacy into new areas of study. An important resource for teachers and students of communication theory and practice, and an unusual insight for corporate communication specialists.

In fourteen case studies analyzed through three significant communication theory perspectives, Hoover and her contributors examine the concept of advocacy by looking at corporate rhetoric, corporate cultures, and the hidden sources of power inherent in both. We listen to the messages of corporate spokespersons such as Lee Iacocca. We observe the internal cultures of business and industry. We investigate the meanings of such terms as Wall Street and consumerism. We broaden our view to include not only union advocacy, but also the role of language in the organizational distribution of power. By synthesizing these cases through yet a fourth perspective, the book not only extends the concept to recognize internal advocacy processes but also reveals the complexity of advocacy strategies that must be designed to accomplish multiple purposes and that must respond to multilayered and interconnected contexts.

Opinion Polls and the Media provides the most comprehensive analysis to date on the relationship between the media, opinion polls, and public opinion. Looking at the extent to which the media, through their use of opinion polls, both reflect and shape public opinion, it brings together a team of leading scholars and analyzes theoretical and methodological approaches to the media and their use of opinion polls. The contributors explore how the media use opinion polls in a range of countries across the world, and analyze the effects and uses of opinion polls by the public as well as political actors.

Social media has received considerable attention, and many potential benefits, as well as concerns, are now being discussed. This book explores how social media can successfully support business processes in marketing, sales and service in the context of customer relationship management (CRM). It presents the fundamentals of Social CRM and shows how small and large companies alike have implemented it. In turn, the book presents analytic and operational software tools that offer features for enhancing and streamlining interactions with customers. The book concludes with an overview of essential design areas that businesses need to bear in mind when introducing social media into their CRM strategies. In this regard, it also points out key success factors, limitations, and data protection aspects.

Marketing is firmly entrenched in many societies and seems to be in accord with economic and social developments. It is relevant to literally millions of businesses and 7.1 billion potential customers. It has become a global phenomenon. It affects all businesses, medias, and service agencies and impacts on every man, woman and child on the planet. It is everywhere ubiquitous and omnipresent, and of relevance in emerging world developing nations and of course in the advanced economies of the 21st century.Marketing has become the dominant connecting mode of expression between business and non-business organisations of all types and sizes, and customers and consumers are continually informed that marketing is in their interest, seeks to fulfil their needs, and changes are invariably presented in a way that are supposedly beneficial to target audiences. However, there are various misgivings about Marketing. For example, many organisations (business or otherwise) do not adopt a customer or consumer orientation. This is seen in many ways - difficulties in consumers being able to contact organisations except by labyrinthine methods, a disinterest and disclination by businesses to treat consumers with respect, products that do not deliver proclaimed benefits and perhaps are incapable of so doing, services that do not match expectations, and products that while they satisfy needs also damage consumers and the environment.

The ever-growing influence of the Internet has caused a paradigm shift in relationships between customers and companies. New types of interaction introduced by Web 1.0 have undergone a dramatic change in quantity and quality with the advent of Web 2.0. Web 3.0, better known as the Semantic Web, will also significantly impact how companies understand Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Customer Relationship Management and the Social and Semantic Web: Enabling Cliens Conexus provides an overview of the field of the Semantic Web, social Web, and CRM by uniting various research studies from different subfields. Providing a forum for the exchange of research ideas and practices, this book is a reference convergence point for professionals, managers, and researchers in the CRM field together with IT professionals. It also aims to explore the opportunities and challenges confronting organizations in the light of customers in Web 2.0 by using new technologies, including semantic technologies (Web 3.0).

Learning to express yourself in a positive and professional way can be an art-form. THE TRADE TECHNICIAN'S SOFT SKILLS MANUAL, teaches these important soft skills with line drawings, photographs, and anecdotes from real case studies. This approach makes the subject area approachable while engaging the reader. The anecdotes are followed by explanations of proven service behaviors, along with proven standards, practice tips, forms, documents and checklists complete the text to teach technicians the fine art of customer service. Based on more than 30 years of studies and field research, this text teaches the skills needed for a trade technician to advance in their careers and differentiate themselves from others in their field. THE TRADE TECHNICIAN'S SOFT SKILLS MANUAL is written by Steve Coscia, a motivational speaker who managed a technical support team for more than 20 years and has used these techniques and practices to advance his own career as an industry expert.

In modern society, it has become increasingly important to consumers that their products be environmentally safe. Green marketing is the most efficient way for corporations to convey that their merchandise is environmentally ethical, which in turn increases profit. Green Marketing and Environmental Responsibility in Modern Corporations is a comprehensive resource for the latest material on the methods and techniques that contemporary industries are employing to raise awareness on sustainable products. Featuring comprehensive coverage across a range of relevant topics such as green consumption, organic food products, supply chain performance, and ecological marketing, this publication is an ideal reference source for professionals, practitioners, academics, and researchers interested in the latest material on sustainable corporate operations.

Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors presents eye-opening theory, literature review and original research on the mutual influence of branding strategies and consumer response. Contributors use multiple methods to analyze consumers' psychosocial needs and the extent that their fulfillment goes beyond the usefulness or value of the items they purchase as well as the fashion industry's means of communicating brand identity and enhancing brand loyalty. Along the way, these studies raise important questions about consumer behaviors, consumer welfare, environmental ethics and the future of consumer research. Included in the coverage: * A symbolic interactionist perspective on fashion brand personality and advertisement response.* Optimizing fashion branding strategies in a fluctuating market.* An analysis of fashion brand extensions by artificial neural networks.* Domestic or foreign luxury brands? A comparison of status- and non-status- seeking teenagers.* The impact of consumers' need for uniqueness on purchase perception.* How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity and the marketing mix.A breakthrough volume on the complexities of how and why we buy, Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors will captivate researchers and practitioners in the fields of consumer psychology, marketing and economics.

A hilarious collection of personal anecdotes from the wacky world of advertising including stories about everyone from Peter Ustinov to Raquel Welch and Ted Kennedy to Jesse Jackson.

"Housework and Housewives in American Advertising" traces the surprisingly persistent depiction of housework as women's work in advertising from the late 1800s to today. Jessamyn Neuhaus shows advertising to be our most significant public discourse about housework, analyzing print ads and TV commercials, as well as ad agency documents and trade journals, to demonstrate how the housewife figure framed household labor as exclusively feminine care for the family. Paying particular attention to the transitional decades of the 1970s and 1980s, Neuhaus demonstrates that even when overtly stereotypical images of housewives became unmarketable, advertising continued to gender housework with the more racially diverse and socially acceptable 'housewife moms' of today.

This book focuses on the economic and political relationships between Russia and Europe, which are currently characterized by the existence and escalation of contradictions. On the one hand, the common history and geographical proximity of Russia and Europe have naturally produced a close interdependence; on the other, current global political affairs and opposing positions continue to hinder the development of common economic relationships in Russia and Europe. This contributed volume describes integration processes in Russia and Europe to illustrate best practice examples and demonstrates how both parties have increasingly come to understand the importance of international cooperation, highlighting economic, legal, philosophical, political and sociological aspects.

This book describes how non-profit organisations (NPOs) communicate what they constitute, signal success and display sustainability in order to convince stakeholders to provide essential resources. Reports on intellectual capital offer a worthwhile approach. Based on empirical research, the book highlights the essential resources for NPOs and on the demand imposed on organisations, as well as the dependencies of those resources and demands. This insight helps NPOs to provide necessary information while keeping the disclosure to a minimum and thus not giving away possible competitive advantages. Further, the status-quo of IC disclosure in Germany is presented and a theoretical framework for the motivation for NPOs to disclose information on their IC is presented. Researchers will find these findings a solid foundation for further research. Finally, a framework for the disclosure of intellectual capital is provided to support practitioners.

If you want to be successful in professional sales, you need a winning formula to generate interest with potential customers, close more deals, and take client relationships to the next level. The Blue Print is a winning combination of powerful strategies and clever tactics to dominate the field of professional sales, advance your career, and vastly increase your earning power

For enterprising business leaders and managers everywhere who strive to deliver consistently first-rate products and services for world markets, "Using Lead Management on Purpose" gives you the edge you need to succeed. Esteemed business consultant, corporate trainer, and psychologist Kenneth L. Pierce shows you how to break free of the traditional leadership style-the "boss-manager" who emphasizes power and ignores the needs and values of others-and to use the dynamic approach of lead management to achieve the ideal balance of support and challenge. By creating an environment of warmth, cooperation, and trust, you will revitalize your employees to contribute the kind of energy, creativity, and commitment that results in top-quality work. Filled with real-world examples and invaluable key-point summaries, this visionary guide shows you how to: Truly inspire workers to perform their best Build high-caliber relationships that honor, support, and empower employees Implement the seven behaviors of caring communication Avoid the seven deadly behaviors that sabotage relationships Enhance your skills for today's evolving leadership roles in organizational development With the secrets, tips, and tools in "Using Lead Management on Purpose," you'll excel in today's increasingly competitive global marketplace by tapping the genius of inspired, fulfilled employees.

This book provides stimulating insights into the ways in which the adoption of experience logic can revitalize marketing perspectives and stimulate novel approaches to the creation and delivery of value. The first part of the book, which has a theoretical focus, reviews the international literature and offers conceptual observations on the experiential perspective. Suggestions are made on how experience logic can act as a new driver for the management of marketing processes in firms within the context of the experience economy. In the second part of the book, attention turns to the applications of experience logic in different sectors, including tourism, commerce, culture, and trade shows. Company-specific examples of benefits of the experiential approach are also explored in case studies on gift box providers, marketing of traditional local products, and the cosmetics industry. The book will be of particular interest for marketing specialists, but will additionally be of value for managers in private companies and public bodies who wish to enhance their marketing methods.

Drawing on 25 years of experience as a salesman, sales manager, and training consultant, David Stumm provides a thoughtful analysis of the sales training process--where it succeeds, why it fails, and what is lacking in current practice--and presents field-tested techniques for creating an effective training program. The book is built around three concepts: reading what is happening in any sales situation; recognizing situational need areas as a common theme in all sale techniques development; and building sales strategies that blend selling techniques into an integrated effort. Each chapter explains the theory behind a different sales skill and translates it into specific sales applications.