In today''s Internet-driven world, customers have more power than ever. Through what interactive marketing expert Pete Blackshaw calls "consumer-generated media"-blogs, social networking pages, message boards, product review sites-even a single disgruntled customer can broadcast his complaints to an audience of millions. Blackshaw shows managers, marketers, and business leaders how to establish and maintain credibility for their brand by being authentic, listening and responding to customers, and forming relationships built on openness, transparency, and trust.Filled with stories based on his experience working with Fortune 500 brands such as Toyota, Dell, Nike, Sony, General Motors, Unilever, Nestle, Southwest Airlines, and Bank of America, Blackshaw offers a clear strategy for sustaining a competitive advantage by creating enduring, loyal relationships with today''s consumer.

Pete Blackshaw is executive vice president of strategic services at Nielsen Online. A former co-leader of interactive marketing at Procter & Gamble and a graduate of Harvard Business School, he has been on the cutting edge of online media, consumer opinion, and word-of-mouth behavior for more than a decade, and is quoted frequently in the media. Pete is a biweekly columnist for the Click Z Network, cofounder of the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association, founder of the consumer feedback portal PlanterFeedback.com, and the author of ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com, which has been named one of the top 100 marketing blogs by Advertising Age magazine. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and two children. Lloyd James has been narrating since 1996, has recorded over five hundred books in almost every genre, has earned six AudioFile Earphones Awards, and is a two-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. His bestselling and most critically acclaimed performances include Elvis in the Morning by William F. Buckley, Jr., Ben Hur by Lew Wallace, Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitskin, and Mystic Warrior by Tracy and Laura Hickman. Lloyd''s background as a performer includes extensive work in classical theater and folk music. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children.