Small businesses are especially dependent on favorable testimonials — and for many consumers, online forums have become the favored means of sharing feedback about businesses and products.
“About 60% of Americans are putting content on the Web, and it can affect how your product or service is perceived in the marketplace,” Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online’s EVP of Digital Strategic Services, told Fortune Small Business in a recent Q&A.  “Consumers trust each other more than they trust advertisers or businesses.  The question is, how do you turn it to your advantage?”
In general, …

With online consumer forums and personal blogs in ascendence, communications strategies are being redefined — and PR firms, for one, have to adapt. 
That’s the message Pete Blackshaw emphasized in a recent discussion with the editors of The Council of Public Relations Firms’ The Firm Voice. 
Blackshaw, Nielsen Online’s EVP of Digital Strategic Services, is the author of a new book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” (Doubleday), which examines marketing in the era of empowered consumers. 
“I think PR firms are going to have to get much smarter and savvier about …

Advertisers are increasingly employing creative publicity stunts to get consumers’ attention, The New York Times reported Friday.
Recent outdoor campaigns that drew notice include a glass elevator in Manhattan painted to look like a giant Oreo dunking into a glass of milk and “pitvertising” in London by Right Guard. 
Such high-profile public pranks may be par for the course in an era defined by ad-savvy, often distracted consumers, Pete Blackshaw, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategic Services, Nielsen Online, told the Times.
“Advertisers are being pushed to creative extremes, partly because it’s just …

The new book from Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online’s EVP of Digital Strategic Services, is continuing to garner critical praise. 
On Monday, Adweek and the Miami Herald published reviews of “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” (Doubleday).  The Herald referred to Blackshaw as a “guru on customer interaction,” while Adweek’s review featured a video interview with the author (full disclosure: Adweek is owned by Nielsen) . 
“Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” has also received rave reviews from CNBC’s Gloria McDonough-Taub and TIME’s Andrea Sachs.

In separate reviews published Thursday, CNBC’s Gloria McDonough-Taub and TIME’s Andrea Sachs praised “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” (Doubleday), the new book from Nielsen Online’s Executive Vice President of Digital Strategic Services, Pete Blackshaw.   
Sachs concluded that the book, which offers guidance for marketing to Web-empowered consumers, “deserves a spot on the desk of every executive who worries about his company’s reputational risk.”
In her “Bullish on Books” blog, McDonough-Taub echoed that advice: ”‘Satisfied Customers’ is a great guide for business leaders and marketing officers who want to build …

On Monday, The Nielsen Company announced the release of “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” (Doubleday), by Pete Blackshaw, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategic Services, Nielsen Online.  The book, which arrives in bookstores July 8, provides guidance for marketing in the era of Consumer Generated Media (i.e. empowered consumers).
Nielsen will host a webinar preview of the book on July 9.  To register for that event, visit: http://www.netratings.com/resources.jsp?section=event&nav=2.
For more details on the book, visit www.tell3000.com, or read a synopsis of the book in USA Today.