I had the privilege of hearing Joseph Jaffe speak tonight. Jaffe (marketer, consultant, author, blogger extraordinaire) was the fourth speaker taking part in the Conversations About the Future of Advertising series.

His presentation (and the theme of his latest book, Join the Conversation), focus on the refreshing concept of brand engagement with customers as a conversation. One that involves give and take, not just push and pull. He had lots of examples of how this can create real engagement with companies, especially those reaching into the social web space. He also spoke of the pitfalls when initiatives are not supported longterm or companies refuse to truly listen.

I was struck by a story he shared about how he uses his personal social networks. By just promoting it on his blog, Twitter and Facebook he orchestrated quite a successful bumrush on the Amazon charts for Join the Conversation. It’s a great example of the focused power social networking can wield.

His blog, Jaffe Juice, has become one of my new favorites and is packed with tips and lessions about this brave new world of marketing and advertising we find ourselves in. I’m looking forward to reading his books and finding ways to help my clients start their own conversations.

Tags: advertising, blogging, catfoa, facebook, jointheconversation, josephjaffe, marketing, socialnetworking, twitter