Information Marketing (2nd ed.)

Citation

Bruce, C. (2008), "Information Marketing (2nd ed.)", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 316-317. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830810880405

Jennifer Rowley has made many accessible and significant contributions to our thinking about information and information services. Information Marketing is no exception; this second edition fully incorporates and addresses the challenges of our blended information environment. Rowley skilfully synthesises marketing concepts and the information product and services context in a manner that is relevant to students and practitioners from information organisations of all types. Her text contains challenges and ideas for those who have been involved in marketing, as well as practical hints and tips for those seeking to become acquainted with what is required. It also contains regular reflective prompts which will appeal to the educators among us.

Rowley claims that marketing is everybody's business, not just the province of marketing staff. Each one of us is responsible in some way for bringing together people's “needs for information and knowledge … through matching these against appropriate information resources and services”.

Building on this foundation, she takes us, in Chapters 1 and 2, through important basics such as the nature of marketing, marketing mix, marketing orientation and the idea of information as product. Chapter 3 is devoted to customers and to understanding how they seek to benefit from information products and services. Rowley emphasises the importance of understanding that people are interested in benefits, solutions and value, rather than the products themselves, and explores the process of consumer decision‐making. Chapter 4 focuses on the information products and services that require marketing and introduces a model of product that helps to explain why client might prefer one product over another. An overview of the product lifecycle is also included.

Chapter 5 shifts attention to relationship building, emphasising the importance of securing customer loyalty and the way in which people's experience of information services influences the character of the relationship built. Loyalty needs to be managed, and a number of factors should be taken into account when working to retain loyalty. Chapter 6 explores branding and corporate identity, the advantages and disadvantages of brands, as well as what might be involved in creating them. Marketing communications and the communications mix are the theme of Chapter 7, where Rowley also suggests approaches to the use of important elements such as sponsorship, exhibitions, advertising and the physical environment. The remaining chapters treat price, pricing decisions and policy; market research, as well as strategy and planning.

The entire work incorporates a thorough review of critical contemporary thinking about marketing in relation to information and its services. The text crosses the spectrum of concepts from the nature of the product and customers, to the need for strategic marketing plans and new technologies to aid the busy manager. References and further reading are included in each chapter. Some are appended by case studies, and most are enlivened by figures.

This second edition would be invaluable as a text as well as a refresher and motivator for the busy professional. For those who have already benefitted from the first edition, this new edition is an essential update. It will be of interest to everyone interested in connecting people with information.