I’m thoroughly enjoying Eric Karjaluoto’s Speak Human, which could well be a marketing handbook for the 2010s. Current (the references are up to date as of October 2009), Eric looks at how small businesses can do better than the big firms for numerous reasons: (a) fewer layers of decision-making; (b) the ability to engage and be one-on-one with audiences and customers; and (c) simply being nice.
   Beautifully presented (no surprise, since Eric’s SmashLab (or, rather, smashLAB) is a leading design firm), Speak Human is written in a conversational tone, with good anecdotes along the way. This isn’t a book that has to-do lists (which hardly work, anyway): it invites the reader to have a think based on the experiences collected within, and apply them for oneself. There’s good horse sense here.
   There are things that he reveals many brand consultants get wrong. I can relate to one anecdote where his firm had a bunch of law firms come to them because they did such a good job on one. Everyone wanted the same, but better. Yet, sometimes, he says, that’s not the idea, especially when the will isn’t actually there to be different or better.
   If you can imagine the image of a Canadian (or at least one that I hold, with a huge generalization): sensible, honest and full of integrity, you wouldn’t be far wrong when it comes to Eric’s style. He, too, “speaks human” and lives his book’s message in his writing.
   One of the favourite bits: that the two most damaging words to a company’s brand are company policy. Eric says they mean, ‘F*** you, we’ll do whatever we want.’ I never thought about them that way, but he’s absolutely right.