CHAPTER 1Stew Leonard’s and the 30-Minute Recommendation

In October 2012, after weeks of careful planning, a couple colleagues and I made our way from Chicago to Stamford, Connecticut, for a series of meetings with the brand leaders at Philips Consumer Products Group.

We’d been working with Philips Norelco, and the director of brand communications, Shannon Jenest, wanted to introduce us to the other brands so they could consider word of mouth and social media marketing in their programs for the new year.

We had a busy two days’ worth of sessions scheduled with all of the consumer lifestyle brands under the Philips umbrella—Avent (baby products), Sonicare and Zoom (oral healthcare), Philips Norelco (men’s grooming), and Saeco (espresso machines). ...

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