The Other Kind of Social Networks

Is there any need for face-to-face networking in the era of LinkedIn and Facebook? Craig Smith examines the role that clubs for mixing with the right people can still play on the marketing scene

You know who they are.

The stellar marketers, whose names and faces so often grace these pages, are ubiquitous. They excel at their day jobs, they lead the industry, are natural networkers and can be found at any or all of the elite marketing clubs.

If that is a recipe for professional success, the art is in knowing which ingredients to add first, and in what quantities. Being successful within, and on behalf of, your own organisation is crucial, yet the marketing-industry leader who does not acknowledge the value of judicious networking is, by definition, impossible to find.

Where should the rising marketing star begin when it comes to effective networking? The motivations, methods and forums have changed, even in the relatively short time since today's senior marketers attained their status. However, the overall hierarchy of marketing's clubs and societies remains largely unchanged.

At the head of the networking table sit the grand old four: by age, the Thirty Club, established in 1906; Women In Advertising and Communications London, or WACL (1923); the Solus Club (1929) and the Marketing Group of …

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Publication information: Article title: The Other Kind of Social Networks. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: Marketing. Publication date: February 16, 2011. Page number: 26. © 2003 Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

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