Ben McConnell, co-author of Citizen Marketers and Creating Customer Evangelists, stopped by the Duct Tape Marketing podcast recently to talk about new kind of marketer – the Citizen Marketer.

The book sheds light on some very interesting case studies of customers, fans, angry mobs and just plain happy or annoyed folk, taking matters into their own hands and using some of the latest social media and Internet based tools to get the attention of a company, spread their love for a product or express their loathing.

Citizen marketers have always existed I suppose, only now, they are armed with some very powerful, viral tools that can allow them to have a significant impact, for good or bad, on a brand or product.

The book is a great reminder that good companies, doing good things, can tap this new kind of marketer for more good. And, bad companies, doing bad things, have few places to hide from the armed citizen marketer.