Reviews

The new Brad Pitt movie "Moneyball" is in theaters around the country and it's got something for everybody. Whether it's the feel-good story about baseball, Aaron Sorkin's fast-paced stylistic dialog, or the whole Brad Pitt thing, it's easy to find something to like about this movie. Even with all that going for it, its biggest appeal may be the lesson it has for social media marketers.

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"Moneyball" is not just a baseball story.

It is a fascinating look at how breaking old thinking and applying new metrics can improve efficiency and generate better results.

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Like we saw with the old school baseball executives in "Moneyball", social marketing performance evaluation in most companies is "subjective and often flawed". It's time to challenge that outdated thinking. If you want social media to drive your business, apply the principles of "Moneyball" to your social media marketing now to improve efficiency and results.

By Brian Cavoli, from CNBC Guest Blog

Winning isn't everything, voracious Vince Lombardi used to say, it's the only thing. But what if Lombardi was wrong? What if other things mean more, last longer, have more significance than victories, not only in life but also in the particular lives of the people who play the games?

This is the heretical premise of the thoughtful and entertaining "Moneyball," based on the equally iconoclastic bestseller by Michael Lewis. Starring Brad Pitt in top movie star form, it's a film that's impressive and surprising.

It's a surprise because "Moneyball" is that rare sports movie that doesn't end with a rousing last-second victory or a come-from-behind celebration. Fittingly for a book its author calls "a biography of an idea," it deals not only with wins and losses but also with the quixotic quest of a man who wanted to revolutionize a sport, someone who was willing, in Lewis' words, "to rethink baseball: how it is managed, how it is played, who is best suited to play it, and why."

By Kenneth Turan, from Los Angeles Times