End of Business As Usual

BRIAN SOLIS is globally recognized as one ofthe most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has influenced the effects of emerging media on business and culture. He is Principal of Altimeter Group, a leading research-based advisory firm in Silicon Valley. He has led strategy development and change management initiatives for Fortune 500 companies and emerging businesses all over the world. His blog, BrianSolis.com, is among the world's leading business strategy and marketing resources.

"An inspirational book to help you to see how you have to review your whole approach towards connected consumers." (Financial Adviser, 23rd February 2012) "An accessible insight into the way new consumers behave, what you can learn from them and how to communicate with them." (Director, December 2011)

• Foreword xKatie CouricIntroduction (R)evolution: How Internet Culture Has Created a New Era of Social Consumerism xiiiThis Is None of Your Business, So Make It Your Business xivChapter 1 A Quiet Riot: The Information Divide and the Cultural Revolution 1The Human Genome Meets Digital DNA 4Don’t Blame It on the Youth 5Ch-Ch-Changes 6Chapter 2 Youthquake: Millennials Shake Up the Digital Lifestyle 8Boom 10Digital Darwinism: Controlling Your Way to Obsolescence 12Chapter 3 The Medium Is No Longer the Message 15Social Networks as Your Personal Operating System (OS) 17Don’t Google Me, Facebook Me 19Twitter Me This…The Facebook Generation 19Chapter 4 The Attention Deficit Crises and Information Scarcity 22Remorse and Social Network Fatigue 23Poster’s Remorse 24Does Attention Bankruptcy Loom Behind the Thin Veil of Popularity? 25If You Can’t Tweet ’Em, Join Them 27The Progress of Progress 29Chapter 5 The Evolution of the Network Economy and the Human Network 32Content Was King 33Context Is King: Defining Our Experiences 35The Shift in Networking: Nicheworks Bridge Social and Interest Graphs 36Recognizing the Value of Nicheworks 43Interest Graphs Are the Constructs of Maturing Information Networks 45Chapter 6 The Nextwork: Defining Tomorrow’s Information Network 48Do I Know You? Oh Yes, You’re Friends with Their Friends Who Are Friends with Those Who Are Friends of Mine 50It’s a Smaller World, after All 51Information at the Speed of Tweets 53Chapter 7 Your Audience Is Now an Audience of Audiences with Audiences 56Short Attention Span Theater 57An Audience with an Audience of Audiences 60The People Formerly Known as the Audience 61The Psychology of the Audiences with Audiences 62Zuckerberg’s Law 63Interest Graph Theory 64On-Demand Networking: Investing in Narrow and Wide Experiences 68Chapter 8 Convergence: The Intersection of Media and the Human Network 72The Digital Footprint 73I Want My Web TV.…Be Careful What You Wish For 75Channeling a Connected Audience 77The Living Room Is Alive and Clicking 78New Consumerism: From Clicks to Cliques 79An Audience of Information Ambassadors 81Chapter 9 Measures of Digital Influence and Social Capital: From Nobody to Somebody 83The Human Algorithm 84Digital Influence Creates a New Media World Order 84Defining Influence 85Seeking Relevance: The Social Consumer Hierarchy 86The Social Stock Market 87The Square Root of Influence Is Social Capital 88The New Era of Endorsements: When Nobodies Become Somebodies 91Influence Is Not Popularity and Popularity Is Not Influence 93The Tools of the Trade 95Influencing the Influencer 98Chapter 10 The Dawn of Connected Consumerism 100You Are Now Entering the Trust Zone 101A Day in the Life of the Connected Consumer 103Checking In to the New Reality of Geolocation 106Steering Action through Incentives 111When Purchases Become Social Objects 112It’s Not How You See Me, It’s How I Want You to See Me 113Chapter 11 The Rise of Collective Commerce 117On the Web, One Is a Lonely Number: Socializing Commerce 118The Fifth C of Community = Social Commerce 121Buy with Friends! The Savings of the Crowds 123Build It and They (Won’t) Come 126The Laws of Attraction and Affinity 127ABC: Always Be Closing 132Chapter 12 Creating Magical Experiences 136m-Commerce: The Smartphone Makes Shoppers Smarter 137Reality Bytes 139Price Comparison Apps Lead to Purchases or Competitive Purchases 140Discounting Prices, but Not Loyalty 141Virtual Mirrors Reflect the True Persona of the Connected Customer 144Excuse Me While I Check Out 145Designing Shareable Experiences 147Chapter 13 Brands Are No Longer Created, They’re Co-Created 151Branding the Customer Relationship 151If Ignorance Is Bliss, Awareness Is Awakening 152In the Human Network, Brands Become the Culmination of Shared Experiences 154The Awakening Flips the Switch 159The Poetry of Language and Media 163Chapter 14 Reinventing the Brand and Sales Cycle for a New Genre of Connected Commerce 169Plug into the Grid of Decision Making 170Once More, This Time with Feeling 171I’m Not Just Listening to You, I Hear You; I See and Feel What You’re Saying 172Bring the Essence of Brand to Life 173Brand Essence Exercise 174A Model for Emotive Engagement 175Funneling Through Time 177The Collapse of the Funnel and Emergence of New Consumer Touchpoints 180The Decision-Making Circle 185Chapter 15 Aspiring to Reach beyond Conformity to Inspire Customers 190Market Fragmentation Leads to Diversification 192Behaviorgraphics 197The Interest Graph Is Alive: A Study of Starbucks’s Top Followers 201Chapter 16 The Last Mile: The Future of Business Is Defined through Shared Experiences 212The Apple of My Eye: Designing Magical (and Shareable) Experiences 213The Laws of Engagement 216Like a Virgin: Treating Customers Like They Were Touched for the Very First Time 219Distribution of Engagement Resources and Strategies 224A Market in Transition Begets a Business in Motion 227Chapter 17 The Culture Code: When Culture and Social Responsibility Become Market Differentiators 229The Zappos Story: The Customer Service Shoe Is Now on the Other Foot 231Zappos: Putting the Customer in Customer Service 232Zappos: The Culture of Customer Advocacy 233Zappos: Delivering Happiness 233The New CEO: Chief Experience Officer 235In Good Company: Philanthropic Capitalism and the New Era of Corporate Social Responsibility 237Giving Back Is the New…Red 238One Day without Shoes: A March toward Prosperity and Social Responsibility 239Empathy Loves Company 241Chapter 18 Adaptive Business Models: Uniting Customers and Employees to Build the Business of Tomorrow, Today 244The Adaptive Business Learns through Reflection and Leads through Projection 245The Dilemma’s Innovator 246Rethinking the Future of Business: Building the Framework 250From Bottom Up to Top Down and Outside In to Inside Out 255Dell’s Bells 257The Dellwether of Customer Sentiment 258The Future of Business Is Up to You 265Chapter 19 Change Is in the Air: The Inevitable March toward Change Management 269The Future of Business Starts with Change and Ends with Change Management 270The March toward Change Leads to Relevance: A Blueprint for Change 271Phase 1: Setting the Stage 272Phase 2: Managing Change 273Phase 3: Reinforcing Change 274Connecting Value Propositions to Personal Values 274This Is Your Time 278Chapter 20 What’s Next? The Evolution of Business from Adaptive to Predictive 280Notes 284Index 295