Likeonomics

ROHIT BHARGAVA is a marketing expert focused on helping to bring more humanity back to business. He advises some of the world's largest global brands on communications strategy through his role as a member of the Strategy & Planning group at Ogilvy.??His thinking has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, Fast Company, NPR, and MarketingChina, and his first book, Personality Not Included, was translated into nine languages. Outside of his writing and consulting, Rohit is Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

• Prologue: How a Lard Salesman, an NFL Agent, and a YouTube Star Explain Likeonomics xvIntroduction: Likeability, Rogue Economists, and the Lovable Fool xxvAuthor’s Note: Why I Don’t Write about Synergy and Paradigm Shifts xxxixPart I The Crisis and the Solution 1Chapter 1 Inside the Modern Believability Crisis: How Rockefeller’s Dimes, War Propaganda, and the Marlboro Man Ruined the World 3The Birth of Modern PR 5#occupywallstreet 6The Propaganda of Revolutions 7When Advertising Ruled the World 9The Mass Perception Principle 10Marketing as the Bad Guy 12Living in the Society of Distrust 14What Is the Believability Crisis? 15Solving the Believability Crisis 16Chapter 2 Navigating the Likeability Gap: What Rwanda, Golf Courses, and Ocean’s Eleven Can Teach Us about the Decisions We Make 19The Movie Man 21What Business Are You In? 23The Engagement Problem 24The Reinvention of Rwanda 26Humility Wanted 27The Likeability Gap 29The Toilet Business 31Understanding Weak Ties 32Golf and the Likeability Gap 33Why Relationships Are Not about Networking 34Getting Julia Roberts 36The Age of Equivalence 37How Originality Died—and How We Can Get It Back 39The Differentiation Ideal 40The Likeability Gap and the World 42Chapter 3 The ROI of Likeability: Why Spreadsheets Need to Die, Websites Stink, and Likeable Politicians Always Win 45The New Stupid 46The Sexiness of Analytics 47Data Overload, Insight Underload 48Four Ways Data Becomes Meaningless 49Rethinking ROI 50The Flip Side of Data 51Why Context Matters (and Your ‘‘Sticky’’ Website Actually Stinks) 52The Real Reason Likeable Politicians Always Win 53Why Results Matter More than Data 54The Five Principles of Likeonomics 55Part II The Five Principles of Likeonomics 57Chapter 4 Truth 59Oprah’s Secret 60Are You Building on a Sinkhole? 61The Lie Doctor and the Dalai Lama 61Empowerment versus the Anti-Truth Policy 63Embracing Your Inconvenient Truth 64Selling Cardboard 66Why Being Truthful Is So Hard 67The Three Elements of Truth 68Chapter 5 Relevance 73The Relevance Challenge 75Canada’s Favorite Storyteller 76Handshakes in Kazakhstan 78The Renaissance Banker 80Making the Bank Relevant Again 81Everyone Who Matters Knows You 81Why Is Relevance So Hard? 83The Three Elements of Relevance 84Chapter 6 Unselfishness 89Creating an Ideal World 90The Ethical Warehouse 93What about the Selfish Gene? 94Wikinomics and the Rise of Collaboration 95Finding the Altruism Gene 96Do Doctors Need to Be Competent and Kind? 97Why People Don’t Sue Likeable Doctors 99How the Unselfish and Compassionate Will Rule the World 101How Japanese Citizens Responded to Disaster with Unselfishness 102The Customer Service Revolution Will Be Twitterized 105Why We Are Selfish 106The Three Elements of Unselfishness 108Chapter 7 Simplicity 111Desperately Seeking Simplicity 113The Plain Language Movement 114The Myth of Good Complexity 115Gadget Confusion 116Flipping the Video Camera Market 118Winning on Simplicity 119How Simplicity Inspires Trust 121How Orange Got People Saving Again 122Hypnotizing Chickens 123How Napkins Can Explain Health Care 124Why Simplicity Gets So Complicated 126The Three Elements of Simplicity 127Chapter 8 Timing 131The Most Creative Lunch in History 133Timing Is Everything 135How Sweetening Changed Television History 136Our Time-Shifted Culture 137Gilt and Luxury with an Expiration 137The Rise of Shopper Marketing 138Google ZMOT 139Why Timing Is So Tough 141The Three Elements of Timing 142Conclusion 145Living in the Era of Likeonomics 146Likeonomics on Mulberry Street 147Part III The StoryBook 149Introduction: How the StoryBook Works 151Bhutan: The Real Happiest Place on Earth 153Green Bay Packers: Why Cheeseheads Rule the NFL 155Khan Academy: Flipping the Rules of Education 157Maverick Adventures: Kitesurfing with Richard Branson 159Anupy Singla: The Fast Rise of Slow Cooking 161The Backstory: The Making of Likeonomics 165Special Thanks 167Notes: Further Reading and Research 169About the Author 173Index 175