Synopses & Reviews
Praise for Connected by Design“Every now and again a book comes along that expands your mind, challenges conventional wisdom, and is truly disruptive, a precursor to progress. Connected by Design is such a book. Functional integration has enormous relevance as an organizing principle way beyond marketing. I urge you to read the book, be disruptive, and unleash the power of connectedness. It can only do you good.”
—Keith Weed, chief marketing and communication officer, Unilever
“Barry Wacksman and Chris Stutzman have discovered a new secret formula for growth that re-imagines how your company creates value: functional integration. Organizations must embrace the disruptive change of functional integration in order to grow in the new world order of consumer engagement.”
—Joseph V. Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial officer, The Coca-Cola Company
“To be a chief marketing officer today means also being a chief technology officer and chief experience officer. Connected by Design uncovers the business model at the heart of this change, offering valuable examples, tips, and principles for putting the model into action. It’s a must-read for anyone working in marketing at a major brand today.”
—Marc Speichert, global chief marketing officer, L’Oréal Group
“Barry Wacksman and Chris Stutzman have taken a topic close to the hearts of many—design—and shown how the world’s leading companies have successfully integrated it into their business models. Connected by Design is that rare book that can help unify the disparate parts of a big company, from marketing to sales to product development.”
—Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, GE
“I see companies struggling every day to stay relevant in their consumers’ busy lives. Connected by Design maps out how companies like Nike, Google, and Apple have excelled in engaging consumers in the digital age while driving sales growth. It is an essential read for any brand leader looking to succeed in today’s mobile, social, omnichannel world.”
—Jim Stengel, author, Grow, and former global marketing officer, The Procter & Gamble Company
“Functional integration is the defining business model of our day, and Connected by Design captures the essence of this emerging model and how to apply it. Those who want to differentiate and find new ways to grow should find this book extremely helpful.”
—Michael Roth, chairman and chief executive officer, Interpublic Group
Synopsis
Nearly all of the members of the Fortune 500 followed a similar plan and model to become the diversified behemoths they are today: “horizontal integration,” adding brands to dominate a category; or “vertical integration,” investing in—and controlling—all stages of the supply chain. But this growth formula has largely run its course and is perhaps even counter-productive, in this age of overabundant options in any product category. What is the new growth strategy for the 21st century?
The answer is functional integration. A new generation of successful marketers is building entire “ecosystems of value” that blur together products and services in ways that deliver greater value to consumers. Each new piece creates an additional node in the ecosystem, further driving up value. Firms like Apple and Nike are combining interrelated products and services—and consumers are responding by purchasing more and more from these single firms.
Connected By Design is a guide for firms to understand and take advantage of this trend to thrive in the 21st century. The book will show how to conceive of new functionally-integrated products and services and delineate their business strategy. It will also show how to approach the development of underlying technology and user interfaces. It will demonstrate how to create brands, bring them to market through advertising and communications, and integrate them back into the broader digital ecosystem of mobile, social media, retail stores and live events. These are all the required pieces for the creation of functionally integrated ecosystems, as well as the future of business—and Connected By Design is required reading for any firm competing in the market today.
Synopsis
In a world of fierce global competition and rapid technological change, traditional strategies for gaining market share and achieving efficiencies no longer yield the returns they once did. How can companies drive consumer preference and secure sustainable growth in this digital, social, and mobile age?
The answer is through functional integration. Some of the world’s most highly valued companies—including Amazon, Apple, and Google—have harnessed this new business model to build highly interactive ecosystems of interrelated products and digital services, gaining new levels of customer engagement. Functional integration offers forward-looking brands a unique competitive edge by using transformative digital technologies to deliver high-value customer experiences, generate repeat business, and unlock lucrative new business-to-business revenue streams.
Connected by Design is the first book to show business leaders and marketers exactly how to use functional integration to achieve transformative growth within any type of company. Based on R/GA’s pioneering work with firms at the forefront of functional integration, Barry Wacksman and Chris Stutzman identify seven principles companies must follow in order to create and deliver new value for customers and capture new revenues. Connected by Design explains how functional integration drove the transformation of market-leading companies as diverse as Nike, General Motors, McCormick & Co., and Activision to establish authentic brand relationships with their customers, enter new categories, and develop new sources of income. With Connected by Design, any company can leverage technological disruption to redefine its mission and foster greater brand loyalty and engagement.
Synopsis
In a world of ever-rising customer expectations and fierce competition, the business models and growth strategies of the past no longer attain the same level of success. How can companies create new, compelling value propositions that excite consumers in a digital, social, and mobile age?
The answer is through functional integration, a new business model based on building ecosystems of value around interrelated products and services. Whereas previous generations of businesses grew through linear models of “horizontal integration,” adding brands to dominate a category, or "vertical integration," investing in—and controlling—all stages of the supply chain, today’s growth businesses and industries must be more agile, more functional to bring together products and services in a way that delivers greater value to consumers. Through functional integration, brands can ensure a consistent, high-value customer experience and make joined products and services so distinctive, appealing, and compelling that together they secure a lasting competitive advantage.
Connected By Design is the first book to show business leaders and marketers exactly how to adopt functional integration for any brand. Based on R/GA’s pioneering work with the firms at the forefront of functional integration, Barry Wacksman and Chris Stutzman identify seven principles companies must master to create and drive their own strategies. Learn how Apple evolved from selling desktops and PCs to intertwined products and services that now sell handheld devices, music, movies, books, apps and more. Nike has similarly evolved from selling athletic footwear to fitness services and apps that allow users to compete digitally with friends and track their own progress levels, all while still using Nike products. Connected By Design shows functional integration in action at these market-leading firms as well as Google, Amazon, McCormick & Co., Skylanders, and others who have used functional integration to creative innovate new products and business models.Functional integration is the essential business model every industry-leading brand must adopt. Connected by Design offers every company an opportunity to harness this powerful new approach, reinvent its mission and purpose, retain and grow brand equity, and create new markets.
About the Author
BARRY WACKSMAN is executive vice president and chief growth officer at R/GA, a full-service digital advertising and marketing consultancy. During his 15 years with R/GA, Barry has helped shape the vision of the agency and advised dozens of Fortune 500 companies on digital strategy. He lives in New York with his wife and son.
CHRIS STUTZMAN is managing director of the business transformation practice at R/GA, where he helps companies transform their businesses for the digital age. Prior to joining R/GA in 2012, he was a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. He lives in New York with his wife and son.
For more information, please visit www.rga.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: The Model
1 The Growth Challenge of the 21st Century~MS
Principle One: Utility is relevance.
2 The Digital Revolution
Principle Two: Context is king.
3 The Ecosystem of Value
Principle Three: Synergy captures customers.
Part 2: Mastering the Model
4 The Art of the Possible
Principle Four: Reimagine value creation.
5 The Digital Service Launchpad
Principle Five: Redesign value delivery.
6 Navigating the Road Map
Principle Six: Redirect value capture.
7 Cultivating the Ecosystem of Value
Principle Seven: Lead like the world depends on it.
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index