Meet the "centaur": today's hybrid, "converged" consumer Not just bricks. Not just clicks. They want both—and more. Meet the 400,000,000+ "centaurs" worldwide who'll make or break your company "Customerization": when and how to customize—and when not to How to combine standardization, mass customization, and personalization—profitably Community: Physical to virtual and back again Centaurs are social animals: you must be wherever they choose to socialize Channels: "Call, click, or visit" How to support high-value relationships that cut across multiple market channels Competitive value propositions: reshaping the value equation Strategies for leveraging all your new sources of value, from entertainment through innovative pricing to peace of mind Choice tools: "Give me search engines and tools to make better decisions" How to cope with the empowered consumer Beyond the silo: Refocusing technology, marketing, and business strategy on the "centaur"—and on transforming the organization Processes, structure, people, incentives, technology: aligning your entire organization to serve tomorrow's best customers Case studies: beyond theory to reality How today's smartest enterprises are meeting the challenge of the centaur

Today's consumer is a centaur: a new hybrid who's mastering the latest technologies but is still driven by age-old human desires and motivations. "Cyberconsumer" business models ignored human reality: that's why they failed. But "back-to-basics" ignores the deep changes the Internet has wrought. The genie's out of the bottle: your customers have profoundly new expectations—and you have powerful new tools for delivering on them.

Convergence Marketing Strategy illuminates the "centaur," showing what today's customers can do, what they're choosing to do, how they're evolving, and where they're headed. Jerry Wind and Vijay Mahajan identify "5Cs" at the heart of the new consumer relationship: customerization, community, channels, competitive value propositions, and choice tools. Most important, you'll discover how to respond today-and begin optimizing your entire organization to serve tomorrow's fastest growing markets and most valuable customers!

Advance raves for Convergence Marketing from business and marketing leaders worldwide:

"The concept of the hybrid is exactly right. There are no extremes-despite what the media ('out with the old') or those averse to change ('only the old') would have you think."

— Bruce Newman, President, The Franklin Mint

"Technology is only the beginning. This book shows how to transform your marketing and business strategies, approaches, structures, and processes-turning technology-enabled opportunities into real profits."

— Mikko Kosonen, CIO and Chief Strategist, Nokia

"Convergence Marketing Strategy is a brilliantly conceived blueprint for marketing in the age of the hybrid consumer. Its revelation is timely: success isn't just about hardware and software, but also the "heartware" and "spiritware" of the emerging hybrid consumer."

— Y.Y. Wong, Chairman, The WYWY Group

"Simply thinking about this book's core idea can change your approach to marketing research and strategy—and your tactical decisions about advertising, price, channels, and product development. This is fundamentally exciting and important."

— Russ Winer, J. Gary Shansby Professor of Marketing Strategy,
University of California at Berkeley

"The Web is not replacing old-style marketing with the "cyber" variety. The Centaur is a neat metaphor for showing how they integrate. I love the way this book debunks today's marketing myths. Whatever you think about post-Web marketing, buy this book and think again."

— Tim Ambler, Grand Metropolitan Senior Fellow,
London Business School

"This book offers the best guidance I have seen for navigating your company to meet the needs of today's hybrid consumers. Prediction: You will finish this book loaded with ideas—and call a meeting to forge a new marketing strategy for winning in this new world where the consumer is king."

— Phil Kotler, S C Johnson Professor of Marketing,
Northwestern University

"At the center of tomorrow's converged future is the centaur: the hybrid consumer who is tech savvy+uniquely human. Wind and Mahajan elucidate the logic+emotion of centaurs and articulate the effective strategies+tactics for marketing to them. A must read for any manager interested in reaching the consumers of today+tomorrow."

— Arvind Rangaswamy, Professor of Marketing,
Penn State University

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 1 Ratings

Finally - 2002-05-14
Reviewer Rating:
An "After The Dust Has Settled" realistic and compelling read on exactly how we all use the web, and several terrific examples of how real businesses - pure play web and brick & mortar - connect. The research, examples, and questions as to how to apply this methodology to every business' day-to-day operations is invaluable for anybody seeking to reach the Centaur in all of us.

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