“Experience is everything. And, businesses must create experiences that mean something. If necessity is the mother of invention, then vision is the father of innovation.” – Brian Solis, author of #WTF
What's the Future of Business? is not a question, it's an answer
according to author Brian Solis.
What's the Future of Business? Changing the Way Businesses Create
Experiences (Wiley; March 2013; Hardcover & E-Book; ISBN:
978-1-1184-5653-8; $29.95) begins where the 2nd book, The End of
Business as Usual left off. While The End of Business as Usual focused
on the rise of the connected customer and the need for businesses to
become adaptive, What’s the Future of Business? aims to inspire a
movement dedicated to customer and user experiences.
It’s time for businesses to invest in proactive experiences. Solis
believes, “Businesses must invest in defining not only a positive
experience, but also a wonderfully shareable experience. Doing so
influences others to join the fray while offsetting negative inquiries
in the damaging viral effects of shared negative experiences.”
The title of Solis’ book is an acronym for WTF, a playful way to look at
the frustration we all feel, but also explores what to do about it. This
book also takes readers on a hero's journey to change organizations from
the inside out. Readers will discover how experience design amplifies
customer relationships and drives word of mouth.
WTF is also a much more visualized book than anything Solis has written
before. He believes that the only way to convey the importance of an
experience is to make the book an experience itself. WTF is a visual
journey, similar to a digital app but in an analog format.
Solis has partnered with Mekanism, a well-known interactive design
house, to help bring the book and the ideas in it to life. Additionally,
Hugh Macleod (@gapingvoid) picked important themes throughout and
developed original art to personalize each message. The result is
something Solis hopes readers find engaging, entertaining and useful.
The goal of What’s the Future of Business? is to stimulate a movement
that aligns the tenets of user experience with the vision of innovative
leadership to improve business performance, engagement, and
relationships for a new generation of consumerism. Solis provides an
overview of real-world experiences versus "user" experiences in relation
to products, services, mobile, social media, and commerce, among others.
If markets are conversations and consumers are connected, WTF aims to
foster meaningful and shareable customer and user experiences. Solis
hopes WTF motivates both large and small businesses to rethink their
business models, products and services, marketing, and customer and
employee relationships with desired experiences in mind.
