Proctor & Gamble have been experimenting with social media since 2001 when a plummeting share price led them to conclude that they needed market responsive R&D. They set up their ‘connect and develop’ programme, and detailed a group of ‘technology entrepreneurs’ to search out new ideas, and connect with “the majority of the world’s consumers” – a tall order. They then left them to work out how to do it. The result is now a huge bank of workable social techniques that gives P&G competitive advantage and which, as a by product, has reduced R& D costs by over 20%.

It is, perhaps, prophetic that one of the great 20^th century mass consumption, product marketing brands, is now doing the same with 21^st century relationship marketing for mass innovation. For as manufacturing moves to lower cost economies that is where Western competitive advantage lies. Sustainable business is why socialising with customers in the long term is of enormous value. Rather than the one way ticket of ‘go to market’ channels and communication media, we have to create the return on conversational marketing and web 2.0.

Learning to Manage Customers - To gain the right skills for customer management, organizations need to re-examine their marketing practices from first principles, CRM is an evolution of the marketing discipline - the management practice designed to align company resources with customer requirements in order to achieve optimum profit.

The Customers’ Benchmark - Used cleverly The Customers’ Benchmark can act as the design template for customer propositions, for within the seven factors lie the drivers and inhibitors of purchase decisions and customer loyalty

The Voice of the Customer - Customer feedback improves product design and enables six sigma projects. Feedback is the petrol driving ‘sense and respond’ organization. But what is feedback, how do you get hold of it and, crucially, how do you refine it into an asset.

You have permission to talk to my wife - Marriage vows are a deeply emotional commitment to care, share and endow our partners with all worldly goods. So it can come as quite a shock when call centre agents impertinently imply we are defrauding our nearest and dearest. Welcome to the world of the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA).

Harnessing the Power of Story - Customers make their experiences real, for themselves and others, through stories. ‘Word of mouth’ swirls around our lives, shaping our reality as we talk. We story the world into existence. Those in the know use stories to advantage, for the rest - we are tossed in its flows and eddies

Forget Leaders, We Need Inspiration - Once upon a time big organizations used brand and advertising to present a trusted face to consumers, as they replaced, local businesses. Today, we have relationship marketing and corporate social responsibility to do the same job. But if these ideas are to transform the heart of our businesses we are going to have to change the way we think - not an easy task.

Systems Thinking- As the global context for business continues to undergo seismic shifts, we explore how Systems Thinking can help us to develop enduring strategic solutions.

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