The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge

Description

Who owns the marketplace? Is it business-or the customer? According to Doc Searls customers are on the verge of becoming truly free and independent actors in the marketplace with the power of telling vendors what they want, how they want it, and where and when they should be able to get it. This imperative shift in customer power will alter the balance of the market and usher in what Searls calls the "intention economy." In the book, Searls lays out a map for an economy driven by consumer intent, where vendors can-and must-respond to the actual intentions of customers, instead of simply vying for customer attention in hopes of selling them what they might want.

Doc Searls is senior editor of Linux Journal, coauthor of The Cluetrain Manifesto, and one of the world's most widely read bloggers. In The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman calls him "one of the most respected technology writers in America." Searls is a fellow at the Center for Information Technology & Society (CITS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an alumnus fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where he continues to run ProjectVRM.

Named a Best Business Book for 2012 in strategy+business magazine "a must-read book..." -- TechCrunch "Doc Searls has written a very thoughtful book on the intention economy and the promises it holds for both vendors and customers." -- Forbes "Searls's vision raises provocative questions for companies and for marketers." -- strategy+business magazine magazine "This is a thoughtful, well researched book with a compelling thesis and call to action for marketers." -- Decision "a brilliant piece on free markets and the Internet" -- Linux Journal "Do yourself a favor. Read The Intention Economy by @dsearls. It's a very quick study in what VRM means for both brands and consumers." -- Business 2 Community (business2community.com) "The fine distinction between consumer and customer is at the heart of this insightful look at how some companies, like Trader Joe's, are moving in the direction of the "intention economy," where the desires and needs of individual customers primarily determine what the vendors offer." -- Fort Worth Star Telegram "it's fun, insightful reading for anyone interested in becoming "self-actualized, liberated customers." -- SocialMedia.biz "Finally a thoughtful, hype free book worth reading about digital marketing, the relationships we have with vendors, and a vision for a better future where we have greater control of our personal data." -- ZDNet ADVANCE PRAISE for The Intention Economy: JP Rangaswami, Chief Scientist, salesforce.com-- "'Consumers have a right to exercise control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it.' That's the way the draft of the US Government's planned Privacy Bill of Rights begins. If you want to understand what this really means, then Doc's book is the place to start. In fact, if you want to understand anything about what's really happening with customers, this book is for you. An excellent read." Seth Godin, author, We Are All Weird-- "Profound, far-reaching, and one of those books people will be bragging about having read five or ten years from now." John Hagel, Co-Director, Center for the Edge; coauthor, The Power of Pull-- "This book provides a much-needed road map for a profound shift in global markets. Vendor Relationship Management will turn markets as we know them inside out. Searls, as the key architect of this new movement, provides a compelling view of both why and how these changes will occur. You cannot afford to ignore this book." Esther Dyson, angel investor-- "From Doc's mouth to vendors' ears! Doc Searls describes the economy the way it should be, with vendors paying attention to individuals' wants and needs. I see a few such business models emerging, and I hope Searls's book will incite a rush of them." Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D., co-authors of Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage-- "Deliciously skeptical of today's business models, Searls paints a compelling picture of the future. And if you're a business manager, The Intention Economy is essential reading. Think of it as an API for dealing with empowered customers. " Clay Shirky, author, Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus-- "No one has a better sense of the changing relationship between vendors and the rest of us than Doc Searls. In The Intention Economy, he explains the networked economy and your place in it, whoever you are--buyer, seller, advertiser, user."