How to become a trusted resource for consumers in a society of constant manipulationPeople decide who to trust, what advice to heed, and which individuals to forge personal or transactional relationships with based on a simple metric of believability. Success, in turn, comes from understanding one basic principle: how to be more trusted.Likeonomics offers a new vision of a world beyond Facebook where personal relationships, likeability, brutal honesty, extreme simplicity, and basic humanity are behind everything from multi-million dollar mergers to record-breaking product sales. There is a real ROI to likeability, and exactly how big it is will amaze you.
Likeonomics provides real-world case studies of brands and individuals that have used these principles to become wildly successful, including:
An iconic technology brand that awakened a revolution among their employees by standing for something bigger than their productsA Portuguese singer who used YouTube to rack up more than 30 million views and launch her professional career. A regional team of financial advisors that went from being last in the nation among 176 branches to first, and stayed there for 13 of the next 15 yearsA tiny professional sports talent agent who achieved the impossible by landing the #1 drafted player in the NFL draft as a client through the power of relationshipsAuthor Rohit Bhargava is a founding member of the world's largest group of social media strategists at Ogilvy, where he has led marketing strategy for clients including Intel, Pepsi, Lenovo, Seiko, Unilever, and dozens of other large companies
WithLikeonomics as a guide, readers will get unconventional advice on how to stand out in a good way, avoid the hype and strategic traps of social media, and appeal to customers in a way that secures your company as a trusted and believable resource.
Prologue: How a Lard Salesman, an NFL Agent, and a YouTube Star Explain Likeonomics xv
Introduction: Likeability, Rogue Economists, and the Lovable Fool xxv
Authors Note: Why I Dont Write about Synergy and Paradigm Shifts xxxix
Part I The Crisis and the Solution 1
Chapter 1Inside the Modern Believability Crisis: How Rockefellers Dimes, War Propaganda, and the Marlboro Man Ruined the World 3
The Birth of Modern PR 5
#occupywallstreet 6
The Propaganda of Revolutions 7
When Advertising Ruled the World 9
The Mass Perception Principle 10
Marketing as the Bad Guy 12
Living in the Society of Distrust 14
What Is the Believability Crisis? 15
Solving the Believability Crisis 16
Chapter 2Navigating the Likeability Gap: What Rwanda, Golf Courses, andOceans ElevenCan Teach Us about the Decisions We Make 19
The Movie Man 21
What Business Are You In? 23
The Engagement Problem 24
The Reinvention of Rwanda 26
Humility Wanted 27
The Likeability Gap 29
The Toilet Business 31
Understanding Weak Ties 32
Golf and the Likeability Gap 33
Why Relationships Are Not about Networking 34
Getting Julia Roberts 36
The Age of Equivalence 37
How Originality Diedand How We Can Get It Back 39
The Differentiation Ideal 40
The Likeability Gap and the World 42
Chapter 3The ROI of Likeability: Why Spreadsheets Need to Die, Websites Stink, and Likeable Politicians Always Win 45
The New Stupid 46
The Sexiness of Analytics 47
Data Overload, Insight Underload 48
Four Ways Data Becomes Meaningless 49
Rethinking ROI 50
The Flip Side of Data 51
Why Context Matters (and Your Sticky Website Actually Stinks) 52
The Real Reason Likeable Politicians Always Win 53
Why Results Matter More than Data 54
The Five Principles of Likeonomics 55
Part II The Five Principles of Likeonomics 57
Chapter 4Truth 59
Oprahs Secret 60
Are You Building on a Sinkhole? 61
The Lie Doctor and the Dalai Lama 61
Empowerment versus the Anti-Truth Policy 63
Embracing Your Inconvenient Truth 64
Selling Cardboard 66
Why Being Truthful Is So Hard 67
The Three Elements of Truth 68
Chapter 5Relevance 73
The Relevance Challenge 75
Canadas Favorite Storyteller 76
Handshakes in Kazakhstan 78
The Renaissance Banker 80
Making the Bank Relevant Again 81
Everyone Who Matters Knows You 81
Why Is Relevance So Hard? 83
The Three Elements of Relevance 84
Chapter 6Unselfishness 89
Creating an Ideal World 90
The Ethical Warehouse 93
What about the Selfish Gene? 94
Wikinomics and the Rise of Collaboration 95
Finding the Altruism Gene 96
Do Doctors Need to Be Competent and Kind? 97
Why People Dont Sue Likeable Doctors 99
How the Unselfish and Compassionate Will Rule the World 101
How Japanese Citizens Responded to Disaster with Unselfishness 102
The Customer Service Revolution Will Be Twitterized 105
Why We Are Selfish 106
The Three Elements of Unselfishness 108
Chapter 7Simplicity 111
Desperately Seeking Simplicity 113
The Plain Language Movement 114
The Myth of Good Complexity 115
Gadget Confusion 116
Flipping the Video Camera Market 118
Winning on Simplicity 119
How Simplicity Inspires Trust 121
How Orange Got People Saving Again 122
Hypnotizing Chickens 123
How Napkins Can Explain Health Care 124
Why Simplicity Gets So Complicated 126
The Three Elements of Simplicity 127
Chapter 8Timing 131
The Most Creative Lunch in History 133
Timing Is Everything 135
How Sweetening Changed Television History 136
Our Time-Shifted Culture 137
Gilt and Luxury with an Expiration 137
The Rise of Shopper Marketing 138
Google ZMOT 139
Why Timing Is So Tough 141
The Three Elements of Timing 142
Conclusion145
Living in the Era of Likeonomics 146
Likeonomics on Mulberry Street 147
Part III The StoryBook 149
Introduction: How the StoryBook Works 151
Bhutan: The Real Happiest Place on Earth 153
Green Bay Packers: Why Cheeseheads Rule the NFL 155
Khan Academy: Flipping the Rules of Education 157
Maverick Adventures: Kitesurfing with Richard Branson 159
Anupy Singla: The Fast Rise of Slow Cooking 161
The Backstory: The Making of Likeonomics 165
Special Thanks 167
Notes: Further Reading and Research 169
About the Author 173
Index 175
