The Big Idea

In today's and tomorrow's marketplace the key to success in business is the Big Idea - the idea that persuades customers not just to buy from your company, but to buy into it. Nowadays anyone can copy your product, or even your business model. What they can't copy is your worldview, your attitude, your special way of doing things. So in the future, the war in the marketplace will be a war of ideas. The Big Idea maps this new territory and shows how big ideas make great companies. Unlike business models, product ideas or the catchphrases of management gurus, a big idea is emotional. And unlike corporate ideologies, vision or brand, it is shared between customers and employees alike. Customers don't just buy from these companies, they buy into them - they choose them not through economic logic, but through emotional logic. As products and services become more and more similar, emotional logic will become the single most important business driver. The benefits of appealing to it can already been seen: Orange has a much lower turnover of customers than Cellnet and Ikea operates in over 23 countries while MFI only does business in Britain. n The Big Idea Robert Jones, director with brand consulting firm Wolff Olins, uses real-life examples to demonstrate how big ideas can and will transform the business world. A big idea isn't just a cute thing to have: it's the spark that makes some organizations thrive while others just exist.