Ste Davies' Digital Influence Podcast

"Markets are conversations" is the central theme of the 1999 book, The Cluetrain Manifesto, which predicted that the internet was about to unleash new ways for people to communicate with each other. This Cambrian explosion of conversations would inevitably allow businesses to be a part of them creating a new dynamic of brand and customer interaction. The book says as the internet proliferated throughout the world, new channels such as websites, forums, chat groups and email would revolutionise how consumers and businesses interact. Noticeably the authors failed to predict the rise of blogs, podcasts, online video and social media platforms, as well as the smartphone revolution and its accompanying apps. They also failed to predict the major cultural and political impact social media would have (and is still having) on society too. Predicting the future is hard and anything beyond five years is just a guess. The world was a different place in 1999 yet The Cluetrain Manifesto provided (an underestimated)