The crowd before newly-elected Pope Francis in 2013. Photo credit: Associated Press / Michael Sohn

Brian Solis of the Altimeter Group envisions a future brimming with potential, and a key part of his vision of the future are connected customers. These people are connected thanks to amazing technologies that enable the shared experience to take center stage, and for which new measures of success highlight many big opportunities. The connected customer is the focus of this post, the second in a five-part series that I’ve devised to capture his grand vision and share with you here.

Part One: Great Technologies

Brian Solis of the Altimeter Group has a compelling vision of the future – one which is replete with promise made possible by great technologies. But these great technologies come with a need to keep them in the right perspective (more on that below). In addition to great technologies, his vision of the future includes connected customers, shared experiences, new measures of success and big opportunities. This post is the first in a series in which I plan to describe each of these parts of his grand vision and hopefully do each of them justice.

Part Two: Brian Solis’ vision of the future: Connected Customers

Perhaps you’ve seen connected customers out and about – they’re the ones who seem constantly abuzz – planning events, experiencing them or telling you all about them. How do you know all their details? Because they tell practically everybody about it – before, during and after the experience.

Part Three: Shared Experiences

Brian Solis has a vision of the future that involves shared experiences – many, many shared experiences. And his message for marketers is pretty clear – focus on shared experiences because that’s what really matters. That’s a pretty bold statement, but he backs it up with a rationale that’s so simple and easy that it’s IOTTMCO – once it’s pointed out to you. So let me point it out.

Part Four: Success Metrics

The future of business will require new success metrics. Since the future of business has been established by Brian Solis as being about shared experiences with connected customers enabled by great technologies, the next logical question might be whether or not those same technologies afford the ability to get new success metrics. Perhaps, but let’s not go there so fast.

Part Five: Big Opportunities

There are big opportunities in store for business in Brian Solis’ vision of the future, just as there are equally big opportunities for customers. They emanate from the importance of shared experiences, taking place with connected customers and which are fueled by great technologies. As is often the case, these opportunities may present themselves initially as challenges, so the key is to have the right perspective or perhaps to have very smart people help us recognize them.