A 21st Century Manifesto for the end of business as usual

<jats:p>At the end of last century in 1999, the Cluetrain Manifesto (cluetrain.com) messages herald the end of business as usual for companies discovering the web and point corporates strongly towards the notion “markets are conversations”. Over a decade later, companies are participating in business online but are still none the wiser this century when trying to deal with connected customers as real people and often have no long term plans for social media activities. In light of this, the End of Business as Usual is not only a timely book in 2012 but also a potential compass for business leaders and communications professionals feeling disorientated by the proliferation of social media technologies. Of course, some might rightly believe “business as usual is an oxymoron” (a hat tip for the book publication by Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid).</jats:p>