Top 10 Social Moments at #ibminterconnect 2012! #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz #social #top10

I had the privilege to be at Interconnect 2012!  It was amazing with over 2500 clients from the Growth Markets!  There was so much energy and excitement in the growth!

I took a stab at sharing with you my Top 10 "twitter-like" moments -- yes, they are over 140 characters but you get the point!

Top 10 Moments from Interconnect 2012!

1. The empowered customer is connected and informed - customers are liberated.  Mobile/social/digital are changing not just the way that customers interact with us, but they are changing business models.  For example, in India 60% web users shop online.  Multichannel  is king here in Growth markets. Croma, camera retailer. sees their  customers demand a  unified experience.

2. Nielson 92% of clients are influenced by network of friends rather than the brand owner.  Forming a brand army of supporters who truly love what you do!

3.  Throw normal IT thoughts out the door for social!  I loved the Asian Paints session where the CIO said " democracy is the best way to implement social - don't use normal IT deployment methods." @choksimm CIO, AsianPaints. The company becomes socially agile: makes customer center of biz, engages decorators n contractors. Takes pain out of paint . Anticipates using customer view, partner view and staff view! They are customer centric - rethinking paint and how it beautifies the home

4. Social is like a diet. Its not something you do temporarily it's a lifestyle change.  This is not a one time IT project but a cultural transformation.

5. 80% of CEOS anticipate turbulent change and bold moves! (GET Bold! A top seller by IBM Press bit.ly/VROpAQ . pic.twitter.com/i1Xpj22c)

6. #1 impact on the business is technology , more important than skills, and the market.   A few sessions emphasized that the focus on technology is needed for every discipline now.  I met with some CHRO, CMOs and CSO who surely showed me they knew their technology!

7.  Social is in every industry and every country in the growth markets.   Manufacturing:  Panasonic, they have improved lead times with social networks being used to drive innovation.  Retail:  Asian Paints is at the forefront of applying employee engagement to drive sales.  Banking:  HSBC uses social for their strategic planning.  And the list goes on!

8. Employee engagement drives client experience.  The role of the employee is critical to improve customer experience Educated social workers innovate and add business value.  Social was discussed as THE way to engage employees.

9. "If you torture the numbers enough, they will confess"  Enough said!

10. 5 Mega-Trends: New middle-class: (BRIC midddle class exceeds G7) , Rapid adoption cloud, Big Data, Social Business, Mobile everywhere.   From a report in April – Online Retail Economic Indicator Report  -- stated that sales on mobile devices are up in Q1 2012 to 13.3% nearly double from 7 % a year ago.   Mobile web is expected to be bigger than online web by 2015.