"Meet Customers 3.0"
Commentary: Smart retailers will innovate to catch next wave of shoppers.
Jeffrey F. Rayport & Eric J. McNulty, MarketWatch, June 5, 2008.
What if the current retail recession is about more than the overall slowdown of the global economy? In our view, there's more here than meets the eye. Put another way, when the good times are back, our bet is that many retail businesses will still be wondering where their customers are.
"Why Ballmer Bailed on Yahoo"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, BusinessWeek, May 10, 2008.
According to Jeffrey F. Rayport, there are five reasons Microsoft's chief gave up on his bid for Yahoo, including its cost and its not making sense.
"QVC shops for ideas for future sales"
Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY, May, 4, 2008.
QVC must figure out how to keep the business healthy as the media and retail landscapes undergo seismic shifts. It needs to remain "relevant" (in marketing speak) to consumers while enticing a new generation of shoppers and battling a perception that direct-response TV retailers sell just hokey, flimsy or kitschy goods.
"Where Is Advertising Going? Into 'Stitials"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, Harvard Business Review, May 1, 2008.
Advertising is now universally acknowledged to be broken, but the need for it obviously still exists. Making it effective again will require radically altering our perspective on the interstitial. Instead of choosing from the available slots between segments of media, marketers must turn the age-old formula on its head. It's high time to focus not on "avails" in media but on those in consumers' daily lives—where, when, and how people might prove receptive to relevant commercial messages. We're not talking anymore about interstitials. We're talking about what I call vivistitials.
"It's Down to Two: Microsoft and Google"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, BusinessWeek, February 4, 2008.
If Microsoft's $44 billion acquisition of Yahoo! looks like a big business story, it is—but not necessarily for the reasons you've been reading about these past few days. Yes, it's a Big Gulp of a deal that will pay a 60%-plus premium on the share price. And yes, it's a transaction that marries two high-profile brands of the technology world.
"Microsoft's bid for Yahoo is bigger than you think"
Commentary: Acquisition would change landscape of online search industry.
Jeffrey F. Rayport, MarketWatch, February 4, 2008.
Sure, at $44 billion, this M&A transaction is gargantuan by any measure -- relative to other media and technology deals, and in absolute terms. Indeed, it dwarfs any one in the breathtaking series of recent combinations that have already shaken the online world, including Google's acquisition of dMarc ($1.1 billion), Publicis's of Digitas ($1.3 billion), Google's of YouTube ($1.65 billion), Google's of DoubleClick ($3.1 billion), and, yes, Microsoft's of aQuantive ($6 billion).
"Will the real Steve Ballmer please stand up?"
Commentary: Why Facebook was worth the bet.
Jeffrey F. Rayport, MarketWatch, November 14, 2007.
On October 1st, in an interview with the London Times, Microsoft's CEO declared social networking was a fad- the kind that appealed to younger people. He added, "There can't be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years, that's for sure." Well, that was then.
"Adopting New Rules of Consumer Engagement"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, Imagining the Future of Newspapers {blog}, November 10, 2007.
There's no doubt that information, not just news, is a growth business, even if newspaper publishing is not. But newspapers must find ways to align themselves with drivers of growth in a market they already know.
"Advertising's death is greatly exaggerated
Commentary: But marketers are losing touch with customers"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, MarketWatch, June 8, 2007.
To judge from ad-industry publications, advertising is in crisis. The stories of upheaval in how agencies serve clients, create value and get paid might readily suggest that advertising as a profession and business is dead, or dying. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"Economics 101: Web Giants Rule 'Democratized' Medium: Why It's the Best of Times and Worst of Times for Web Publishers"
Abbey Kaassen, Advertising Age, April 8, 2007.
Marketspace Chairman Jeffrey Rayport suggests that the share of net ad revenue could disproportionately shift toward the Big Four online portals as the gross adspend steadily rises.
"Demand-Side Innovation: Where IT Meets Marketing"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, Optimize Magazine, Issue 64, February 2007.
It's not a better mousetrap that will set businesses apart. In the online social-networking marketplace, customers can make or break a product. How will businesses tap into this new world?
"What Serves the Customer Best?"
HBR Case Study and Commentary, Harvard Business Review, October 1, 2006.
What should be the priority for Glenmeadie's innovation efforts? Four commentators offer expert advice. Commenting on this fictional case study are David Herman, president of luggage maker Hartmann; Marketspace's president, Jeffrey Rayport; Stephen Dull, vice president of strategy at VF; and Joe Scafido, who leads innovation at Dunkin' Brands.
"Flash in the Online Plan"
Meridith Levinson, CIO Magazine, April 5, 2006.
Rich Internet technologies can make your Web engaging for customers and more profitable for you. Jeffrey Rayport says it's in companies' best interests to try out new Web technologies. "If you don't find a way to experiment with these new technologies to find out which will be relevant to your customers, and your competitors get it right, you'll have a lot of catching up to do," he says.
"Customer Service Hell"
Hannah Clark, Forbes, March 30, 2006.
As companies cut costs and shift their call centers overseas, service has become less personal--and more frustrating. There's a solution to this problem: e-mail. Companies save money by answering queries over the Internet. And customers don't have to waste time waiting on hold. But there's a problem: E-mail help doesn't work well, and it's only getting worse.
"Why CIOs and CMOs Need Each Other"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, CIO Magazine, February 15, 2006.
Every time you see significant dysfunction in the way a company or brand interacts with its customers, it is not the fault of one corporate function but two—both marketing and technology.
"Servolution: The Future of the Service"
Interview with Jeffrey F. Rayport, GDI Impuls, Winter 2005.
"The Strength of Combination of Humans and Machines"
Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski, io new management, Nr. 10, 2005.
"The Customer Service Challenge"
Forbes.com, December 6, 2005.
In the rush to save money, many companies are unwittingly pushing their customers through inappropriate "channel pathways" and poorly executed interfaces, costing themselves near-term revenue and long-term relationships whose value far outweighs whatever savings, if any, may initially be realized. Jeffrey F. Rayport argues that the basis of competition in many industries is shifting from what companies sell to how they go to market through a firm's channels and interfaces.
"Best Face Forward: Improving Companies' Service Interfaces with Customers"
Journal of Interactive Marketing, Volume 19, Issue 4, October 19, 2005.
Jeffrey F. Rayport, Bernard J. Jaworski and Ellie J. Kyung examine the origins of the "front-office revolution," and the need for businesses to manage coordinated interface systems.
"Emerging Thinkers"
Optimize Magazine, October 2005.
A sampling of ideas from the best and brightest thinkers on IT you'll be hearing more about, including Nicholas Carr, Jeffrey Rayport, Chris Trimble, Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres, and Ellen Kitzis.
"The Second Internet Boom"
Management of Business Models, Interview with Jeffrey F. Rayport, Personlich, June 2005.
"My View: Face Forward"
Jeffrey F. Rayport, Microsoft Executive Circle, Spring 2005.
Leading companies now must look to a new frontier of competitive advantage based not on what they sell but how they sell. It's a new frontier defined by the effectiveness and efficiency with which a firm orchestrates its interactions and relationships with its customers and markets. This article originally appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Microsoft Executive Circle Magazine.
"Tech Nation Interview with Jeffrey F. Rayport"
KQED, May 1, 2005.
Jeffrey Rayport discusses his new book, Best Face Forward; Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces with Customers (co-authored with Bernard J. Jaworski) with Dr. Moira Gunn on her weekly nationally-syndicated radio program about new advances in technology.
"Who Knows the Customer Best?"
Optimize Magazine, March 2005.
Customer interfaces can either be a strategic advantage or a huge liability- a chief experience officer can ensure it's the latter.
"Process/Data Divide Impedes BI"
Intelligent Enterprise, March 2005.
The article summarizes the need for business intelligence to focus less on data and more on business processes in order to make effective strategic choices. Best Face Forward featured in a "Get Smart" box that concludes the article.
"The Front Office Revolution," and "Customer Care's New Frontier"
Forbes.com Video Interviews with Jeffrey Rayport, February 2005.
In these two Forbes.com interviews, Jeffrey Rayport talks in detail about the changes taking place as interface systems, and the experiences they create for customers, become the new arena for competitive advantage.
"Demand Side Innovation,"
"The HBR List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2005," Harvard Business Review, February 1, 2005.
In his leading segment of HBR's 20 new ideas for 2005, Jeffrey F. Rayport argues for shifting the locus of innovation from what companies take to market to how they go to market.
"QVC: Driving Sales in Real Time"
Excerpt from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, January 24, 2005.
Service interfaces work best with customers when technologies and humans play to their strengths. This Working Knowledge excerpt from Best Face Forward discusses how QVC maximizes sales with a highly effective hybrid approach of machine and human talent.
"Book Excerpt: Best Face Forward, Why Customer Interfaces Are the Next Frontier of Competitive Advantage"
CMO Magazine.
Read an excerpt from Best Face Forward published in the January, 2005 issue.
"Big Picture: Best Face Forward"
Harvard Business Review, December, 2004.
Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski, "Big Picture: Best Face Forward," Harvard Business Review. The new frontier of competitive advantage is the customer interface. Making yours a winner will require the right people—and increasingly, machines—on the front lines.
View the HBR Executive Summary
Rayport and Jaworski, "Best Face Forward, Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces with Customers"
HBS Press, January 2005.
Currently, translation editions in production in Spanish, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian.
Marketspace publishes five textbooks and one casebook with McGraw-Hill/Irwin
2001 - 2004
Marketspace published five textbooks and one casebook with McGraw-Hill/Irwin for the college and graduate school markets on ebusiness, Internet marketing, and ecommerce, under a shared imprint between McGraw-Hill and Marketspace University. Launched website at marektspaceU.com to support faculty adopters of textbooks with courseware, videos, presentations, and related instructional materials.
"The Truth About Internet Business Models"
Third Quarter 1999, Strategy & Business
Rayport argued that Net businesses were neither a sector nor unlike any other business, and that real economics — primarily, media and retail economics — would ultimately apply to these businesses.
"Spark Innovation through Empathic Design"
November-December 1997
Dorothy Leonard and Rayport, in HBR, which talked about the value of ethnographic or observational consumer research, highlighting the particular relevance of this approach to consumer understanding in online environments.
"The Coming Battle for Customer Information"
January-February 1997
Rayport and John Hagel III, in HBR, was one in a series of articles on the concept of "infomediaries," including a related piece in The McKinsey Quarterly called "The New Infomediaries," which discussed the new value companies would place on gathering, organizing, analyzing, and trading in customer information.
"The Virus of Marketing"
December 1996
Rayport introduced the concept, defined the principles, and coined the term "viral marketing," which was subsequently claimed by many authors.
"Exploiting the Virtual Value Chain"
November-December 1995
Sequel article published, Rayport and Sviokla, which was the lead piece in that issue of HBR, which adapted mainstream thinking about the value chain to the increasingly important information space in which businesses compete.
"Managing in the Marketspace"
November-December 1994
First e-commerce article published, Rayport and John J. Sviokla, Harvard Business Review, which introduced the concept of businesses competing in two worlds — one physical, another made of information.
