Now & Next: Ten Frontiers for the Future of Engagement

Throughout 2012 and 2013, 100+ planners on MSLGROUP’s Insights Network have been tracking inspiring web platforms and brand programs at the intersection of social data, crowdsourcing, storytelling and citizenship. Now, we have synthesized the insights from our year-long endeavor in future scanning as foresights into the future of engagement, in the form of this report.

We believe, like William Gibson that, “the future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed.” So, innovative web platforms in the areas of social data, crowdsourcing, storytelling and citizenship point towards interesting possibilities for brand programs that leverage similar models to engage people. In turn, the web platforms and brand programs of today give us clues to the future of engagement tomorrow.

In our individual chapters on the ten frontiers that will define the future of engagement, we start by describing why they are important and how they work; we then examine web platforms and brand programs that point to the future (that is already here); then finish by identifying some of the most important features of that future, with our recommendations on how to benefit from them.

"Nice overview of co-creation communities with a particular focus on co-creation for brands." - @JHagel on Twitter

"This is splendid!" - @GoodLabHK on Twitter

"Nice work." - @SeanMoffitt on Twitter

"Great report!" - @AlekRossi on Twitter

"Mind-blowing." - @JoachimNiemeier on Twitter

"Extremely relevant and interesting!" - @HorstKrieger on Twitter

"Really insightful, interesting." - @brian_woodland on Twitter

"Great research on the future of engagement ." - @JosieJosieg on Twitter

"Nice summary of trends." - @jfinlayson on Twitter

"Very very interesting resource." - @petervan on Twitter

More recommendations on http://twitter.com/peopleslab/favorites

About the Book

Now & Next: Future of Engagement highlights the ten most important frontiers that will define the future of engagement for marketers, entrepreneurs and changemakers: Crowdfunding, Behavior Change Games, Collaborative Social Innovation, Grassroots Change Movements, Co-creation Communities, Social Curation, Transmedia Storytelling, Collective Intelligence, Social Live Experiences and Collaborative Consumption.