Flux: What Marketing Managers Need to Navigate the New Environment

The past decade has seen a number of developments that threaten the very fabric of how marketing activities have traditionally been conducted. On one hand, consumers are increasingly socially networked and value-conscious, with heightened expectations of how companies will react to their demands. Along with the challenges, however, come new opportunities: the growth of behavioural economics and the emergence of new data collection techniques, for instance, give marketers unprecedented access to previously hidden aspects of consumer behavior. Clearly, 'business as usual' is not an option for marketing managers who want their firms to stay in the game.
To help managers adapt to the rapidly changing business environment, Flux offers a collection of the very best thinking on key areas of marketing activity and decision-making. Each chapter is written by a leading expert in a specific 'new' marketing subject area, from managing brands to dealing with new media, and addresses substantive challenges in that area while providing steps for taking action. The book's integrated approach makes it an excellent resource not only for marketing managers but any managers dealing with customers.

Flux has already been critically acclaimed by leaders in the field of marketing.
Prof. Dan Ariely of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University says that "Flux takes us on an eye opening journey through the changing and expanding world of marketing. Berkeley's Ganesh Iyer, a professor at the Haas School of Business, adds, "This is a brilliantly put together book and a deep analysis of the transformation of marketing from a traditional brand-building model to one of comprehensive consumer engagement."
"Flux is an excellent compendium that comprehensively covers the theory and practice of branding and marketing, drawing on the lessons of the past as well as analyzing how these functions should operate in the new world created by unprecedented global connectivity and access to information," says K.V. Kamath, Chairman of Infosys Ltd., and former Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank.
"If you respect the discipline of marketing, this is a book for you. If you have been at it for years, like me (cigarettes, beverages, cereals, soups & sauces and now media), you will appreciate why Soberman and Soman chose the title, "Flux". Marketing is like baseball. It's still the same...it's just evolved," says John Cassaday, President and CEO, Corus Entertainment. "If you are new to the marketing game, Flux will serve as a useful reference manual. All great marketers are insatiably curious. Flux stimulates your curiosity across a wide range of relevant marketing subject areas."

David Soberman is Canadian National Chair in Strategic Marketing and a professor in the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Dilip Soman is the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Behavioural Science and Economics, a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and the director of Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) research centre.