Sisomo: The Future on Screen: Creating Emotional Connections in the Market with Sight, Sound and Motion

And if you don't, you never will. Thinking about the future means changing how you think. That's something few are capable of doing - and fewer still are willing to do. The current marketing establishment has a vested interest in the status quo - recycling the same tired techniques using the same worn-out channels. What was Sisomo 20 years ago isn't today. It's tempting to say that if you're over 20, you'll never get it - but that's a cop out. Even a 50-year-old like me can get it - not by pretending to be 20 again, but remembering what the world looks like to someone who sees with open eyes rather than the establishment's shades du jour.

Kevin Roberts really impacted the way I view communication and the dynamic that sight, sound and motion provide. He also made me quit thinking about computers, cell phones and televisions as separate entities. The convergence of simply communication through "screens" is a powerful concept.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone involved in the broadcast media. Great insights!

Never heard of sisomo? Well, Roberts created that word, an abbreviation for sight, sound and motion. What I really love is that he gave us the word because new ideas need new words. In a world where we're already blasted by color and noise every day, Roberts believes it's not only possible, but necessary, to use sisomo effectively to communicate with others. That's why much of the book is about the screen and our fascination with it -- not only the TV and computer screen, but also the cell phone, the iPod, the kiosk and the in-store sales experience. The next time you see a billboard, he says, imagine a screen instead. I got through the book not knowing how to pronounce sisomo. But a check of the web site www.sisomo.com lets you know almost immediately that it's SISS-uh-moh. So there you go. "We need to converge on one idea: making emotional connections with people," writes Roberts, the CEO Worldwide of the New York-based Saatchi & Saatchi, Ideas Company. To make emotional connections, you need stories. Storytelling. Sisomo makes the leap from ancient times when all history was passed down in stories to modern times when the best way to communicate is to use sisomo to tell great stories. Roberts says the storyteller will be one of a company's most important employees in the 21st century, because without great stories and great storytelling, there will be no emotional connection -- hence, no good connection at all, with audiences and individuals. Read Roberts' book. Look at it, too, because it sparkles with visuals as well as words. It has sisomo; it's so compelling that you can hear it even without sound. It should inspire anyone interested in making communication more powerful. With this online review I want to make a small contribution to helping Roberts launch the word sisomo in 2006. He's way ahead of most of us. It's up to the rest of us to listen, understand and respond. Today. It's why I love Roberts' periodic lists of "Five things to do tomorrow." Such as: "Talk to young people about how they use their mobile devices. Better still, listen to them."

Sometimes the obvious needs saying so everyone gets the picture. That's obviously what Kevin Roberts, Saatchi & Saatchi head honcho, thinks. Smart, funny and wise Roberts has recognised that the screen is the new campfire for the stories of our time. Sure most of us know that already but, as Roberts puts it there's a whole lot more to what he calls the Screen Age than just watching episodes of 24 on your mobile. A deceptively simple book that really makes you think.