In partnership with IBM, the Economist Intelligence Unit released their 2014 selection of the top 25 social business leaders globally.
I thought I’d share this list of top social business influencers which includes some of the highest profile individuals and organisations in the social media and the social business spaces.
The Economist Intelligence Unit adopted a definition of social business similar to Andrew Grill‘s: “a social business is an organisation whose culture and systems encourage networks of people to create business value”.
Methodology
There is no such thing as a perfect methodology or way to identify the very best persons, companies or social media accounts unanimously. And in this case, many would argue (even one of the 25 laureates) that the list is missing a number of top social business champions from other industries or other parts of the world, unarguably every person on the EIU list is worthy of the distinction.
You will find more information on the criteria and the advisory board -which includes Brian Solis– on their microsite. Please note there is also a dedicated twitter hashtag #socbiz25.
They identified 5 key leadership qualities: ‘visionaries’, ‘strategic thinkers’, ‘culture shapers’, ‘storyteller’ and ‘miscellaneous’ ‘adaptive, open, entrepreneurial and fully social’.
SEE ALSO
- FOLLOW the #socbiz25 twitter list
- Top Social Business Leaders: Wendy Arnott – TD Bank’s VP of Social Media
- Top 20 Social Business Videos on YouTube
Top 25 Social Business Leaders
In addition to the usual suspects like Ford’s Scott Monty or Xiaomi’s Lin Bin, it’s great to find no less than four financial institutions represented on the list. Congratulations to Wendy, Jon, Nathan and John to demonstrate that even leaders at banks and insurance companies can successfully design and implement a digital transformation programme.
Please find below the full list of top 25 social business leaders globally (by alphabetical order):
- WENDY ARNOTT – Vice-president of social media and digital marketing at TD Bank Group
THE SOCIAL BANK: Embracing a new world of open conversation
- LIN BIN – Co-Founder at Xiaomi
OPENING CHINA: Technology for the people, by the people - JON BIDWELL – Chief innovation officer, Chubb Group of Insurance Cos, unit of Chubb Corp
SOCIAL INNOVATION: An internal network for generating new business ideas - B. BONIN BOUGH – Vice-president of global media and consumer engagement, Mondelez International
FUTURE FACING: Embracing the ethos of a start-up - PETER BLACKSHAW – Global head of digital and social media at Nestlé
INSIDE OUT: When a social vision is healing - NATHAN BRICKLIN – Head of collaboration and social strategy for wholesale services at Wells Fargo
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Remaking a large institution with small, multidisciplinary teams
- BRIAN FANZO – Former digital technology evangelist, IO Data Centers
ADAPT: Embracing change, seizing opportunities - MARTYN ETHERINGTON – Chief marketing officer at Mitel
RESTRUCTURE: Making customers the focal point of an organisation - GILBERTO GARCIA – Director of innovation at Cemex
SHIFT WORK: Making communication simple within a global enterprise - TONY HSIEH – Founder and chief executive at Zappos.com
BUILD, GROW: Failing all the way to success - RICKY HUDI – Chief engineer for electrics/electronics development at Audi AG
DRIVING VISION: Designing digitised cars that let us be more human - CHRIS LAPING – Senior vice-president for business transformation at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
COMMUN(ICATE): Giving employees a sense of purpose and ownership - MARCO MAGNAGHI – Former business innovation manager at Amadori
BREAKING BREAD: New recipes for reaching customers
- SHERRI MAXSON – Head of social business at W. W. Grainger
HUB AND SPOKE: How a business-to-business company got social - BRITTA MEYER – Chief marketing officer at WageWorks
FEARLESS: Using dialogue to drive change - SIMON POULTON – Manager of inbound-marketing programmes at Laserfiche
TEAM PSYCHOLOGY: Assembling social business allies across a company - SCOTT MONTY – Former chief of global digital communications at Ford Motor Co
MAKING MESSENGERS: Using old values to make new connections - MICHELLE REGNER – Founder and chief executive at Near Me
IDEA TRUST: On making digital reputations transportable - BILL STRAWDERMAN – Senior director of digital marketing and social media at Siemens USA
MARKET MODEL: Building circles of trust - JULIANA ROTICH – Co-founder and executive director at Ushahidi
GLOBAL VOICE: Sharing solutions from the edge - JOHN STEPPER – Managing director at Deutsche Bank
FINDING HAPPINESS: Making a culture more open and work more fulfilling - LAUREN VARGAS – Head of social media and community at Aetna
THE ART OF SOCIAL: Marshalling the ground troops - MARISA THALBERG – Vice-president for corporate digital marketing at Estée Lauder Cos
ONLY CONNECT: Using social causes to connect with customers - DOUG ULMAN – President and chief executive at Livestrong Foundation
AUTHENTICITY: Re-establishing trust during crisis - KRISTINA VERNER – Director of intelligent communities at Waterfront Toronto
PUBLIC SERVICE: Creating community and commerce on the waterfront
In your opinion, how fair and accurate is this list of 25 social business leaders put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit under the supervision of their advisory board? Any major omission?
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