Transcriber: Ji Won Yoon Reviewer: Tatjana Jevdjic
Today, I'm going to talk about the big shift that is changing the world.
The human side of the Web.
It is about adaptation, courage, changes,
innovation and digital Darwinism.
Why?
Because the world is changing,
the Web is changing and we have to change.
And how [did I] realize it?
It all started when I did it my way
and decided to drop out of college.
My mom was very upset about it.
But I did it because I couldn't find the value in it,
it was like a car with a handbrake on.
So, I was very young and I decided to follow my dad's dream,
working in his company and his team for eight long years.
I added my value into projects like electric cars, engines
and I even decided to build a racing simulator
for video games.
I learned how to deal with big companies, important people,
but something slowly began to dawn on me.
My real passion for Web and digital technologies.
But not in a cold way,
made of databases, codes, algorithms.
I was interested in how digital solutions
can help people to be more connected
and enhance human relations.
I even developed a small project called GM
to be better in touch with my friends.
A place where we can put photos,
events, content, thoughts.
Something like a little Facebook, before Facebook.
But then the big blue social network came
and it was more than [what] I wanted to do.
I was so happy about it because it did a very excellent job.
Me and my friends were excited to use such a powerful tool
for our personal purpose,
and we were addicted.
We still are.
Very soon I started, at the time,
very soon I started to realize that these human logics
were very powerful also for business purposes.
Something like how to make the brands more human.
Something like [what] I did with the GM Project,
and that was my dream.
I decided to quit my comfort situation,
leaving my dad's company to pursue my own dream.
And it wasn't easy because,
especially in Italy, it was quite hard to realize it and to find the answers,
because TV and traditional media here are very powerful and strong.
So I asked myself many times, "Am I mad?"
Some friends in Parma told me, " Yes, you are."
And, "Is my intuition right?",
or, "Where can I find all these answers?"
The answer to all my doubts was Silicon Valley in California.
So I took a flight,
and there I had an enlightening experience
and a lot of fun.
I read books, improved my English,
surfed, had parties
and met remarkable people who helped me to find the answers.
I realized that brands are going to become more human.
And what I learned there was priceless,
so powerful that even in the country I love, Italy,
they can't avoid it,
because it's a change that involves the world.
So, I came back to Italy
and I started applying what I learned,
starting a social media division in my friend's company from zero,
and it worked.
We got top clients, I became a guru in this field,
a teacher also in prestigious universities
and my mom now is happier. (Laughter)
So, what happened and what is happening?
How we came to this?
It's all about innovation and simplicity.
And to understand this we have to understand first
the history of the Web,
which could be divided into three decades.
The 90's.
Less people connected, less websites,
huge players like big portals were the main actors
and they were trying to give
all the information and services they could.
Then, 2000, more people connected, more websites,
and more and more information.
So we needed a great search engine to find what we wanted,
and Google did an excellent job.
But it was still difficult to create content.
We had to study code and SEO, Search Engine Optimization.
Today we are in the decade of the 2010.
We still have big portals,
we still have search engines,
but there are a lot more people connected.
A billion just in Facebook.
We use smart devices to be connected everywhere.
Even when we are in the bathroom, isn't it?
(Laughter)
And it's very easy to create content.
Even your grandma can do it,
even the dumb girl next door can do it.
Sometimes they even post too much
or send you infinite requests for their favorite social games.
True or true?
Innovation and simplicity help us to be more connected to create, find,
and receive information.
So what's the big deal?
Technology, like social, mobile, real time,
is changing the world so fast.
The world is evolving faster than your company can adapt,
remember it.
Today's leading companies are already obsolete
if they stop to innovate today.
If you think about it, in ten years 40% of the Fortune 500 was replaced.
And there's a very good quote
in a book that I really recommend,
it's called Socialnomics,
the author says that the ROI, the Return On Investment
of social media is that your business will still exist
in the next five years.
And to survive in this fast world,
we also have to understand that we are human, after all.
The social decade we have just entered is not only faster, it's also more human,
and it involves human logics,
like empathy, engagement, listening and passion.
Because we're not just only customers,
we are part of the brand.
And being part of the brand means that the brands are becoming more human
and behind companies there are people.
Let me tell you a story.
When I was in Silicon Valley I tried to attend an Apple Keynote event.
I waited outside the Moscone Center in San Francisco,
and I saw my guru, Steve Jobs, but I couldn't enter.
Then I started a conversation with a photographer
and suddenly a man I already saw before, joined us.
It was Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google.
I was so excited.
He's responsible for billions of earnings a year in Google.
He just came and we talked about the event,
about technology and politics and he was so calm,
and human, like a very common person.
Sometimes we think that big companies are unreachable,
and this experience taught me a lesson.
Companies are made of people,
and behind big choices there are people.
So we have to think out of the box.
Nowadays, we as users or customers
are given a more precise, digital picture of ourselves.
What does it mean?
It's our trace on the Web.
Basically, who we are. That's me.
What I like, and who is in our networks.
And everyday we are making this picture more clear.
Each content we post, photos, comments, likes,
connection with friends or followers,
these are all details of this picture.
And we are making this picture more clear
to us, to our friends and to the World Wide Web community.
People inside our network became our new testimonials
and influence our choices
of what we want to read, what we want to say,
what we want to buy or eat,
and this is a good thing.
Let me give you an example.
Do we all have a geek friend who knows everything
about tech gadgets, technologies?
Do we? Yeah.
Isn't it better to receive advice,
good advice from him for the next smartphone you want to buy,
instead of advice of a famous soccer player?
I think way better. Who agrees?
Brands are also more respectful. Think about it.
Because they can understand user preferences
and stop bothering people outside their target.
They are also more human because they talk,
they interact and listen to you every day.
This is amazing, isn't it?
I can use also this element to discover new products, services.
And if you think about the social ads, the advertising on the social networks,
sometimes they're not just ads,
sometimes they are stunning news.
They make you discover new things.
You don't even know how to search for it.
And our reactions always influence
the choices of brands, our friends and followers.
OK, so, what are the benefits?
There are huge benefits,
like the rocketing social organic growth of Pinterest in 2012.
Can you see the graph?
In just a few months in the beginning of 2012,
they have a rocketing growth, organic.
Or even better, let's check the green graph.
The social game called Treasure Isle,
by the developer Zynga,
they gained four million active users in just two days.
I repeat.
Four million active users in just two days.
All these users are 23 times more than the seconds we have in two days.
And how it could be possible?
Because smart projects like this involve user networks.
And how will it impact the future?
We have to think about the Web like a planet,
the green thing.
And all this picture, all the digital pictures
are like floating on the atmosphere,
like the social layer on the Web planet.
And each project, each Web project can grab and manage this data
to give us what?
A real personal experience.
And this is the future.
This is what we are going to.
Let me give you a few examples, like social news.
Imagine a big portals with a lot of news.
It can bring to the bottom the content I don't like,
like politics, specially Italian politics, pop music,
and bring to the top the things I like,
start-up news, technologies, electronic music, fun.
And my friends can read, can see what I've read,
my comments, and join the conversation.
Social shopping, also.
I will see more technology stuff instead of female bags.
They got it, but it's just more hidden from me.
And my friends can see what products I like
and ask me for advice.
I think I know much more than a soccer player about smart devices,
you remember.
And the social search is the last example.
This is big, a huge thing.
The search is changing.
Imagine how powerful could be
the search of Google combined with the data of Facebook.
I can find and discover what kind of music my friends like
or what music my customer loves for my next spot.
And there's big wars on it.
Can you see how powerful is the human side of the Web?
Some people can, and they are already getting benefits,
huge benefits.
And we have two choices: adapt or die.
We have to remember that we are human, after all.
We are made of passions and interactions.
Our opinions, our thoughts, our contents are like a gift to the world,
a trace for our friends and new generations.
So let's share and connect more. Thank you very much.
(Applause)