Nexus效应：品牌和企业如何通过释放联系的力量来扩大其影响力

Unlocking thepower of connections Business has always been about relationships.From the earliest merchants in Mesopotamianmarkets to the industrial giants of the twentiethcentury, success was determined by whocould connect supply and demand mosteffectively. Yet in today’shyper-networked, digital-firstworld, connections matter in ways that are farmore complex, pervasive, and valuable thanever before. The twenty-first century economy is no longerdefined by the simple transaction of productfor price, but bynetworksof value,enabledby data and AI, thatbindconsumersandcompanies together in ongoing relationships. The companies that thrive are those that don’tmerely sell things, butcreate webs ofconnection—toconsumers, betweenproducts, across services, and throughcommunities. This is the essence of what I calltheNexus Effect. TheNexusEffect A nexus isafocal point, a hub, or a set of connectionsthat givemeaning and power. In business, the nexus represents how companiesintegrate multiple touchpoints, technologies, and experiences to form anetworkthat is greater than the sum of its parts. It is about creatingsystems in which customers are not one-time buyers but ongoingparticipants—members, subscribers, creators, fans, or even co-owners of the brand journey. The most successful businesses today understand thatvalue creationno longer ends at the point of purchase. Instead, it extends across theentire lifecycle—from discovery and engagement to usage, renewal,and advocacy. Every touchpoint strengthens the connection; everyservice deepens loyalty; every interaction reinforces the brand. In thisworld, customer relationships are no longer linear, but circular andexponential. An increasing number of global companies exemplify this phenomenonin unique and powerful ways:Amazon, Nespresso, L’Oréal, Disney,Spotify, Jio, and Apple. Each has built its own nexus of connections—spanning subscriptions, memberships, communities, services, andecosystems—that transform customers from passive consumers intoactive participants. Each case shows how connections drive more thanloyalty: they drive scale, innovation, resilience, and enduring growth. We explore these stories in depth, before drawing out the patterns ofnexus strategiesand what they mean for leaders determined tosucceed in a connected age.peterfisk.com IncreasingUNCERTAINTYWelcome to theNexus Apple’s true strength lies not in individual products, but in how they connect—iPhone with App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, Watch, Mac,and more. Each product adds value to the others, creating a network effect: the more Apple devices and services a customer uses,theharder it is to leave the ecosystem. Behind all this was a connected organisation, inside Apple Park, often called The Nexus. IncreasingUNCERTAINTYDisneyland’smagicNexus Toyota’s “kyōryokukai”Nexus IncreasingUNCERTAINTYIBM’shealthcareNexus LinkedIn’sdata-drivenNexus LinkedIn grew slowly at first, but once it connected a critical mass of professionals, network effects kicked in. Each new member made theplatform more valuable for recruiters, job seekers, and advertisers. Importantly, the company also fostered internal networks—teamsworking across data, product, and sales—to spot emergent patterns, and its most powerful growth engine, “People You May Know.” IncreasingUNCERTAINTYIncreasingUNCERTAINTYIncreasingUNCERTAINTYSo, what is a “Nexus”? IncreasingUNCERTAINTYConnectionsmultiply value IncreasingUNCERTAINTYMetcalfe’s Law… the power of networks Metcalfe’s Law, a little known conceptwhich was conceived by 3Com founderRobert Metcalfe, states thatthe valueof a network grows exponentiallyasmore participants join—roughlyproportional to the square of thenumber of users. In other words, each new connectiondoesn’t just add value, it multiplies it,because every node can now connectwith every other. This principle is at the heart of thenexus effect: the breakthroughpotential that emerges when ideas,people, technologies, and cultures arelinked. Thepower of connectionslies not intheir sum, but in their multiplication—where networks turn linear assets intoexponential opportunities for innovationand growth. IncreasingUNCERTAINTYMetcalfe’s Law… the power of networks TheNexusEffect The Nexus Effectis not a new phenomenon buthas not been articulated holistically, and is morepowerful today because of technological, social,and cultural shifts. •Platformsmake it easier than ever toconnect customers continuously.•Data and AIallow personalization at scale,turning relationships into uniquely tailoredexperiences.•Communitiesthrive online, creating spaceswhere customers connect not just withbrands, but with each other.•Subscriptionsand memberships createpredictable revenue streams while bindingcustomers into ongoing usage loops.•Ecosystemsamplify value by linkingproducts and services, making it harder forcustomers to leave without losingconvenience or benefits. In essence, companies no longer competesimply as product providers but