MANAGING IN THE MARKETSPACE

One of the profound consequences of the ongoing information revolution is its influence on how economic value is created and extracted. Spec ifically, when buyer-seller transactions occur in an information-defin ed arena, that information is more easily accessed and absorbed, and a rranged and priced in different ways. Most important, the information about a product or service can be separated from the product or servic e itself. In some cases, the information can become as critical as the actual product or service in terms of its effect on a company's profi ts. In an information-defined transaction space, customers learn about products differently, buy them differently, and have them delivered d ifferently. Crucially, how they assign their loyalty can also be diffe rent. In a world where the traditional marketplace signposts of differ entiation no longer matter - where ''content'' may not automatically m ean ''product'' and where ''distribution'' may not automatically mean ''physical location'' - brand equity can rapidly evaporate. As a resul t, information-defined transactions-or value creation and extraction i n what the authors call the marketspace - create new ways of thinking about making money and thus a new value proposition. Today both market place and marketspace transactions are occurring. The authors have res earched how companies survive at the cusp, working marketplace and mar ketspace to their best advantage. These companies' experiences provide a useful backdrop for thinking about the marketspace and suggest a st rategic model for maximizing opportunities in this emerging area.