“Every so often, something comes along that changes the rulebook.”

It’s no secret that technology is radically changing our lives. Some of these changes are gradual and influence our personal lives. Others are huge, shaking up entire industries and the way we do business.

ZMOT, or the Zero Moment of Truth, is in the latter group. Six years ago, Proctor and Gamble coined a term called FMOT, or the the First Moment of Truth, to describe a shopper’s first interaction with a product on a shelf. For years, this was considered the most important moment for customer engagement.

Now, the game has changed. The widespread use of search engines has dramatically altered consumer behavior so that instead of FMOT, we’ve got ZMOT.

So what exactly is ZMOT?

“ZMOT is that moment when you grab your laptop, mobile phone or some other wired device and start learning about a product or service (or boyfriend) you’re thinking about trying or buying.”

In other words, consumers have made their buying decisions long before they see a product on the shelf, or even enter a store.

Fortunately, Google collected all its search data on these behaviors into a comprehensive Vook called Winning the Moment of Truth: ZMOT. ZMOT uses text, expansive charts, and engaging videos to reveal the ins and outs of consumer behavior – and share the essential components of a winning strategy.

Vook was thrilled that Google chose it to create Winning the Zero Moment of Truth – ZMOT and help spread the word about this important marketing concept.

Start learning the new rules now – download ZMOT for the iPhone or iPad here.

When Vook launched two years ago, the idea of putting videos in eBooks was radical – and debated. Now, the enhanced eBook marketplace is rich, diverse, and competitive. A year ago, people were surprised to find they could read on a tablet; now they’re looking for the most incredible tablet reading experience.

As the largest publisher of enhanced book content, we’re focused on continuing to create best-in-class product experiences — such as our recent title “Zero” and our title on Osama Bin Laden published with ABC. And we need top level talent to do that – which is why we’ve added Product Manager Nick Ruffilo to our team.

Nick comes to us from the BookSwim Corporation, where he was the chief technology officer. At BookSwim, Nick developed a revolutionary, disruptive eCommerce product that changed the way people purchase and read books. We hope he’ll do the same and more for us as he works to make our Vooks and our publishing platform better than ever.

Nick’s worked in the financial sector, marketing communications and publishing — and  he’s been following Vook since we launched. He was drawn to us immediately. “I like building tools that people can really use,” he said. “And Vook is a tool that allows producers to make amazing content.”

Nick has some incredible visions for Vook, but mostly he wants to ”take a great product and make it extraordinary.”

We’re thrilled to welcome Nick, and we’re hoping you’re as excited as we are about the future of Vook!

Want to use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect with your customers, build your brand, and grow your profits?

Of course you do! It’s clear that a vibrant social media presence is essential to your company’s success, but if you’re like many others, you haven’t nailed down the perfect strategy.

Don’t believe naysayers who claim that social media success is a mystery – there are clear best practices that will launch your company to the next level – and you can find them all in our latest Vook, Groundswell.

Groundswell, the best-selling definitive guide to a researched, winning social media strategy, has been updated, enhanced, and is chock-full of new tools that will catapult your business into success.

New features include:

• Updated data on how customers use and perceive new media
• Two new chapters demystifying Twitter and determining where your organization needs to go next
• Two PowerPoint presentations you can download, customize and share
• Live hyperlinks to blogs, tweets, videos, and other media mentioned in the Vook to show you the strategies that work – and those that don’t
• Great video examples

New media moves fast – and so should you! Download Groundswell now – available as an iPad app or in iBooks.

ABC News and Vook have partnered up again to bring you Target: Bin Laden, a comprehensive video/text mash-up detailing Osama bin Laden’s life – and gripping capture.

Target Bin Laden: The Life and Death of Public Enemy Number One, by a powerhouse team at ABC News, features the very best of ABC News’ coverage of the terrorist mastermind, bringing readers in to the early days of bin Laden and al Qaeda, September 11, 2001, the war in Afghanistan, and the massive manhunt for Osama bin Laden.  This special video enhanced eBook features a heart-stopping account of the 40 minutes that changed the world, delving into how an elite Navy Seals team — and one warrior dog — took down bin Ladin in his compound.

Target: Bin Laden also features a gripping account of the white-knuckle moments inside the White House Situation Room as President Obama and his security team wached the operation from Washington, and sheds light of the mother lode of intelligence found in bin Laden’s lair. This groundbreaking ABC Video Book is packed with original reporting exclusives: ABC News footage from inside bin Laden’s compound, excerpts from an exclusive ABC last-of-its kind interview with bin Laden, first person accounts, and gripping photos and videos.

Target: Bin Laden provides the details and reporting only ABC News can deliver – put together in a gorgeous, dynamic Vook.

Download it now – click here to get it from the iBookstore.

A few months ago, I left my iPad in the back of a New York City taxi-cab. My reaction was not the same as losing a cell phone or a stolen laptop. Losing those devices is an inconvenience. But I grieved the loss of my iPad as I do when losing a half-finished book. My emotional connection to a book and my tablet are the same.

Books are perfectly suited for the post-PC world. Tablets are a back-to-the-future experience reinventing a familiar and intimate media experience, they will revive reading and save the book.

Summarizing a new report by Forrester Research, Sarah Rotman Epps wrote that the post-PC world was characterized by:

Stationary to ubiquitous. Contrast the experience of computing on a desktop PC, in one place with a clear start and finish time, to that of the anytime/anywhere computing done on a smartphone or tablet.

Formal to casual. In contrast to PC interactions with a formal start and finish time marked by booting up and shutting down, instant-on/always-on computing on smartphones and tablets fills in-between moments like standing in line or watching TV.

Abstracted to physical. The mouse/keyboard paradigm relies on an abstracted interaction with content. Touchscreens like those on smartphones and tablets enable direct physical manipulation of content in two-dimensional s

The PC and the Internet did not change reading, but they did compete with reading. Even the most passionate readers spent time away from books as we browsed the Internet, sent email and searched for the answer to every imaginable question.

Now the book has an ally. The tablet renders books in ways that are familiar, fun and accessible. And readers are willing to pay for the privilege of reading stories, something they generally did not do on the desktop.

The far-reaching computing shift from desktops to tablets from browser searching and surfing to apps and a curated rich media experience are profound and lasting for books and book readers. The revolution in miniaturization is finally engulfing the reading experience in a promising way.

The rich-media tablet soon to be in the hands of 178 million people enables people to read in a way that they are comfortable and even enchanting like the stories we read.

-Brad Inman, Founder and Ceo, Vook

Start the funny business here.

Start cooking your way back in time here.

Vook is adding new team members at a rapid rate, and now, we’re looking for a stellar Product Manager to join us as we revolutionize the publishing industry. Details below.

Product Manager

Vook is recruiting for an exceptional Product Manager to join our team. As the leader in the digital publishing arena, this presents a great opportunity for someone interested in getting in on the ground floor of a company focused on leading the development in the exciting, fast moving area of digital publishing.

Overview

Vook is the leading mixed-media digital producer that lights up the world’s content and connects people around stories and ideas they love. A Vook unites words, videos, pictures and interactivity into new media experiences that allow users to engage with content the way they want. Vook publishes titles in a variety of genres, including lifestyle, business, entertainment, cooking, fiction and sports, working with authors such as Seth Godin, Deepak Chopra, Anne Rice, Gary Vaynerchuk, Slash of Guns N’ Roses and Karen Armstrong. Vook partners with industry leaders including Simon and Schuster, Penguin Group, Harvard Business Press, Harper Collins and Hachette Filipacchi. For more information about Vook, visit www.vook.com.

About the Job

The product manager will play a key role in working closely with the core internal cross functional team to identifying customer needs, market opportunities, and assure the successful execution of Vook’s mission through development and deployment of the company’s digital publishing and distribution platform as well as our web presence.

Location

New York, New York

Job Responsibilities

• Participate in creation and management of product vision and roadmap with a focus on delivering next generation digital publishing products and experiences
• Perform consumer needs analysis, market sizing, and competitive analysis to determine which online features will address key consumer opportunities
• Gather, synthesize and prioritize market needs and business requirements
• Transform those business requirements into detailed product requirements and lead cross-functional teams in product definition and design.
• Take ownership of a set of features and work closely with Design, Engineering, Acquisitions, Production and Distribution to map out the goals, vision and requirements for those features that will accomplish the business goals.
• Champion the consumers’ online experience, with a keen eye on developing a superior and differentiated user experience
• Create detailed product requirements that describe the products and features to be built.
• Manage tradeoffs and dependencies to make sure the end result is a great user experience that drives the business forward
• Partner with our Engineering team throughout the creative, build and implementation phases to ensure high quality, on time releases that balances consumer and business needs.
• Act as product evangelist and solicit feedback to quickly build consensus around decisions
• Ensure future product releases reflect experience gained from external market activities, customer discussions, usage analysis, competitive response and market research
• Analyze and articulate emerging technologies and market trends.
• Deliverables include page wireframes, market research documents, detailed product specifications and product roadmaps

What We’re Looking For

• Passion for building great innovative digital products and a strong aptitude for business strategy
• Startup management experience a plus
• Decisiveness and knowledge of when to ask tough questions about projects
• Ability to debate ideas with both business owners and technical counterparts
• Knowledge of when and when not to follow the latest trends
• A mix of intelligence, integrity, domain knowledge, communication skills, and diplomacy that will allow you to rapidly earn the respect of internal team, partners, and customers
• Minimum 3-5 years software or internet product management experience
• Consumer internet or digital publishing product development experience a plus
• Experience writing product requirements and communicating project details with project team (business owners, IA/Design, Technology)
• Experience working closely with engineering, marketing, operations and customer service teams.
• Extensive experience creating product strategy and roadmap
• Experience creating complete product/feature specification documents
• Solution and team oriented with the ability to build trust and influence others
• Self-motivated, able to proactively work toward a goal independently
• Energetic with a strong work ethic and drive to succeed
• Ability to work and lead direct and cross-functional teams
• Ability to adjust constantly, adapt and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced Internet environment

Please send resumes to Amy (at) Vook (dot) com.

It’s time for you to stop making excuses and start exercising, because Vook is offering all four of our 15 Minute Everyday Pilates Vooks in all formats for $.99. That should be reason enough to start working out — but in case you need more encouragement, here are:

The Top Five Reasons to Buy the Everyday Pilates Vooks for $.99 This Weekend

5. Halloween is Sunday. You will tell yourself you’re not going to eat candy, but you will. Start burning off those mini Snickers bars, 15 minutes at a time.

4. Pilates helps you stand up straighter. Those extra few inches of height will help you see over everyone’s head if you’re watching the World Series in a crowded room.

3. Unlike most products that cost $.99, our Everyday Pilates series is not a low-quality generic version of a name-brand product. (In fact, it brings Alycea Ungaro, one of New York City’s most renowned and exclusive Pilates teachers, right to your home or office!)

2.  Thanksgiving is only three weeks away. If you do 15 minutes of Everyday Pilates for the next three weeks, you can put whipped cream on your pumpkin pie, and not feel guilty about it.

1. You can get all four apps for under $5. This is such a good deal, it’s not even funny.

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Get the Everyday Pilates Vooks for iPhone here, for iPad here and for iBooks here.