Mr. Ma's (the founder of China's Alibaba) story is a textbook example to the benefits and strategic prowess involved in being an industry disruptor. Change requires thoughts and actions that are different than the status quo. From the article, "...Alibaba is China’s largest online retailer, with merchandise volumes that lag only Walmart, worldwide. The e-commerce giant is also moving forward with plans for a stock sale that is expected to rival Facebook’s $16 billion offering two years ago. If successful, the deal would help vault Alibaba and Mr. Ma, who owns 8.9 percent of the company, to the highest ranks of technology industry titans." Get the full story here.

PR and marketing gurus learned the benefits of using Twitter for advertising products, goods, and services (both directly and via users - usually celebrities - with large followings) from the very beginning. Now it seems the mainstream has caught on.