The Ecosystem-Centered Marketing Strategy

The Guest

Peter Cranstone is the CEO of 3PMobile. Peter has been at the forefront of internet and mobile innovation for over three decades, improving performance, security, privacy and personalization. Here to talk about ecosystem centered market strategies is the one and only, Peter Cranstone. 

Building the Future with 3P Mobile

Peter Cranstone’s company, 3P Mobile, is dedicated to reinventing the web by making it faster, more secure, and more private—and now, more dynamic and interconnected.

"We’ve made the web faster with Mod_Gzip, more secure with DNS Security, and more private by patenting the Do Not Track web standard," Peter says as he lists his greatest hits.

Now, 3P Mobile is taking it a step further by inventing the ‘Everything App’—a revolutionary approach to digital ecosystems.

3P has invented the ‘Everything App’ that supports unlimited interconnected markets tailored for everyone. This technology allows businesses to manage the flow of value across unlimited interconnected markets in real time.

"Imagine earning a coin for every transaction over the internet," explains Peter.

This vision aligns directly with ecosystem-centered market strategy, making it possible to create real-time, personalized experiences for consumers while giving businesses unprecedented control over economic flow.

Understanding the Ecosystem Economy

During his work becoming proficient in programming as he transitioned careers and built up the offering from 3P, Peter came across the concept of the ecosystem economy through John Singer's work.

"I had been working on a way to bridge data, consumers, and marketplaces together through technology, and by the end of that year, I was out of ideas on how to present this thing because I'm a technologist. And then I bumped into John's website, and I go, 'Oh my God, this just saved me,'" says Peter.

Singer, a GTM consultant who has worked with the biggest names in healthcare, describes the ecosystem economy as a "carnival of markets,” that redefines how businesses approach growth and innovation. It is a biological orientation to modern market strategy, positioning companies as the "invisible mind behind the invisible hand," designing economic systems that function as a single, connected organism.

The strategy is characterized by four key elements:

1. System Entrepreneurship – Ecosystem-centered strategy combines multiple markets rather than treating them in isolation. Instead of independent market segments, ecosystems create new possibilities through system value, where interconnected elements generate new solutions.
   
   
2. A New Paradigm in Persuasion – Traditional marketing focuses on brand positioning and competitive differentiation. The ecosystem approach moves beyond branding to new metaphors and taxonomies that help businesses align with customer needs through value-centered solutions.
   
   
3. A Different Innovation Agenda – The strategy fosters computational imagination, particularly in industries like healthcare and pharmaceuticals, where complex challenges require the integration of diverse market forces. By connecting previously fragmented industries, businesses unlock new capabilities.
   
   
4. High Leverage – Rather than optimizing outdated models, ecosystems transcend control points that sustain traditional market dominance. This shift breaks incumbents’ power structures and creates new pathways for transformation and value creation.

This concept resonated with Peter and the work he was pursuing at 3P.

He visualizes the concept through an analogy:

"Imagine we're on the Titanic,” he explains. “We go out and lay out all these carnival markets and put deck chairs down. Each chair represents a market—healthcare, finance, retail. What John says is, you and I can arrange those deck chairs into a new holistic system."

This creates new opportunities:

Peter sees Singer’s framework as foundational for developing data-driven marketing technology that allows markets to reorganize dynamically, giving power back to consumers and businesses that embrace ecosystem logic.

The Challenge of Real-Time Personalization

Peter identifies the core problem of implementing an ecosystem-centered strategy: personalization at scale.

"You and I look at Singer’s carnival of markets and say, 'Why can't we tailor this in real time? Why can't we always pick the choices that consumers like?'"

The technical challenge is significant:

"We need to present a constantly changing carnival of markets for each individual person. The moment Jacob walks onto the Titanic, all the deck chairs change perfectly just for him. I walk on a second later, and they change perfectly for me. Now do that for 8 billion people."

The solution lies in modifying the fundamental infrastructure of the web:

"The place to start solving this problem is inside the wire that binds us all—HTTP."

However, major tech companies control the browsers and dictate how HTTP functions.

"I've got calls out to Apple, Google, and Microsoft, but the CEOs are not returning my calls," jokes Peter.

WeChat as a Model for Ecosystem Markets

Peter compares the ecosystem-centered market strategy to WeChat’s success in China.

"WeChat started in 2011. The founders looked at Facebook and saw that Zuckerberg was making money on advertising. They said, 'Let's create a social network.'"

WeChat quickly grows to 1.2 billion daily active users.

"They add a wallet feature, making it the payment processor for millions of vendors. Then they release a developer kit, allowing vendors to create mini-apps inside WeChat."

This ecosystem benefits both vendors and consumers:

"You wake up in the morning, and there are 4 million vendors in WeChat. You choose the ones relevant to your daily journey."

This structure is profitable:

"WeChat prints money. Elon Musk understands this. That's why X.com wants to become the everything app."

However, implementing this model in the Western market presents challenges.

"The difference is privacy. In China, privacy isn’t an issue, but in the West, we need to solve privacy, consent, and security."

Implementing Ecosystem-Centered Marketing

Peter’s work in healthcare provides the foundation for solving this challenge.

"I would have never solved this problem if I hadn't worked in healthcare. Every individual has unique health conditions, and care must be tailored to their variability."

This approach extends to marketing:

"For the first time, you can tailor your message to each individual. Instead of broad segmentation, marketing becomes hyper-relevant at an individual level."

His technology enables brands to engage consumers based on real-time needs:

"You can now engage with trusted brands in an environment where you control the data. If you misbehave, I turn it off."

This shift in marketing means companies no longer push generic messages:

"Instead of 'Buy now! Buy now!' it's about engaging in a dynamic exchange of value."

The Future of Ecosystem Marketing

Peter envisions a future where digital ecosystems work for consumers rather than the other way around.

"Instead of users searching through millions of apps, the system dynamically arranges what they need in real time."

This approach requires businesses to think differently about marketing data management:

"Every company that embraces this will have an innovation agenda driven by real, accurate consumer insights."

For those looking to implement an ecosystem-centered strategy, Peter offers one key piece of advice:

"The first step is understanding, in the ecosystem centered approach, that marketing no longer dictates to the consumer. The consumer dictates to marketing. The companies that switch to this mindset will be the ones to take full advantage of this new approach to marketing."

The Links

Peter on LinkedIn
3p Mobile
John Singer’s site

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