How can companies stay ahead in the 21st Century?

Business life is hard right now and even the large corporates are having to examine everything they do to stat ahead. Here’s some of my high-level thoughts on the trends andapproaches that are shaping the modern digital workplace and therefore how competitive edge can still be maintained:

1. Digital DNA

Online is not a 'bolt on' to the customer's life, it is howthey live their life now; digital has become part of the customer DNA. Theyadopt, use and integrate technology all the time, to either save time or wastetime. Businesses therefore need to put themselves in the mind of thedigitally-savvy customer or just think like the customer they actually are.This is especially true of the newer generation (Generation Y / Millenials /etc.) who are ‘Digital Natives’, for whom most cannot remember a time beforethe Internet and the use of multiple screens is an everyday occurrence.

The aim is therefore to create understanding, encourageinnovative & agile ‘web 2.0’ thinking within a company and learn how to apply this within the modern working environment.

2. Customer-centric 

The concept of ‘User Centred Design’ has been successfullyutilised for over a decade now to create online experiences that put the userat the heart of the process, rather than just being a passive node that has todeal with whatever interface the system creates at the end.

This turns some business processes on their heads, as theway some corporate departments and product catalogues are structured are notnecessarily the way that users want to browse, search, consume, etc.

Be prepared to turn things upside down if it means thedifference between doing what you’ve always done and what needs to be done tomove forwards.

3. The connected corporate ecosystem

As more systems become interconnected and as we all learnthat data does not have to be re-entered if it already exist online in someform…. This will provide the opportunity for some data (e.g. inferred from auser’s browsing history) to be integrated with other data (e.g. explicitknowledge about a user’s age, purchase habits, etc.) and to significantlyreduce human errors such as those from simple data re-keying. The semantic webis almost upon us, is your business ready?

4. Use of Data for insight

Thanks to the Internet, every 2 days the human race nowcreates as much information as it did in its entire history up to 2003. Thisgrowth in ‘big data’ creates its own challenges (e.g. the storage and abilityto quickly access the right data, re-posted mis-information, etc.) as well asits own opportunities, such as an unprecedented amount of useful data on userbehaviour.  This therefore facilitates afar greater level of personalisation and supports various real-time activities& incentives such as individual offers and rewards (perhaps the very reasonwhy mega supermarket Tesco used & subsequently purchased DunnHumby forcustomer insight and data driven marketing purposes) plus then the future predictivecapabilities that may come from this.

Teens and Fashion online - retail, mobile and social habits

Working with our client River Island over the last few years has meant I have come into contact with many young, fashionable and beautiful people (Could there be a more disliked bunch? And no, according to Mrs Sutherland this apparently doesn't make me any of the above by default!)

Its also interesting to see the staff there as a cross-section of the Generation Y and Millenial demographic that is now becomming the new workforce. They live online, they work online (well, the ones in the thriving eCommerce and Marketing teams that I speak to on a daily basis do) and they socialise online using the obvious social media sites of Facebook, Twitter, etc.

The work we have done with them has meant this thirty-something consultant has also seen how high street retailers have now firmly embraced the new breed of mini celebrities and digital-savvy fashionistas that have grown in number and prominence over the last few years.

With virtually every cell phone now having a camera, teens are walking into changing rooms and happily snapping pictures of their fashionable mates. They are then either texting it to their friends or posting the photos to their Facebook profile for instant fashion feedback.

These online friends and the technology to instantly share is playing a huge role in fashion that retailers are only just starting to tune into. In understanding and analysing these habits..... the clever retailer will find new ways to engage with this audience, build a relationship and hopefully drive sales.

The video generation cometh

I've been speaking to a lot of people these days about the continued modern use of multimedia communication. It's a subject I've posted about for years now and one that I firmly believe is increasingly relevant for all companies regardless of size or market sector.
(Just take a look at my post This time the revolution WILL be televised from 2 years ago)

But one media still continues to captivate more than any other, video (and with this I include television, on demand stuff and any audio/visual streaming combo).

But why use it for online corporate communication? Why not leave it to the swanky marketing types with their dedicated agencies, post production effects and obvious big budgets?

'cos your audience and customers are coming to expect it, that's why!

With every mobile phone now a video recorder, with nearly everyone under the age of 25 having their own YouTube channel (or at least an account) and with Windows PC's & Macs having free video editing software included... there's a new generation of online video producers, and therefore consumers, out there.

Sure, they may not be your current target audience right now.... But for how long can you keep saying that?

It's also not enough to claim you need a huge (but non-existent) video fund to produce top quality stuff. Some of the most popular, genuine and relevant video content has been created on a shoestring.

And don't forget that those teen and 20-something millenials may be consumers now, but they are the next workers and managers in our economy. They will have grown up using cost-effective online video and will consider it just another communication tool to use.

So isn't it therefore time your organisation started using it or at least asking your PR & Marcomms company to use video?

Ask the Millenials

With the explosion of digital communications and the arrival of a new purchasing generation (Millenials) comes a hybrid of worries for traditional communicators.

New generation thinking is not constrained by years of legacy thinking. Jim Heskett at Harvard Business School comments on Millenials and covers both:

1. Some of the benefits:
- they work well in teams & social environments
- they undertsand how to use technology productively

2. Some of the downsides:
- the are willing to seek alternatives (and this includes: employment, tastes, etc.)
- they have little fear of authority

Note:
This obviously makes them ideal users of online social networking tools, blogs etc. But they will readily change if there is a better product/solution available and are seemingly unrelenting in their passion.

However:
One good way to get an insight into what does work for Millenial is to make sure you at least consult some of this age when looking to communicate to a range of generations. I'm lucky enough to have someone to call upon like this and it has definately influenced the timing and toneof some recent messaging.

Better still is to identify this generation in your wider group of influencers or on your opinion panel and ask them to ensure your message works as intended.