A piece in The Guardian recently got me thinking about the impact of new technologies on the way in which we work. Dan Tapscott’s latest book looks at the way what he calls the ‘net generation’ is changing the world. He argues that this new generation of employees, which has grown up fully digital, has a different attitude to work than previous generations. As a result of their digital upbringing they are much more inclined to work collaboratively, expect work to be fun, and blur the boundaries between work and the rest of their lives.
More Free Love
This week M&S announced a drop in year-on-year profits of 34% due to lower sales and heavy discounting to get customers through the door. This got me to thinking about discounting and BOGOFs… they work, in the short term – yes – but aren’t they rather indicative of lazy thinking and reactive tactics? If you had a budget to give away discounts wouldn’t you want to have fun with it?
Consumers love getting things for free but if we want to really impress our customers shouldn’t we give them freebies in the context of:
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a changing consumer society which is becoming based more on experiences, on status stories, than on gaining more stuff; and
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the situation they are enjoying or enduring – when the going gets tough (like now) customers appreciate any gesture of kindness and understanding and return this empathy with brand love.
Two things today’s consumers crave are status and convenience. If approached creatively perks and special offers can not only attract footfall, but also build a sense of uniqueness and specialness, and spark masses of PR and blogger attention.
Posted November 8, 2008 by Jenny McGregor. Comments (4).
Riding the cloud: making business sense of technology innovation
‘In the beginning computers were human. Then they took the shape of metal boxes, filling entire rooms before becoming ever smaller and more widespread. Now they are evaporating altogether and becoming accessible from anywhere.’ (About as brief a history of computing as anyone can make it, The Economist, 25 October 2008).
It’s hard to know where to start when thinking about the pace and scope of technology innovation. Every aspect of our lives has been transformed and will be transformed again. Some of the wildest predictions in the past have proved to be no more than pipedreams whilst others turned out to have understated the change that followed. Consider these four quotes as examples:
Posted November 6, 2008 by Tim Connolly. Comments (0).
