What If We Went Back To (Digital) School?

September 17, 2013

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In France, this time of year is called la rentrée. Literally, this means ‘the return’—more than simply back-to-school, la rentrée is a time when businesses come back, publishing houses release their top titles, and people start to think seriously after a long summer of relaxing on vacation.
In keeping with the spirit of this time of year, I think it behooves me to return to the fundamental questions that affect our business. I have great admiration for Gregory Pouy, digital blogger extraordinaire and founder of La Mercatique consulting firm. As readers may remember, this is not the first time that I’ve shared Greg’s thoughts. Today, Gregory released an impressive presentation answering one very basic, and very important question: What is digital?
This presentation aims at explaining digital to one’s colleagues. The entire presentation can be found below.

The point that Greg brings home throughout his presentation is that digital should not be seen as a “magic wand” that can instantly enrich a company, but more as a “pen” that everyone within a company can use to make things easier. He details the 6 ways that digital changes brands through 6 major areas of impact. I would like to highlight 3 of the six areas that interested me the most in the presentation.

Digital & Communication

This is perhaps the most obvious field affected by digital. Digital has been a driving force in changing the relationship between a brand and its public. The free flow of information, coupled with the rise in social networks, has rendered once opaque brands and structures transparent. This means that the older notion of “silos” in marketing and communication is becoming less and less relevant: digital has blurred the lines between internal and external communications and online and offline. Comms today must be integrated, because the consumer brand journey doesn’t always start with the intended touchpoint. For example, Small Business Saturday is a great example of intelligent, integrated communications. Communication on Facebook, Twitter, television, and blogs was able to serve a cause: providing resources to participating businesses while lobbying to have the day officially recognized.

One myth of digital communications is that it’s cheaper than traditional advertising. Sure, a banner ad will cost considerably less than 30 seconds at the Super Bowl, but getting the attention of influencers like expert bloggers will take more than spamming them with a press release. The truth is, these people are hugely valuable for the audience they attract, and as a result brands should consider how best to integrate these figures into their communities. At the very least, brands have to pay them special attention, and most likely, pay them for access to their people. As we know, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Digital & Marketing
Greg reminds us that what marketing is about: consumer knowledge and product development. Digital is a great way to get to know consumers better by speaking to them one-on-one and to further develop a brand through expressing strong values.

Perhaps the gold standard of consumer knowledge in recent history has been the Nike Plus Fuelband allows consumers to enter important personal data. Nike is able to use this data and transform it into offers, goods and services that are valuable to the consumer.

As for product development, something like the Nest thermostat, uses digital technology: smartphones, and big data to disrupt an entire category, creating a “smart” and connected thermostat that can save consumers money and resources.
Digital & CRM
Have you ever heard of a CX (Customer Experience) Director? These people do an incredibly important job of getting focused on the consumer. Indeed, despite the so-called “digital revolution” Forrester Research tells us that “85% of firms have no systematic approach to determine what a differentiated customer experience is.” Of course, many companies think that having a Facebook page is equivalent to Social CRM—this is not necessarily the case. Indeed, many firms are afraid of responding to questions and complaints on Facebook and Twitter because of generating bad buzz or poor Google results. This is understandable, but in the end, unforgivable, because ignoring consumers on social media will only make things worse.

To this day, a favorite example of Social CRM is Best Buy’s Twelp force, where employees answer questions in real time on Twitter. Another great example is of course Zappos that used not only Twitter, but also older technologies like email, and telephone service to great use. Social CRM should not be to the exclusion of social media. Rather, it should facilitate listening and responding.
This is just a taste of Greg’s informative presentation. I recommend it not only to digital novices, but also to people working in the industry as I think it provides a great refresher as well as food for thought. Perhaps the most important point is at the end, when Greg reminds us that regardless of our feelings concerning digital, it’s not going anywhere, so we’d better embrace it!

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