Organizations & Social Media in 2010

Where is social media headed? Its a common question posed by businesses leaders I speak with who want to know how they can prepare for the future. Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group recommends that businesses start by understanding what is happening today. See his video below.

Many brands and organizations are struggling to be effective with SM despite its rapid growth. Businesses have to learn what consumers are doing now in order to be successful going forward.

A concept that is critical is to this evaluation is that “real-time is not fast enough.” Customers are quick and organizations, no matter how big their staffs are, cannot keep up. Advocacy programs must be created to address this issue. An advocacy program is a group of customers that act as a company’s “army” and take care of problems that arise. Since many organizations already have a group of people that support them, all they have to do is enable them for the task.

Another important consideration is that consumers find corporate websites irrelevant. Businesses should, therefore, utilize platforms such as Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, and Twitter Connect to bring a social experience to their own website. In addition, organizations should personalize content for customers.

By keeping these points top of mind organizations can be far more effective in creating and deploying effective uses of social media to grow their business and achieve their mission.



Innovation in the Fitness & Wellness Industry

My upcoming presentation for the IHRSA event in San Deigo this March on the future of the fitness industry requires delivering some tough but exciting news for leadership. As with many industries, Fitness and Wellness requires significant innovation to reach its potential. Understanding the existing business is not nearly as important as understanding what the business of fitness and wellness will and can be. This requires huge shifts in thinking and an improved reliance on business process and IT that results in insights which help to service customers uniquely. Some convenient items related to this change are outlined in the book The New Age of Innovation. Watch the video below and read the top 5 things to keep in mind when evaluating your organization or industry in the context of innovation.

1. The consumer must be an integral part of co-creating an experience tailored to their needs;

2. All markets are experiencing the emerging centrality and empowerment of the individual;

3. Globalization and its 4 billion poor are undeniably central to the future both creatively and consumptively;

4. Talented people are essential to the innovation required to reach the potential the future offers;

5. Leadership must get their minds around business process and IT as central to strategic advantage.

Engaging Customers in 2010

As 2010 approaches, how will your organization effectively engage customers ? With only a few weeks left until the new year, many of us are thinking ahead and planning for 2010. With so much change, and uncertainty ahead what should we emphasize ? How should we approach our futures ?

Here are 6 key trends that should be at the center of your business development initiatives, including a terriffic 3 minute video to explain the trends in greater detail below. To have a successful 2010 will require a careful consideration and adoption of these important methods of customer engagement.

1. Social Media Will Continue to Rise in 2010 as Social Networks Converege.

2. The Key Channel for all Organizations is Online.

3. Video is the Most Effective Means of Engagement and the King of Content.

4. Identify and Focus on Networks Your Customers Use - Video, Mobile Apps & Social Networks

5. Develop a Communication Plan - Integrate With Marketing, Drive Traffic & Create Conversion Method.

6. Mobile Smart Apps are a Key Business Tool - Mobile Video Will Grow By 1/3 in 2010.

Computing and Tablet Technology

PC World's Ian Paul recent article asked, "2010: The Year of the Tablet Computer ?" . That is a good question Ian. RobiNZ CAD Blog asked in 2007 if 2008 was the year of the Tablet as well.  The theoretical applications of technologies as opposed to their practical adoption is something we all have witnessed. Given the increasing level of news and rumors around tablets, with dozens of new tablet devices planning to launch, one would wonder if the movement to wide spread adoption of tablets is here and why ?

Enter MIT's Press Journal's Designs Issues article "A Bitter Pill to Swallow: The Rise and Fall of the Tablet Computer", wherein Paul Atkison, who oversses 3D design for the School of Art and Design and Architecture at the University of Huddersfield, UK, correctly identifies how the anticipated adoption of tablet computing beginning as early as the 1980's. It was widely reported in 1991 that, "Nearly every major maker of computers has some type of pen-based machine in the works." Paul's article shares great insight into how factors can impede the adoption of technologies.

As Jasper's recent article "Why Tablet PC's Have Failed and Will Fail" attests that Atkison's work "presents an insightful, amusing and at times depressing analysis of the rise and fall of the tablet computer, from the early pen computing of the RAND tablet, via the Momenta Pentop, to the inevitable Apple Newton Messagepad." Jasper's right; its worth a read.

Contrary to Jasper's view its a new day, as technologies around tablets have advanced considerably during the past decade. The reason these new devices may become accepted and successful over the years relates to a few key drivers: High speed Internet ubiquity, consumer mobility adoption, and indeed as Paul has observed - functional design. If price can be market relevant there is a real opportunity for this product category to catch fire. Watch how new tablet technologies like Microsoft's rumored "Courier", which are going to be unveiled in the coming months ahead, can be relevant to your life. Another good reason to get excited about this emerging technology.

Technology Adoption & the Age Myth

As I evangelize around the upcoming surge in innovation driven by technology and globalism one topic that is often raised is the issue of how older people are unable or unwilling to adapt to the change brought on by technologies. Hence, the rapid states of change I predict are unlikely because of this "age" phenomenon.

Focus on the 50 and over crowd regarding technology was explored in a recent marketing research project sponsored by AARP and Microsoft. 60 people in total gathered for dinner and after-dinner discussions about their attitudes toward, use of and expectations for technology. The focus group sessions were in four cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. Participants ranged in age from 50 to 60. See the video recap below.

The conversations have been consolidated and published in a report  “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation.” The project was directed by Michael Rogers, formerly the vice president for the Washington Post Company's new media division. Innovation and technological advacements are coming and in ways and in places that aren't about the young. They will meet real needs of an aging population as the video explains.

Mr. Rogers had some interesting findings, as disclosed in a recent NYT's article on the rearch. It included the following excerpt (please note the emphasis on medical records and health care):

“It surprised me how much boomer technology habits are still in flux.” In the past, he said, studies have shown that as people reach 60, “technology adoption falls off a cliff.” Not so with the boomers. They grew up with technology, he noted — they were in their teens to early 30s when the first Apple computers and IBM PCs appeared.

The dinner conversations, he said, suggested enthusiasm for cutting-edge gadgets with practical uses like microprojectors (also known as pico projectors) — pocket-sized devices that can take video and play it on any surface, turning a wall into a 50-inch screen.

Boomers, Mr. Rogers predicted, are also going to be the driving force behind the use of information technology in health care. The dinner attendees who had access to electronic health records, he said, were “just ecstatic” about the benefits of setting up appointments online, e-mailing doctors and reviewing their records over the Web. As they age themselves, the incentive for using technology tools to manage health and wellness programs grows as well.

The boomer's won't be an impediment to technology adoption. They'll be the significant drivers, as this research reflects. Innovation: bring it on. Us old folks are truly ready.