A Social Revolution in Behaviour

Market after market is being turned upside down by new possibilities, new expectations, new models as a result of the social revolution

Whilst there is a great deal of talk about how technology is fuelling this revolution in our personal and business lives, what cannot be overlooked is the way consumers are driving change in a way never seen before.

Change to the way we live and the way we work. Let’s consider three of the big impacts on behaviours;

Interactions

Consumer interactions have been transformed. They are more regular, more fluid, more sophisticated. They are no longer constrained by time or distance

As a result, there is an increased expectation of detailed information — people looking behind products to the organisations, looking at how and where things are made, people asking questions and expecting answers to be readily available.

Add to that, increased expectation of user friendliness. Things have to work easily, intuitively. We all expect instant responses from our smart phones. This is why actual experience will determine the value of brands going forward more than ever before as opposed to advertising, sponsorship and other paid media.

Communities

And, of course, people will share the experience of their interactions and this is giving rise to the proliferation of new communities, many on a virtual basis but also empowering the strength of existing ones, many of which have existed for years.

The communities exist in ad hoc gatherings under Twitter hashtags or Facebook groups and they also exist as businesses — comparison sites or Trip Adviser equivalents.

They usually serve to expose the truth so business ignores them at their peril, but equally they offer tremendous advantage to any business that’s able to initiate conversations amongst the communities relevant to them.

Either way, they are an established and growing part of our new social landscape for all generations.

Knowledge

The outcome for business — and this is hugely significant — is that organisational value is shifting from knowledge assets to knowledge flow.

Value increasingly lies in the relationships, rather than warehouses.

Going forward, what is shared defines people and organisations more than what is owned. Data is the new oil of the economy so how we use and share it will be a key determining factor in our success

This shift and role of data is driving new disruption and change throughout all markets and whilst the pace may vary across different sectors of the economy, no business or organisation will be immune.

In summary, these megatrends add up to a once in a lifetime confluence of disruption that is impacting every aspect of social and business life.

The winners will be those who embrace this change in society and lead a fundamental shift in outlook, in culture, and in business structure.

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