WOOF — I need my digital too
> WOOTagg has got your bark ☺
Digital everywhere — the next phase is going to be far more fun and challenging. We literally will be wearing it on our sleeve, and is it about corporate survival?
This is an update on old blog post I wrote about 12 months ago. See below.
Move over Web2.0 it is the internet of things and the old is the new, in some cases. Soon all things will be or can be digital — wearable tech, iBeacon, digital cars (real digital not just sat nav), Post It notes, … —
As explained by Barry Whyte in his post — Online/offline mesh: The Internet of everything — “The online/offline mesh. It’s increasingly all around us — conventional, physical objects given a new relevance by connecting them to the digital world.”
We have entered that phase where pretty much any business new or existing can use technology (along with people — don’t forget them) to drive growth, differentiation in the market, products people want (love) and survive. Yes — survival — as fast as we saw churn of companies in the industrial age, the ad age (Mad Men times), the financial consumption/boom 80/90s and internet 1.0, it is gong to be nothing like the churn to come in the next 10 years. It is an increasing theme now, just read Richard Branson’s LinkedIn posts or the latest from Forbes “Every Leader Must Be A Change Agent Or Face Extinction” — some are saying what used to be a 30 year life will become a 10 year life cycle for many companies, especially those who avoid the signals. This digitizing of all things along with the Millennial generation moving into major decision making roles are going to be the corporate challenge of the next decade.
What do you think?
Is it all just hype or reality kicking in?
Is corporate America/Global ready for transformation?
September 22nd — moving into next phase as COO on wearable tech for consumer dog owners with WOOFtagg. Excited to see the development and UX results soon, as the market starts to hot up, several players have announced a lot of stuff but very few are actually showing anything to consumers yet. When we are ready to show and tell or at least tease, we will be in touch.
October 7th — So the teasing starts, (self promotion warning), here is WOOFtagg and more to follow in the coming months — check it out WOOFtagg.com
May 28th — Interesting update on all things digital — where is car transport going next? — see what Google thinks > Google’s Next Phase in Driverless Cars: No Brakes or Steering Wheel
For more on this topic check out Mat Ford’s recent piece on Digital Transformation.
Also great piece on technology in transformation by Mike Arauz > “On the Nature of Digital Transformation: 10 Observations — A few things I’ve noticed about how technology works”
OLD POST from my previous blog “redshane eats and talks” ☺
The next paradigm? We had Internet1.0, we are in Web2.0 — maybe Clever3.0 is next or here?
For the the first 10 years or so (1996+) we had Internet 1.0 which was all about digital and internet innovation that created many new businesses who took business from the traditional offline and brick/mortar world e.g. Amazon, eBay, PayPal, eHarmony, etc …
The last 7 years or so (2006+) Web2.0has been focused a lot on digital innovation creating new products and companies that are very much of the online/virtual worlds. On a pure product sense companies like Dropbox, streaming services like Netflix and Spotify and many others.
In addition we’ve seen the evolution and increase of human engagement through social networks like Facebook, twitter, Foursquare etc and many companies have come and gone (more have gone than stayed — Friendster anyone?).
The next paradigm is going to have a very interesting impact on one particular area — the traditional offline and brick/mortar world. If I had a crystal ball I will predict — we are going to see innovation that creates and grabs back market share, customers and revenues for offline like business (or new ones ) and for brands who rely heavily on brick/mortar customer engagement. Now with mobile expanding the internet truly to the masses (all 6BN+ people), the social graphs and some clever innovation by brick and mortar business, we will see new (that bring together offline+digital) or existing companies who will leverage the next paradigm. A good example is Cleverbug using the Facebook social graph to revitalize the greeting card business ($27BN market), more clever than most — maybe the new name for these businesses and paradigm is Clever 3.0! Remember where you heard it first.
We are also seeing platforms and tools evolving for brands and companies who exist in the brick/mortar world that are creating a level playing field again and potentially allow a land grab back — companies like ShopKick, BestBuzz, Square and new offerings from Google Local/Places and Facebook’ s ever evolving Social/Local Graph Search.
To track this new world follow hashtags like #Digital #SoLoMo #mobile #innovation #Clever3.0 #CMO or @VirtualCMO.
Mini disclosure: I advise/d a number of firms in the convergence of offline and online like my pal the SocialCMO Chris Walker at WOOFipedia (WOOFtag coming soon), authoring pieces/workshops for Econsultancy on Digital Transformation and my cousin Kealan is Founder of Cleverbug (Clevercard)
