Talking Tech: Leading the Future
We caught up with Isobar UK Head of Insight, Alex Hamilton, following his panel at Retail Week’s Be Inspired conference. Alex shares his thoughts on how technology is disrupting the retail sector and why brand and retailers must foster a culture of digital innovation.
Does digital transformation as a broad topic get enough attention at the board level?
I remember delivering a presentation on digital trends to the senior executive team of a leading fashion retailer, and the Chief Marketing Officer — who happened to be ex-Amazon — nodding his head the whole way through before coming up to me afterwards and saying, “thank you for that, you validated all the points I raise internally every week, yet can never get approved”.
It was from this point onwards that I realised the challenges that those in digital retail, or brand, roles have in implementing ideas and convincing their fellow board members to invest in digital projects.
Largely it’s down to the fact that many people within retail struggle to really understand what digital means — in detail.
With Amazon acting as the leveller in retail today, it’s key that all members on a senior executive team have an understanding.
Why do you think this is?
There are numerous reasons, but I’ll note just two.
Take retail as a case in point.
Many executives at retailers have worked their way up from the shop floor. This has many benefits and isn’t necessarily a negative, but not having a breath of knowledge from outside the sector might stifle their understanding when it comes to digital transformation.
Secondly, if you look at the profile of those individuals sat on senior leadership teams up and down the country, there is a sharp lack of diversity. This is one of the main reasons why we wanted to get involved with the Retail Week BeInspired campaign, particularly when it comes to encouraging the next generation of female technology leaders.
In a world where so many new and existing technologies are providing challenges and opportunities for brands, it’s crucial that decision makers have enough diversity of thought within their teams to navigate the coming years successfully.
And in my opinion, diversity of thought and gender equality go hand-in-hand.
How can brands and retailers look to foster a culture of digital innovation?
It’s our job at Isobar to advise retailers and brands on what is current and what is coming with regards to technology. Consumer expectations and the pace of technological change are both increasing exponentially, while retailers and brands only able to innovate in a step-by-step manner, generally speaking.
To help these businesses keep up with the pace of change, agencies, retailers and brands all need to work harder, together, to understand where they can innovate and offer customers great experiences and value.
With a lot of retailers and brands looking to attract a younger demographic, a tip I often give to businesses is to set-up a shadow board. Take a group of people within your business, from a younger demographic, and pair them with board members for a value exchange.
The senior leader can then teach the less experience individual about how a business functions and the 20-year-old Snapchat addict can help the more experienced Chief Operating Officer understand how the younger generation engages with retailers and brands on mobile, for instance.
It’s a small, but noteworthy step.
Any advice to those who are looking to move into the digital space?
I think increasingly a broad set of skills and knowledge will make candidates more attractive to employers operating in the digital space.
As the pace of technological change transforms the jobs market over the coming years, pigeonholing yourself around one particular role, or job function, could be detrimental in the long-run.
I think many employers now are looking for people who can demonstrate a blend of creative and technology knowhow with a commercial focus, ideally.
Get the latest updates from Alex (@Hamilton_Alex).
