how I discovered mobile……

I reflected with a colleague recently on early developments that were ahead of their time. I was telling her about a conversation with my kids introducing them to the concept of the mobile library of the 1970s that used to pull in at the park in Acton opposite where I grew up. The excitement of the access (mobile no less!) that it gave us to the latest books as we climbed up the stairs to peruse and select our choice for the week. I can still visualise it now as we ran through the park and up the steps to the strip light lit caravan full of books and thought quite recently how so far ahead of its time it was.

Over the last decade particularly in retail we have moved from trying to encourage customers to our doors and subsequently websites, to seeking a deeper relationship with them as brands engage and ultimately drive loyalty to now as Shoptalk 2018 put it, the need to ‘go to where the consumer is wherever that may be’ in a way that is appropriate, relevant, personal and convenient.

The mobile library of the 1970s did all of that and more, it brought the ‘word’ to the people and also was an early pioneer of popular developments today such as the sharing economy. It was in many ways a very early community based platform — just a physical one. So discussing with my friend John (Vary) we reflected that perhaps the greatest ‘donators’ could very well be the greatest of innovators. People who have such a belief, (often altruistic) with a passion and a steely focus on an outcome, will often draw on the greatest of their imagination to overcome barriers to delivery and as a consequence innovation is often borne. You could say Tim Berners Lee had much of that in him when he technically donated the worldwide web. He sought no monetary exchange and it was ‘altruism ahead of competition’ for the greater good. Much closer to home of course the John Lewis Partnership’s very own John Spedan Lewis who signed over his entire business to its people in 1929 and who would ultimately make it a success as ‘the Partners’. An innovator, an experimenter and one who had a great belief in responsibility to others; customers, suppliers, the environment, communities where we trade all principles that today more and more customers value in the brands they choose to engage with. He was most definitely a man before his time!