7 “Skills” that Brands Need for the Future

Thanks to following @swissmiss on Twitter, I was exposed to the brilliant, provocative, inspiring and somewhat depressing video presentation by Dr. Tony Wagner, Co-Director of Harvard’s Change Leadership Group and author of “The Global Achievement Gap”.  As a parent, I found myself feverishly taking notes on the 7 necessary skills students need for the future.  They are:

1. Critical thinking and problem-solving (to serve continuous improvement)
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence (as opposed to command and control)
3. Agility and adaptability
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship
5. Effective oral and written communication
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination.

Wow!  What a list…and what a challenge for schools who “teach to tests” to re-architect their philosophy, strategy and tactics to better prepare today’s students for their (and our) future.

In my day job (not my round the clock job as a parent of 3 challenging children) I’m very focused on a research platform we’ve developed to help our clients better understand the changing dynamics around management of their brands, engagement and understanding of their customers that result from consumers who are empowered by social platforms, location- and context-based marketing and other forms of choice and consumer independence.  On reflection, I see tremendous parallels in the 7 Skills above – and the underlying challenges they spotlight – with the challenges companies face today in building their brand when they no longer completely control the brand story.

Fundamentally, the 7 Skills are meant to teach us:

1. to challenge our own assumptions and techniques;
2. develop the skills to operate successfully in a world that is flat, more globally networked yet full of seams and sometimes frustratingly fragmented channels;
3. maintain an agility and adaptability that are essential because everything happening around us is operating at escape velocity;
4. the need for unyielding initiative and entrepreneurship because of the energy and creativity required to experiment and innovate with tremendous velocity to keep up with the market.  This requires a culture that allows for mistakes and real-time learning;
5. Fundamental – but also new  communication  (and listening) methods – are necessary for brands to set in motion the brand story but have the skills and focus necessary to respond to, impact, adjust and influence the narrative as consumers and competitors weigh in with disruptions.
6. Data-driven awareness has always been essential to brand managers but now more than ever as the empowered consumer commands – through their actions and expectations – 1-to-1 respect and interaction.
7. Finally curiosity and imagination, indeed, to fuel the entire cycle.

Perhaps I’m just obsessing but I think Dr. Wagner’s list is a great guide for organizations attempting to re-architect their systems of understanding and confront the challenges in the world of the (increasingly)  empowered consumer.

social reading

What are you reading to better understand social media as a channel for customer insights?  My current list includes:

• Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky
• Social Media Metrics, Jim Sterne
• Bowling Alone, Robert D. Putnam
• Social Network Analysis, Knoke & Sang
• Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik
• Advertising Age
• posts on Dachis Group’s Collaboratory
• anything associated with Edelman Digital
• Brass Tack Thinking by Amber Naslund & Tamsen McMahon

…to name just a few.  What about you?

Today’s first pot of coffee…

…is being brewed from a pound of coffee I bought in Vienna in 1996.  I just rediscovered it in my basement!

We’re talkin’ Revolution

Here’s an update to Eric Qualman’s flash video (originally produced in 2009) with a collection of staggering statistics on the velocity and impact of social media.

More on the Splinternet and Market Research

I spent some time this weekend catching up on some reading and enjoyed this still rather recent blog post by Joel Rubinson on What Marketing Research needs to learn from Behavioral Economics.  Joel’s comments on what he termed “Heat(ing) up the respondent”  suggest -  engaging a respondent when they are in the desired need state in relation to their consideration (First Moment of Truth) or use (Second Moment of Truth) of a product or service – may yield a more developed heuristic on the decision-making process and may also result in a more keen and actionable  insight.

In my post Does the Splinternet create a golden age for Market Research below, I focused on the ability of intelligent devices to get closer to these moments of truth.  After reading Joel’s blog, I also wonder about the ability (and also the implications) of using such devices to “heat up the respondent”.

What do you think?

Does the Splinternet create a golden age for Market Research?

Since reading Josh Bernhoff’s provocative post  “The Splinternet means the end of the Web’s golden age” I’ve been unable to shake the belief that the Splinternet era represents an opportunity for the market research industry.

Mobile phones, iPads, iPhones, Kindles…sure…but also Fitbits… Playstation 3 and xBox 360 being Twitter-enabled…Microsoft’s Courier…Smartphones with the ability to scan or display a barcode …Amazon’s mobile payments service…each represent connected touchpoints where we can get  closer to the consumer,  closer to that moment of truth when (and where) a consumer interacts with with a product or service, closer to actual behavior as opposed to pr0fessed behavior.

I presented on ideas such as these 10 years ago when I worked for SPSS and the first visions for smart homes came into focus with internet-enabled refrigerators, etc. but the reality of tapping into “connected touchpoints” now exists.

Challenges abound with regard to privacy, data integration and analysis but intelligent devices that are driving the Splinternet nonetheless act as rich conduits to  data from which to derive new insights.  So, internet, splinter away and pave the path to MR’s next golden age.

EDIT: more on The Splinternet.

Understanding the Window of Opportunity II

I’m reading “Change by Design” by IDEO’s Tim Brown.  It’s a must read for anyone interested in or responsible for innovation.  Brown is a leader in the Design Thinking movement that includes  Roger Martin who heads up the Rotman School of Business at University of Toronto.  Brown clearly positions Design Thinking not as creative/intuitive -versus- analytical thinking but as a balanced integration of the two as a means of generating breakthrough innovation.

“Change by Design” is full of wonderful examples of innovation that on their own make this book compelling.  However, it’s the visibility Brown provides on the process of innovation: the “mental matrix”, mindmaps, convergent and divergent choices, best practice guidelines on prototyping and brainstorming -to name just a few – that make this a design and innovation bible.

Building on my post from last week on innovation’s window of opportunity: Brown provides ample validation on Lee Provost’s “good is good enough” rule.  For example, he writes “The Aquaduct – a human-powered tricycle designed to filter drinking water while transporting it,  is now traveling the world to help promote clean water innovation.  It succeeded because of the inflexible constraints of technology (pedal power), budget ($0.00), and inflexible deadline.”

So, for me, another lesson on resisting the quest for a perfect solution (that often leads to over-engineering) in order to strike while the window is still open!

Understanding the Window of Opportunity

If you’re in the business of delivering data-driven value, you need to read “Data Ubiquity Threatening Usefulness of Enterprise 2.0“  by Lee Provost of Dachis Group.   Lee’s post (co-written with Nigel Walsh from Corizon) nails three important issues confronting information architects.

1. data proliferation is both a challenge and an opportunity;
2. the keen insight that “as far as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product”;
3. “good is good enough.”

It’s that last point: “good is good enough” that resonates for me when it comes to innovation.  It’s critical to deliver the innovation and then rapidly and reliably correct, refine and extend on its value proposition rather than keeping it in the lab so long that the window of opportunity passes or is filled by others.

Building and Managing a Team: First in a series

Perhaps I’m just too much of a sports fan but – when I think about teams, e.g. companies, project teams, development teams – I try to approach the task as would the General Manager of a baseball or basketball team.  The drivers behind my strategy are:

• Our goal is to win and win consistently, project after project, year after year.
• A good coaching staff will cultivate the identity of the team and will improve its team’s ability to execute.
• We do not have the budget largesse of the New York Yankees so we must build our roster intelligently with a balance of all stars, role players and prospects.
• Roster depth is important but – to win when it matters most – you need people who have proven they can deliver while under extreme pressure.
• It is critical for a coaching staff to communicate roles and role responsibilities to the team
• At game time, executing within your role is critical to the team’s success
• Teams that know and trust their teammates are capable of sublime performance

In subsequent posts I will expand on each of these drivers in turn.

This is a blog so I retain the right to modify or expand on the list of drivers as I develop on my initial thoughts.