Page 20 - AeM_July_2014
P. 20
BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES
Lead, don’t follow is the
key to success
To make your own business successful in the digital rapidly to digital change. It is an important reason
world, it needs an operational change management, as I to question and refocus your own products and
already indicated earlier this month with the book services, adapt to change and ask yourself on a
presentation "Digital Darwinism". But how the digital daily basis if your service or product is still relevant
change processes work best is often not really clear. It’s or what should be done to sustainably improve your
no longer done with a few digital functions here and portfolio. Get inspired by startups that question
some Facebook posts there, but a fundamental rethink their approaches and ideas on a daily basis and
is required to brace the digital change in your own com- replace them with better ideas when needed. Do
pany. not hold on to old behavior patterns, rather allow
new methods.
"Lead, don’t follow" is the motto and solution. To make it
happen, however, you have to implement new technolo- The digital competition isn’t sleeping: It can’t be
gies and throw old processes overboard. repeated often enough that it is necessary to make
use of new technology and to go unknown paths to
enable the transformation in your company. New
Didn’t you realize that actually in almost every industry a
digital transformation is already in transition? For com- technologies help to accelerate development and
panies, it means, not only to realize that it is happening reduce costs and whoever is choosing the wrong
but to actively shape, develop and keep up with the digi- techniques will quickly be going from leader to fol-
tal transformation. lower. Identify new trends and rethink in agile pro-
cesses whether these trends could be useful for
your business as well. The use of HTML5, for in-
Take a look at the following tips for digital success:
stance, can bring many benefits to the digital trans-
formation. In fact, the desire for more multimedia
Streamline and create new processes: In the digi- content on the web is inevitably linked to the suc-
tal age, a simple adaptation of existing processes cess story of HTML5 and that way mobile devices,
usually falls short, because the pure digitization of the use of augmented reality or the Internet of
analog processes isn’t an adequate concept. Re- Things, will find their way into the digital business
think your business model and ask yourself what strategy and justify their positioning.
today’s target audience really expects from you.
In the digital age, classical hierarchies are often
Benchmark and learn from startups: Established just hollow words: Google, Facebook and Co. are
companies have had great success with their busi- leading the way and show us that anyone who has
ness model for decades and probably longer. They a clue wins. Often the IT intern knows more about
are experts in their field and always have fulfilled the topics such as cloud computing, big data analysis
customer wishes. If they are lucky, they will continue or social media accounts than the CEO. Use this
to do so in the future with their existing business knowledge and give your digital natives the confi-
model, but there will be only very few as the digital dence they deserve.
world is moving fast. Therefore, constantly try to
identify discontinued models in your business con- Digitalization has become a must-have, so do not
cept and replace them with promising technologies waste unused opportunities and find out where there is
and strategies. It’s not a coincidence that young still digital potential hidden in your company. ◊
startups often oust long-established companies in
just a few months or years, as they are able to adapt By Daniela La Marca
20 Asian eMarketing July 2014 - Marketing Analytics
Lead, don’t follow is the
key to success
To make your own business successful in the digital rapidly to digital change. It is an important reason
world, it needs an operational change management, as I to question and refocus your own products and
already indicated earlier this month with the book services, adapt to change and ask yourself on a
presentation "Digital Darwinism". But how the digital daily basis if your service or product is still relevant
change processes work best is often not really clear. It’s or what should be done to sustainably improve your
no longer done with a few digital functions here and portfolio. Get inspired by startups that question
some Facebook posts there, but a fundamental rethink their approaches and ideas on a daily basis and
is required to brace the digital change in your own com- replace them with better ideas when needed. Do
pany. not hold on to old behavior patterns, rather allow
new methods.
"Lead, don’t follow" is the motto and solution. To make it
happen, however, you have to implement new technolo- The digital competition isn’t sleeping: It can’t be
gies and throw old processes overboard. repeated often enough that it is necessary to make
use of new technology and to go unknown paths to
enable the transformation in your company. New
Didn’t you realize that actually in almost every industry a
digital transformation is already in transition? For com- technologies help to accelerate development and
panies, it means, not only to realize that it is happening reduce costs and whoever is choosing the wrong
but to actively shape, develop and keep up with the digi- techniques will quickly be going from leader to fol-
tal transformation. lower. Identify new trends and rethink in agile pro-
cesses whether these trends could be useful for
your business as well. The use of HTML5, for in-
Take a look at the following tips for digital success:
stance, can bring many benefits to the digital trans-
formation. In fact, the desire for more multimedia
Streamline and create new processes: In the digi- content on the web is inevitably linked to the suc-
tal age, a simple adaptation of existing processes cess story of HTML5 and that way mobile devices,
usually falls short, because the pure digitization of the use of augmented reality or the Internet of
analog processes isn’t an adequate concept. Re- Things, will find their way into the digital business
think your business model and ask yourself what strategy and justify their positioning.
today’s target audience really expects from you.
In the digital age, classical hierarchies are often
Benchmark and learn from startups: Established just hollow words: Google, Facebook and Co. are
companies have had great success with their busi- leading the way and show us that anyone who has
ness model for decades and probably longer. They a clue wins. Often the IT intern knows more about
are experts in their field and always have fulfilled the topics such as cloud computing, big data analysis
customer wishes. If they are lucky, they will continue or social media accounts than the CEO. Use this
to do so in the future with their existing business knowledge and give your digital natives the confi-
model, but there will be only very few as the digital dence they deserve.
world is moving fast. Therefore, constantly try to
identify discontinued models in your business con- Digitalization has become a must-have, so do not
cept and replace them with promising technologies waste unused opportunities and find out where there is
and strategies. It’s not a coincidence that young still digital potential hidden in your company. ◊
startups often oust long-established companies in
just a few months or years, as they are able to adapt By Daniela La Marca
20 Asian eMarketing July 2014 - Marketing Analytics
