Futurist Mike Walsh has recently spoken at a customer loyalty conference, Colloqui Loyalty Summit. Here are a few insights on customer loyalty and big data – for tomorrow:
1. How are we going to engage with the next generation of consumers?
The next generation changed radically in 2007, when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. Soon, parents were handing them to their crying children. “We gave them a powerful device that became tier reference point for interactions with the world,” Walsh said. And this begs the question: Is the smartphone a technology or a social revolution?
“Whatever we think the future is going to be, it will be built by a generation with a very different view of the (technology),” he said. “It is already in their hands.”
Walsh suggested that attendees set up youth labs of next-generation consumers and ask them to describe how they would design a loyalty program.
2. Why does traditional marketing need a re-think for the 21st century?
Walsh asked attendees what would happen if their chief marketing officers and chief information officers swapped jobs. What would they learn? Today, 81% of organizations have chief marketing technologists, so the convergence of these roles is already underway.
As a result, technologies such as iBeacon should focus on the journey already taking place, he said. Prime time television will eventually disappear, but that moment with the consumer will be the most valuable time a brand can buy.
Walsh asked listeners to take random samples of new customers and work with their channel teams to model the exact paths they took and the events that influenced their decisions.
3. How might we reimagine the idea of the company for the data-driven era?
We tend to admire companies that redesign their corporate identities, Walsh said, but how often do organizations design or redesign themselves? Data is becoming more fluid and easier to integrate, not simply because companies are folding their data into cloud platforms, but because cloud-based platforms are integrating with each other. In time loyalty programs will integrate as well. This will translate to a more holistic view of what consumers do, but also will create the challenge for businesses to elevate their activities to be more strategic and consider what designing a company for the 21st century means.
To head off this challenge, Walsh advised attendees to run audits to find out how much of their business operations have turned into code. What is the ratio of paper passing to platform enablement?
Read the full interview here…
Mike Walsh
Mike Walsh, futurist speaker, author of Futuretainment and CEO of innovation research agency Tomorrow, helps to prepare business leaders for what’s next.
Everything is changing. All the traditional industries we grew up with – media, communication, finance, professional services and retail – are all in the process of being turned upside down and re-invented. The force behind this revolution is not technology but rather consumer behaviour. After all, as interesting as it is when things change, the real magic happens when people do.
Contact us at Speakers Connect to engage Mike to inspire you on what’s next in business.