Courageous CEO's & CMO's are Building Real Digital Organizations
Many business leaders ignored the digital revolution as they didn’t think it would affect their enterprises. Others discarded their physical assets to work on digital ventures. Sears Holding, an American multinational holding company, after observing the digital transformation, underinvested in its stores which were its core business. Instead, they invested heavily in online businesses where they did not have a competitive advantage. As a result, they experienced a 75 percent drop in stock price over a period of seven years.
Many companies are still in early stages of “digital-physical transformation.” Top bosses are not sure how to execute a digital strategy effectively. We have identified four rules which will make digital transformation successful:
Blend Your Digital and Physical Strategy
The concept of sustainable business advantage lives no more - thanks to the rapidly changing business environment. Companies should invest in their core competencies and use digital media to effectively implement their strategy. A good example is of Common Wealth Bank of Australia. It rose from very low customer satisfaction to very high customer satisfaction after it used digital to “add value to its existing line of work.”
Add Links to Strengthen Customer Experience
Nike had its roots in the physical world till 1999. It started the NIKEid program which helped buyers customize NIKE shoes and purchase them online. In 2006, NIKE delighted its customers by floating Nike + app in the market. The app had built-in sensors and a receiver to iPod Nano. Athletes could view their data about pace, time, calories burned and distance. These developments substantially increased NIKE’s market share. Currently, NIKE’s social media engagement is best in the industry.
Change the Way You Innovate
Work closely with digital experts at every stage of product development. Most business leaders leave the job to the IT department; this approach deprives them of good insights about the market.
Build a Digital Culture
Your digital team should not be reporting to “any senior person” in the organization. They should be reporting to someone who understands the importance of digital marketing and will allow the team to challenge the status quo; someone who would give appropriate resources to effectively implement digital strategy.
Three Quotes on Effectively Implementing Digital Strategy
1. “Marketing is simply too nuanced and too complex to expect one person to ‘know everything’ anymore. Both companies and marketers will be more successful if we admit that the time has come to have more than one CMO at the helm.” — David Rodnitzky, CEO and co-founder of search engine marketing.
2. “We pull the consumer in different directions, we create complexity. We need to think about how what we do looks to the consumer. Start with the right idea, put it on the table, and nurture it.” — Clive Sirkin, CMO at Kimberly-Clark
3. “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”
