Digitally Focused

In the simplest terms, mobile experience is controlled by how well our eyes and fingers perform with the display we are using. In the future, this will also include how well our voice projects and how well our ears hear. The fact is that our fingers get longer, fatter and slower, and eyes get weaker over time. Our fingers are what they are, unless we diet and make them thinner. Our eyes can be corrected mechanically and physically. An interesting but obvious point is that these physical changes impact everyone from toddler to aged. In a 2010 study, a total of 160 children's fingers were examined. The average length of each finger increased by 37% from 3 to 10 years of age, and diameter increased by 20%. [2010 Elsevier GmbH.] Thomas M. Greiner, a researcher for the U.S. Army did a study in 1991 finding that an average thumb length of 2.74 inches for men and 2.49 for women. Shorter in length than the average mobile display diagonal today. Based on data from d

The practical application of data storage, data transmission and computer processing to transform business processes started in the mid-80's. These capabilities have advanced over the last 30 years to the point that the power and cost of digital technology has pushed the movement of digital transformation forward. I define digital transformation as "comprehensively changing business processes and or experience journeys by integrating digital technologies, processes changes and people skills, with the intent to create competitive advantages and accelerate profitable growth." Digital Transformation today can mostly fall into the following three key buckets: Product Innovation - enabling existing products, integrating 3rd party product features, and creating new products. Customer Experience - this includes capabilities that touch any part of the product purchase life cycle ACTR, which includes awareness, consideration, transaction and retention/service phases. Ope

Why trust is so important now. The digital age has brought a lot of good, but it has also brought cyber crimes, the dark web, identity theft, privacy invasion, reputation damage and other growing harmful activities. What this means to marketers is that trust should be embraced as a key brand tenet, and guarded and nurtured as a brand equity component. Before the digital age, trust was a focus of the product promise. Did I receive what I purchased? Did it perform the way I expected? This has been a focus of the Better Business Bureau (BBB), who says they are "instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all." But now trust expectations have expanded and customers are asking: You will honor my privacy? You won't take my digital footprint/click-stream data and use negatively? You will protect my personal data including contact, health and government? You will protect my financial data from cyber criminals? Thes

Direct messaging (DM) has huge business value impacting employees, prospects and customers, and marketing, sales and operations. I have not seen an aggregated summary of DM, including what it is, its limitations and opportunities, so here it is. I prefer to refer to DM as Direct Private Messaging (DPM), which is the ability to send a private message directly to a customer(s) or any other person(s) associated with your channel or platform. A direct personalized and or segment level message creates engagement, response and ultimately customer satisfaction, lower costs and or higher revenues. The key channels with DPM include mail, email and cellphone. Digital platforms today include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. These channels and platforms differ on protocol, level of personalization, message and recipient sizes, allowable recipients and other features. Below is a summary of the nine service "Names." You will also see that there are five different pr

It is understandable that executives are scratching their heads when it comes to understanding or differentiating between AI, automation & robotics. These logic-based capabilities have a lot to offer businesses, especially in this period of digital transformation. Below is some high-level information on these terms. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation and Robotics are synonymous in that they require input(s), execute some logic/calculations and provide an output(s). At a high level the differences are the type, timing and number of inputs and outputs, the complexity of the calculations and the required computing power. At the end of the day these digitized logic capabilities speed up processes while increasing quality and reliability of data, provide better information, and reduce costs. Interest in these capabilities has been growing more significantly since mid-2016. The graph below shows the trend of these terms on Google in the U.S. AI has risen more substanti

Multi-channel marketing is a tactical approach which has evolved from offline channels like direct mail and telemarketing to include a vast number of online channels including owned, paid and earned tactics. Marketers have been tying together branding across channels for a long time by integrating brand elements, messaging and call-to-actions. The prevalence and adoption of mobile, and the "technology always" millennial generation are game changers to branding. Multi-channel marketing efforts have moved from picking a segment, a message and channel(s), to continuous marketing pushed across omni-channel platforms. See my article How to Match Digital Experience Tactics to User Scenarios . Brand equity provides the foundation for economic transactions….. “who are you doing busy with?” Vision, goals, strategies and tactics for attracting and retaining customers are tied to the brand equity framework.   Traditionally, the ability to attract new customers is largel