1. Are You Becoming a Digital Dinosaur?
Digital disruption is happening everywhere
you look. It is impacting businesses of any
size, in any industry, market and
geography.
Digital technology is changing the way we
socialize, communicate, research, learn
and work.
If organizations do not adapt to this fast-
changing paradigm, then extinction may
be closer than they think!
Digital technologies overwhelmed Kodak, a true titan of the film business. Other big brands
like Borders, Circuit City and Blockbuster suffered the same fate. The dominance of
Blackberry and Nokia was overshadowed by Apple and Android smartphones.
According to a report entitled “The Future of Business is Digital” by Nigel Fenwick of Forrester
Research, to survive this digital extinction, businesses must integrate digital practices into
their entire business models, from customer experience to internal operations.
There are only a handful of leaders who have successfully managed to turn the tables on
these disruptive forces and breathe new life into their companies.
 Nike transformed from a sneaker company to a digital sports licensing company.
 The Sprint “Ninja” training program encourages employee engagement and enables
outreach to thousands of customers they don’t hear from in formal channels, or can’t
respond to through social media.
 AT&T is entering the home security market with its Digital Life service, enabling
customers to remotely control everything in the home, from alarms to lights to door
locks.
 Starbucks overcame a commodity product like coffee by designing a unique digital
experience for customers via Mystarbucksidea.com where customers can share,
discuss andvote on ideas to make their digital experience with Starbucks richer. They
now have a bank of 200,000+ ideas to implement from.
Many businesses get stuck on enhancing efficiency and decreasing costs, as opposed to
taking risks to innovate and boost agility.
To avoid digital extinction, successful organizations have adopted the following broad steps:

2.  Understand the online landscape and build customer-friendly websites
 Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques for quicker hits to web sites
 Train employees and customer-facing stakeholders to use all forms of social media
to engage customers
 Adopt mobile enablement in every customer interaction
 Use Big Data analytics for better customer insights and action
 Modernize their legacy systems to address real time on demand data requests
Today’s consumer expects easy access to information anytime, anywhere, on any device. To
successfully deliver this digital expectation, enterprises must understand their customers as
people, not transactions.
A great example of this deeper understanding is Starwood hotels, who analyzed customer
data and launched nine separate brands, segmented by affordability ranging from value
brands like “Four Points by Sheraton” and “Westin” to its “Luxury Collection” and “St. Regis”
properties.
This demonstrates that although customers may not be able to completely control their
journey, businesses need to carefully map the customer journey and be present where they
are. In addition, digital transformation provides more real-time engagement platforms to
acquire, retain, and grow consumers than traditional models.
Enterprises that adapt, evolve and exploit this new digital reality will thrive, while those that
do not, will be lost to the sands of time like Dinosaur !!