The document discusses developing a transformative digital vision. It notes that while awareness of digital trends is growing, few organizations have developed a true transformative digital vision. The "Digirati" are distinguished by translating awareness into a vision of the future where digital plays a fundamental role. Visions can focus on digitizing operations, customer experience, or transforming business models. Crafting a vision involves defining a clear target outcome, engaging the organization, and evolving the vision over time as capabilities change. Developing a transformative digital vision is key to successfully managing digital transformation.
This research by Altimeter reflects the challenges related to transforming businesses in the era of digital. It is more about people and culture than technology.
Technology and behavior megatrends are reshaping business globally. To advance and grow, organizations need new ways to connect to both employees and customers, because old paradigms are costly.
Build a Modern Social Enterprise to Win in the 21st CenturyCognizant
To prepare for the future of work, businesses need to apply social, mobile, cloud and analytic technologies to reform and realign work processes with emerging digital value chains.
This research by Altimeter reflects the challenges related to transforming businesses in the era of digital. It is more about people and culture than technology.
Technology and behavior megatrends are reshaping business globally. To advance and grow, organizations need new ways to connect to both employees and customers, because old paradigms are costly.
Build a Modern Social Enterprise to Win in the 21st CenturyCognizant
To prepare for the future of work, businesses need to apply social, mobile, cloud and analytic technologies to reform and realign work processes with emerging digital value chains.
Mobile is Eating the World - Four ways to rethink customer experiences as mob...Brian Solis
Demand more from mobile
When was the last time you checked your smartphone? Was it a few minutes ago? Or maybe it was a few seconds ago. In fact, you might even be reading this article on your phone, on your daily commute to work or in the comfort of your couch at home on a tablet.
The point is, mobile is big. It’s so big that in May last year, Google has revealed that mobile search has overtaken desktop search. Effectively what this means is that we are searching more information with our mobile devices than on laptops or desktops.
For brands this is huge – it redefines the way they become discoverable. However, this also means that the competition to catch a consumer’s attention is fiercer than ever as smartphones and smart devices continue to evolve and take over the market.
This mobile consumer looks at their phone about 1500 times a day on average and they spend 177 minutes interacting with it daily. Their gestures, the way they act, their process to finding information – business are expected to understand that and act upon it.
This new generation is defined by digital, mobile, real-time and an always-on lifestyle. They’re nothing like your traditional customers.
So, in order to understand them and how they think, you need to redefine and rethink your mobile-first approach to customer experiences. Here are 4 ways you can do just that.
Developing a culture of innovation, especially of radical innovation, is extremely challenging - perhaps nothing could be more challenging for an organisation, particularly those entrenched in conventional, risk-averse and hierarchical management practices. What is more, the usual costs associated with such a wholesale change management process are prohibitively high in this economy and risk alienating staff. But there is another way...
Contextual Marketing And The New Marketing ContractXuân Lan Nguyễn
We live in a world where phones are no longer “phones” in the way we once used them. Now, they’re electronic windows into new worlds connecting people, information, and things, and ushering in a new generation of expectations and behaviors along the way.
The traditional brick-and-mortar business model is no longer the only option for the aspiring entrepreneur. Many of today’s greatest successes belong to those who have captured the power of the viral loop by designing products and services that spread themselves through the channels of the Internet, propelled by word-of-mouth recommendations.
The End of Business as Usual Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consum...Brian Solis
The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis is available on GetAbstract for those who need the key takeaways but don't have the time to read the entire book.
Takeaways:
The digital revolution is radically transformative for businesses. These changes are not just technological. They directly affect consumer behavior. Companies that cannot adapt to these changes face obsolescence. Businesses used to define their brands. Today, “connected consumers” define them. Companies must connect with consumers on a personal basis. They must treat consumers as valued partners, not just as sales targets.
To build relationships and win sales, companies need to create satisfying experiences for their connected consumers. The way people connect online activates distribution chains that rival any broadcast network. To earn the trust of connected customers, businesses must engage them online in a positive way. You must appeal to customers’ emotions. Through such engagement, businesses stay relevant and build a robust future.
What You Will Learn
1) What strategies will help you exploit the nature, extent and impact of the digital revolution; 2) What influence “connected consumers” wield; and 3) How organizations can engage them effectively.
Competing for the Future: Iteration vs. Innovation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Competing for the future starts with a shift in perspective. Without that shift, you will be confined to cycles of iteration—rather than innovation. Leading digital analyst, author and keynote speaker Brian Solis partnered with Oracle for a new paper, "Enterprise as a Service."
Attention is a Currency, We Earn It and We Spend It - Here's How to Engage ItBrian Solis
Attention is a Currency: We earn it, we spend it, and sometimes we lose it. Why now is the time to invest in digital experiences that matter.
LinkedIn has teamed up with best-selling author Brian Solis and cartoonist extraordinaire Hugh Macleod of GapingVoid Culture Design Group for an exclusive eBook for marketers that takes a fun and unique approach to storytelling.
Fasten your marketing seatbelts for a story told through one-of-a-kind visuals and expert insights that will enlighten and delight while addressing one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today; how to earn and retain attention through remarkable content.
Download this new eBook to learn:
How to break through internet clutter and keep your audience from drowning in a sea of content mediocrity.
The definition of true engagement and what to do with someone’s attention once you have it.
Why every touch point matters and how to deliver value at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
How to pull this all together into a winning content marketing strategy.
17 Cartoons That Will Change Your Business by @BrianSolis @GapingvoidBrian Solis
This special series of cartoons, with short insights from both Hugh MacLeod and Brian Solis adapted from #WTF (www.wtfbusiness.com), will help you see things differently.
N.B. You'll be asked for your email to view this special series of cartoons, with valuable insights from both Hugh MacLeod and Brian Solis.
http://gapingvoid.com/solis-image-download/
7 top technology trends and what they mean for brand experienceJack Morton Worldwide
Technology drastically impacts every aspect of the world around us these days, but it's harder than ever to integrate technology into live experiences in ways that are relevant, effective and above all seamless.
Discover our top technology trends and what they mean for brands, marketers and brand experience.
Disrupting in the digital era: key traits of an evolution of disruptive innov...Andrea Paraboschi
The goal of this presentation is to investigate how the digital revolution is impacting the way in which disruptive innovation unfolds. The main theoretical traits of disruptive innovation are presented; then, the key dynamics ignited by the pervasive effects of digitalization are introduced and described. Furthermore, a case-study on the Transportation Network Company UBER as the taxicab industry disruptor is presented, highlighting the key elements that are characterizing the company as a digital-enabled disruptor.
Digital Influence is one of the hottest trends in social media, yet is largely misunderstood. "The Rise of Digital Influence," the new report by Altimeter Group Principal Analyst Brian Solis, is a 'how-to' guide for businesses to spark desirable effects and outcomes through social media influence. The report helps companies understand how influence spreads, and includes case studies in which brands partnered with vendors to recruit connected consumers for digital influence campaigns. Brian evaluates the offerings of 14 Influence vendors, organizing them by Reach, Resonance, and Relevance: the Three Pillars that make up the foundation for Digital Influence as defined in the report. Also included are an Influence Framework and an Influence Action Plan to help brands identify connected consumers and to define and measure strategic digital influence initiatives.
Presentation from Brian Solis, Principle Analyst and Author, given at an exclusive Q&A and book signing hosted by Adobe in London on 12 July 2013.
During his talk, Brian examined:
- The rise of the connected customer
- How leadership can survive Digital Darwinism
- The Four Moments of Truth through navigating the evolving landscape of new consumerism
- How to align user experience with innovation and leadership in order to improve business performance and engagement
Service design consultancy Fjord presents its annual trends predictions, showcasing 10 trends that will shape digital services in 2013. This year’s report forecasts the major shifts that will impact the way we work and live, and offers practical advice to help business leaders interpret the opportunities that lie ahead.
Y&R once again sent some of its brightest minds to the interactive portion of the annual event and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
In this issue of the People’s Insights monthly briefs, we cover three big innovations launched by Apple, Amazon and Google; three new approaches to Black Friday from TD Bank, Santander Bank and Patagonia; and two examples of upcycling by Southwest Airlines and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As a bonus, we also take a quick look at the immensely popular podcast Serial – which mashes-up different types of storytelling.
Here’s an overview of the examples featured in this report:
• Apple Pay – Simplifying mobile payments
• Amazon Echo – Virtual assistant for your home
• Google Inbox – A new way to Gmail
New approaches to Black Friday
• Santander Bank’s Black Tea Friday
• Patagonia and Yerdle’s Worn Wear swap parties
Upcycling & Paying it Forward
• Southwest Airlines’s Project LUV Seat
• Ben & Jerry’s The Chunkinator
Bonus! A new way to tell stories
• Serial Podcast
We’d love to hear your take on these approaches. Do share your thoughts with us at @PeoplesLab on Twitter. You can also reach out to us on Twitter @msl_group.
“The Vision Thing”: Developing a Transformative Digital VisionCapgemini
Digital vision: the cornerstone of successful digital transformation
Digital technologies are having a pervasive influence on business, transforming the customer experience, enhancing productivity in operations and improving the way employees collaborate.
Yet, many organizations fail to capture the full potential of digital technologies because their leaders lack a transformative vision. Executives with an incremental vision get what they aim for – incremental improvement. Those who realize the transformative power of digital can achieve much more.
Mobile is Eating the World - Four ways to rethink customer experiences as mob...Brian Solis
Demand more from mobile
When was the last time you checked your smartphone? Was it a few minutes ago? Or maybe it was a few seconds ago. In fact, you might even be reading this article on your phone, on your daily commute to work or in the comfort of your couch at home on a tablet.
The point is, mobile is big. It’s so big that in May last year, Google has revealed that mobile search has overtaken desktop search. Effectively what this means is that we are searching more information with our mobile devices than on laptops or desktops.
For brands this is huge – it redefines the way they become discoverable. However, this also means that the competition to catch a consumer’s attention is fiercer than ever as smartphones and smart devices continue to evolve and take over the market.
This mobile consumer looks at their phone about 1500 times a day on average and they spend 177 minutes interacting with it daily. Their gestures, the way they act, their process to finding information – business are expected to understand that and act upon it.
This new generation is defined by digital, mobile, real-time and an always-on lifestyle. They’re nothing like your traditional customers.
So, in order to understand them and how they think, you need to redefine and rethink your mobile-first approach to customer experiences. Here are 4 ways you can do just that.
Developing a culture of innovation, especially of radical innovation, is extremely challenging - perhaps nothing could be more challenging for an organisation, particularly those entrenched in conventional, risk-averse and hierarchical management practices. What is more, the usual costs associated with such a wholesale change management process are prohibitively high in this economy and risk alienating staff. But there is another way...
Contextual Marketing And The New Marketing ContractXuân Lan Nguyễn
We live in a world where phones are no longer “phones” in the way we once used them. Now, they’re electronic windows into new worlds connecting people, information, and things, and ushering in a new generation of expectations and behaviors along the way.
The traditional brick-and-mortar business model is no longer the only option for the aspiring entrepreneur. Many of today’s greatest successes belong to those who have captured the power of the viral loop by designing products and services that spread themselves through the channels of the Internet, propelled by word-of-mouth recommendations.
The End of Business as Usual Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consum...Brian Solis
The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis is available on GetAbstract for those who need the key takeaways but don't have the time to read the entire book.
Takeaways:
The digital revolution is radically transformative for businesses. These changes are not just technological. They directly affect consumer behavior. Companies that cannot adapt to these changes face obsolescence. Businesses used to define their brands. Today, “connected consumers” define them. Companies must connect with consumers on a personal basis. They must treat consumers as valued partners, not just as sales targets.
To build relationships and win sales, companies need to create satisfying experiences for their connected consumers. The way people connect online activates distribution chains that rival any broadcast network. To earn the trust of connected customers, businesses must engage them online in a positive way. You must appeal to customers’ emotions. Through such engagement, businesses stay relevant and build a robust future.
What You Will Learn
1) What strategies will help you exploit the nature, extent and impact of the digital revolution; 2) What influence “connected consumers” wield; and 3) How organizations can engage them effectively.
Competing for the Future: Iteration vs. Innovation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Competing for the future starts with a shift in perspective. Without that shift, you will be confined to cycles of iteration—rather than innovation. Leading digital analyst, author and keynote speaker Brian Solis partnered with Oracle for a new paper, "Enterprise as a Service."
Attention is a Currency, We Earn It and We Spend It - Here's How to Engage ItBrian Solis
Attention is a Currency: We earn it, we spend it, and sometimes we lose it. Why now is the time to invest in digital experiences that matter.
LinkedIn has teamed up with best-selling author Brian Solis and cartoonist extraordinaire Hugh Macleod of GapingVoid Culture Design Group for an exclusive eBook for marketers that takes a fun and unique approach to storytelling.
Fasten your marketing seatbelts for a story told through one-of-a-kind visuals and expert insights that will enlighten and delight while addressing one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today; how to earn and retain attention through remarkable content.
Download this new eBook to learn:
How to break through internet clutter and keep your audience from drowning in a sea of content mediocrity.
The definition of true engagement and what to do with someone’s attention once you have it.
Why every touch point matters and how to deliver value at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
How to pull this all together into a winning content marketing strategy.
17 Cartoons That Will Change Your Business by @BrianSolis @GapingvoidBrian Solis
This special series of cartoons, with short insights from both Hugh MacLeod and Brian Solis adapted from #WTF (www.wtfbusiness.com), will help you see things differently.
N.B. You'll be asked for your email to view this special series of cartoons, with valuable insights from both Hugh MacLeod and Brian Solis.
http://gapingvoid.com/solis-image-download/
7 top technology trends and what they mean for brand experienceJack Morton Worldwide
Technology drastically impacts every aspect of the world around us these days, but it's harder than ever to integrate technology into live experiences in ways that are relevant, effective and above all seamless.
Discover our top technology trends and what they mean for brands, marketers and brand experience.
Disrupting in the digital era: key traits of an evolution of disruptive innov...Andrea Paraboschi
The goal of this presentation is to investigate how the digital revolution is impacting the way in which disruptive innovation unfolds. The main theoretical traits of disruptive innovation are presented; then, the key dynamics ignited by the pervasive effects of digitalization are introduced and described. Furthermore, a case-study on the Transportation Network Company UBER as the taxicab industry disruptor is presented, highlighting the key elements that are characterizing the company as a digital-enabled disruptor.
Digital Influence is one of the hottest trends in social media, yet is largely misunderstood. "The Rise of Digital Influence," the new report by Altimeter Group Principal Analyst Brian Solis, is a 'how-to' guide for businesses to spark desirable effects and outcomes through social media influence. The report helps companies understand how influence spreads, and includes case studies in which brands partnered with vendors to recruit connected consumers for digital influence campaigns. Brian evaluates the offerings of 14 Influence vendors, organizing them by Reach, Resonance, and Relevance: the Three Pillars that make up the foundation for Digital Influence as defined in the report. Also included are an Influence Framework and an Influence Action Plan to help brands identify connected consumers and to define and measure strategic digital influence initiatives.
Presentation from Brian Solis, Principle Analyst and Author, given at an exclusive Q&A and book signing hosted by Adobe in London on 12 July 2013.
During his talk, Brian examined:
- The rise of the connected customer
- How leadership can survive Digital Darwinism
- The Four Moments of Truth through navigating the evolving landscape of new consumerism
- How to align user experience with innovation and leadership in order to improve business performance and engagement
Service design consultancy Fjord presents its annual trends predictions, showcasing 10 trends that will shape digital services in 2013. This year’s report forecasts the major shifts that will impact the way we work and live, and offers practical advice to help business leaders interpret the opportunities that lie ahead.
Y&R once again sent some of its brightest minds to the interactive portion of the annual event and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
In this issue of the People’s Insights monthly briefs, we cover three big innovations launched by Apple, Amazon and Google; three new approaches to Black Friday from TD Bank, Santander Bank and Patagonia; and two examples of upcycling by Southwest Airlines and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As a bonus, we also take a quick look at the immensely popular podcast Serial – which mashes-up different types of storytelling.
Here’s an overview of the examples featured in this report:
• Apple Pay – Simplifying mobile payments
• Amazon Echo – Virtual assistant for your home
• Google Inbox – A new way to Gmail
New approaches to Black Friday
• Santander Bank’s Black Tea Friday
• Patagonia and Yerdle’s Worn Wear swap parties
Upcycling & Paying it Forward
• Southwest Airlines’s Project LUV Seat
• Ben & Jerry’s The Chunkinator
Bonus! A new way to tell stories
• Serial Podcast
We’d love to hear your take on these approaches. Do share your thoughts with us at @PeoplesLab on Twitter. You can also reach out to us on Twitter @msl_group.
“The Vision Thing”: Developing a Transformative Digital VisionCapgemini
Digital vision: the cornerstone of successful digital transformation
Digital technologies are having a pervasive influence on business, transforming the customer experience, enhancing productivity in operations and improving the way employees collaborate.
Yet, many organizations fail to capture the full potential of digital technologies because their leaders lack a transformative vision. Executives with an incremental vision get what they aim for – incremental improvement. Those who realize the transformative power of digital can achieve much more.
The Digital Transformation Symphony: When IT and Business Play in SyncCapgemini
Digital Masters, such as Starbucks, that leverage digital technologies effectively, differentiate themselves from their peers by consciously striving to build a close relationship between IT and the business. However, Digital Masters are exceptions. The IT-business relationship in most organizations is often a fractious relationship rather than a marriage of equals. Business teams often find the IT department’s high costs and long implementation timelines unacceptable. In addition, IT leaders are often faulted for not speaking the language of business. Leading CIOs take this disconnect head on and try and fix it. Our research shows that leading CIOs take three key actions to align the IT department with the needs of the business: 1. redesign the IT department to unlock digital innovation; 2. create strong digital platforms; 3. rationalize IT Infrastructure to fund digital initiatives. We explore each of these actions in this research paper.
Séptima Encuesta Mundial del Coeficiente Digital de las empresasPwC España
La Séptima Encuesta Mundial sobre el Coeficiente Digital en las empresas se ha realizado a partir de entrevistas a casi 2.000 directivos y líderes de IT de empresas de diez sectores en 51 países (entre las que se encuentran 70 compañías españolas). El informe mide el grado de digitalización de las compañías entendido por cómo estas afrontan, valoran e integran las tecnologías digitales en su organización -lo que hemos denominado el coeficiente digital- a partir de diez comportamientos digitales clave.
What actions can leaders take to confirm their digital investments deliver and sustain value? The practices and performance of global companies, drawn from the experience of nearly 2,000 business and technology executives.
In prior research, we showcased how digital leaders are using investments in digital technologies to transform key capabilities across customer experience and operations. However, in today’s volatile and disrupted world, capability leadership is not enough. As well as having the capabilities in place, organizations need to be nimble and flexible – dexterous – if they are to respond to ever-changing technology advances, emerging competitive disruptions, and changing customer needs. Enterprises that excel in both qualities – capability and dexterity – are digital organizations. This ‘digital elite’ reported that they outperformed their competitors on multiple key performance indicators including profitability, customer satisfaction, innovativeness and growth.
The difficult art of quantifying return on digital investmentsBen Gilchriest
Measuring digital investments is proving to be a challenging task. Many companies have tried to create models that demonstrate the value of digital technologies, such as social media, applying traditional metrics to these. However, it's proving to be difficult to find a credible method.
So how do we make the difficult decision on where to invest in digital; especially when we are under so much pressure to do so much more? Whilst we need some sort of mechanism in place to make informed choices, traditional approaches to ROI are falling short. This paper describes these challenges in more detail (you are not alone, even amongst the world's leading digital companies, the 'Digirati', only 56% create a business case). It also describes three approaches you can take to define a digital business case, and provides perspectives on how to best approach digital investment decisions.
CIO Insights from the Global C-suite StudyCasey Lucas
Moving from the back office to the front lines - CIO insights from the Global C-suite Study
CIOs tell us that their place in the organizational pyramid has changed in the past five years. Many of them command more respect and possess more authority than before and they are working more closely with their C-suite colleagues.
How to Win at Digital Transformation: Insights From a Global Study of Top Executives
Forbes Insights and Hitachi surveyed almost 600 executives across industries and geographies to learn about their digital maturity. IT and business leaders revealed the complexities, roadblocks and gains they face as they transform their organizations to digital enterprises.
2. 2
We had a vision, and
the vision was to be the
first company to be fully
digital end to end.
- Angela Ahrendts,
CEO Burberry
Introduction
“We had a vision, and the vision was to
be the first company to be fully digital
end-to-end. The [resulting] experience
would be that a customer will have
access to Burberry across all devices,
anywhere in the world.”1
With this vision, CEO Angela Ahrendts
drove a digital transformation within
Burberry,a155-year-oldfashioncompany
and an iconic UK brand. Burberry’s
executive team used the power of digital
technologies to reinvigorate the brand,
create a consistent customer experience
on a global scale and deliver consistently
healthy financial results.
Digital technologies are having a
pervasive influence on business,
transforming the customer experience,
enhancing productivity in operations
and improving the way employees
collaborate. Yet, many organizations
fail to capture the full potential of digital
technologies because their leaders lack
a transformative vision. Executives with
an incremental vision get what they aim
for – incremental improvement. Those
who realize the transformative power of
digital can achieve much more.
A bottom-up approach does not deliver
successful digital transformation.
Only the top layer of a company can
create a compelling vision of the future
and communicate it throughout the
organization. Often, the real benefits
of transformation come from seeing
potential synergies across silos, and then
creating the conditions through which
everyone can begin to unlock that value.
Only senior executives are positioned to
drive this level of change.
Over the last three years, Capgemini
Consulting and the MIT Center for
Digital Business have been researching
the impact of digital technologies
on the reach and the performance
of organizations. We identified two
key dimensions for successful digital
transformation: the “What” and the
“How.” The “What” represents digital
intensity, a measure of the strength
of digital activities of an organization.
The “How” represents transformation
management intensity, a measure of
an organization’s vision, governance,
and skills. Companies that are strong
in digital intensity conduct numerous
digital initiatives, but only effective
transformation management helps them
identify and deliver digital investments
in a powerful and well-coordinated way.
We call companies that excel in both
dimensions the “Digirati” (see Figure 1).
3. 3
Executives with an
incremental vision get
what they aim for
– incremental
improvement.
Source: Capgemini Consulting and MIT Center for Digital Business – “Digital Transformation: A roadmap for billion-dollar organizations”1
Transformation Management Intensity
DigitalIntensity
Beginners
Management sceptical of the business value of
advanced digital technologies
May be carrying out some experiments
Immature digital culture
Digirati
Strong overarching digital vision
Good governance
Many digital initiatives generating business
value in measurable ways
Strong digital culture
Conservatives
Overarching digital vision exists, but may be
underdeveloped
Few advanced digital features, though traditional
digital capabilities may be mature
Strong digital governance across silos
Taking active steps to build digital skills and culture
Fashionistas
Many advanced digital features (such as social,
mobile) in silos
No overarching vision
Underdeveloped coordination
Digital culture may exist in silos
Digital intensity measures how advanced digital
initiatives are within an organization. This includes
investments in customer experience, operational
processes, business model transformation, as well
as digital capabilities.
Transformation management intensity measures
senior executives’ capability to drive change
throughout the organization. This includes creating
and communicating a clear vision, establishing
governance mechanisms, facilitating cross-silo
coordination, and building a digital-ready culture.
While executives within the Digirati
have integrated the power of digital
transformation into their vision and
strategies, too few organizations today
understand what it means to have a
transformative digital vision. Therefore,
we set out to answer three critical
questions:
Are executives paying increasing
attention to digital technologies?
How are executives expressing their
digital visions?
How can executives frame a
transformative digital vision?
Figure 1: Four levels of Digital Mastery
4. 4
We analyzed the annual reports of the
Forbes Global 100 companies from
2009-2011. Based on our analysis,
we found that awareness of “digital”
has grown by 19% between 2009
and 2011 (see appendix on research
methodology). In 2011, 43% of Forbes
100 companies referenced “digital” in
their annual reports, compared with 36%
in 2009 (see Figure 2). This growth in
digital awareness shows that executives
are paying increasing attention to the
potential impact of digital transformation.
Digital awareness also differs by
geography. More than half of Fortune
Global 100 companies in North America
emphasized “digital” in their annual
reports while fewer companies in the
rest of the world were digitally aware (see
Figure 3).
But, awareness of the digital trend is
not sufficient to drive transformational
change. The true question is “how many
organizations have encapsulated this
trend within a transformative vision for
their company?” Among the Digirati,
82% of respondents agreed that their
senior leaders shared a common vision
of digital transformation. A majority also
noted that leaders’ visions involve radical
change and that a roadmap exists
to turn that transformative vision into
reality (see Figure 4). The picture is quite
different in the other categories. Less
than half of respondents agreed that
their senior leaders shared a common
vision for digital transformation and only
17% stated that a roadmap existed.
Are digital technologies gaining
increased attention from large-company
executives? Yes, and North American
firms appear to be ahead of the curve.
But only the Digirati are distinguishing
themselves from their peers by translating
that awareness into a transformational
vision of the future.
Are executives paying increasing attention
to digital technologies?
Source: Capgemini Consulting analysis, Forbes, Company annual reports
Source: Capgemini Consulting analysis based on 2011 Forbes Global 100 list,
Company annual reports
36%
2009 2010
40%
2011
43%
55%
43%
30%
North America Europe Rest of world
Figure 2: Percentage of Digitally-Aware Companies: Measured by Mention
of “Digital” in Annual Reports, Forbes Global 100 Companies, 2009-2011
Figure 3: Percentage of Companies in key Geographies that are Digitally
Aware, Forbes Global 100 Companies, 2011
5. 5
Among the Digirati, 82% of respondents agreed that their senior leaders shared a
common vision of digital transformation. For other firms, this figure is less than half.
Senior executives share a
common vision of how
the business should
change through digital
technologies
DigiratiNon-Digirati*
Senior executives have a
digital transformation vision
that crosses internal
organizational units
Senior executives have a
digital transformation vision
that involves radical
changes compared to the
way we have traditionally
done business
Senior executives and
middle managers share a
common vision of digital
transformation
18%
82%
25%
67%
26%
71%
47%
25%
28%
15%
82%
51%
24%
25%
57%25%
18%
62%
21%
17%
Agree Neutral Disagree
Source: Capgemini Consulting – MIT Center for Digital Business Research, Survey of 391 firms, 2012
*Fashionistas, Conservatives and Beginners
Figure 4: Having a transformational vision distinguishes the Digirati from their peers
6. 6
How are executives
expressing their digital visions?
In our research, we interviewed over 150
executives to understand how they were
integrating digital transformation into their
strategic visions. Our results showed
that leaders typically express a digital
vision from one of three perspectives:
digitizing operational processes,
digitizing customer experience or a
combination of the two. These different
approaches reflect both the priorities
of the organization and the nature of
competition in a given industry.
Digitizing Operational
Processes
Organizations whose fortunes are
closely tied to the performance of their
supply chain and core operations often
start with this approach. The business
drivers of such digital visions are often
productivity/efficiency and the need
to integrate disparate operations.
The intent is to increase visibility and
decision-making speed or to collaborate
across silos.
For example, Boeing crafted a vision that
is focused on operational excellence and
how digital technologies and data can
help the company improve:
“Boeing believes the future of the
aviation industry lies in ‘the digital airline.’
To succeed in the marketplace, airlines
and their engineering and IT teams
must take advantage of the increasing
amount of data coming off of airplanes,
Boeing believes the future
of the aviation industry
lies in “the digital
airline.”
using advanced analytics and airplane
technology to take operational efficiency
to the next level.”2
Boeing goes one step further by clearly
defining what a “digital airline” means in
practice:
“The key to the digital airline is delivering
secure, detailed operational and
maintenance information to the people
who need it most, when they need it
most. That means that engineering will
share data with IT, but also with the
finance, accounting, operational and
executive functions.”3
Designing a vision based on operational
excellence is by no means limited
to manufacturing and engineering
companies. For instance, in 2009,
Procter & Gamble put operational
excellence at the center of its digital
vision:
“Centralization and digitization will
improve productivity and create
deeper, more sustainable organizational
capabilities. Digitizing P&G will enable
us to manage the business in real time
and on a demand-driven basis. We’ll
be able to collaborate more effectively
and efficiently, inside and outside the
company.”4
Digitizing Customer
Experience
Many organizations have chosen the
customer experience as the focal point
of their digital transformation. These
organizations focus their digital efforts
on improving understanding of customer
behavior through better use of analytics
and digital channels. There are three key
drivers for a customer experience-driven
digital vision: delivering an integrated
customer experience, using digital
to establish a better connection with
consumers and using digital tools to
understand customer behavior.
Organizations that focus on delivering
an integrated customer experience tend
to focus on multi-channel coherence
and a personalized experience for the
customer. For instance, an executive
at an apparel company states that a
digital customer experience will impact,
“the way that the consumer accesses
our brand, gives us feedback on it and
expects a tailored experience…our
products, where they buy them, how
they buy them – I think it’s going to be a
revolution.”5
The second driver is to use digital as a
means to establish stronger connections
with consumers. For instance, Adam
Brotman, Chief Digital Officer of
Starbucks, shared this vision:
“Digital has to be the way we can tell
our story, build our brand and have a
relationship with our customer.”6
Digital has to be the way
we can tell our story,
build our brand and have
a relationship with our
customer.
- Adam Brotman, Chief
Digital Officer, Starbucks
7. 7
Burberry’s CEO Angela Ahrendts has a
similar vision with a focus on ubiquitous
access to the brand:
“To create a company where anyone
who wanted to touch the brand could
have access to it.”7
Equally, cosmetics giant L’Oreal
describes how digital capabilities
can enhance the emotional link with
consumers:
“The digital world multiplies the ways
our brands can create an emotion-filled
relationship with their customers.”8
The third driver for a customer
experience-driven vision is using digital
tools to understand and influence
customer behavior. For instance,
Novartis says in its annual report:
“The technologies we use in our daily
lives, such as smartphones and tablet
devices, could make a real difference
in helping patients to manage their own
health. We are exploring ways to use
these tools to improve compliance rates
and enable healthcare professionals to
monitor patient progress remotely.”9
Similarly, Commonwealth Bank of
Australia sees new digital technologies
as a key way of integrating customer
inputs in its co-creation efforts:
“We are progressively applying new
technology to enable customers to play
a greater part in product design. That
helps us create more intuitive products
and services, readily understandable to
our customers and more tailored to their
individual needs.”10
Changing Business Models
A third category combines visions
focused on operational process and
customer experience to create new
business models. Organizations
with this approach embrace digital
transformation, even if it represents
a fundamental departure from their
current mode of operation. There are
broadly two motivations for transforming
business models.
The first is often defensive, focused on
preserving long-term survival. Services
and information-based industries
are now going through fundamental
structural changes. The rapid pace of
change in these industries is forcing
companies to redesign their business
models.
Take the case of the French directory
services provider, Pages Jaunes. Facing
a 10% annual decline in its core markets,
the company was reliant on a dying
business model based on thick yellow
books. Pages Jaunes’ CEO articulated a
clear vision of how the company would
transform its business model through
digital. The company was not in the
business of producing paper directories;
it was in the business of connecting small
and medium-sized businesses to local
customers. Paper is just an outdated
technology; digital is a better one.11
This vision set the stage for a radical
redesign of the company and its
products. The company’s strategic focus
is now on digital advertising, website
design and mobile directories, not thick
paper books.
Opportunity – not crisis – is the second
driver of business model change.
Companies with this type of vision seek
to use digital technologies to extend their
reach. Banco Santander, for instance,
highlights a vision for how digital
technologies can help it break into new
market segments:
“Our objective for the coming years is
to exploit the growth opportunities in
segments where the bank has a low
presence, such as companies, insurance
and cards. Specifically, we are making
significant investments in IT systems
and staff to be able to take advantage of
these opportunities.”12
Others go one step further, seeing digital
visions as a way to prepare a company
for the next long term shift in their
industry. General Electric, for instance,
focuses its vision on the coming wave of
smart connected devices.
“I don’t see GE as a software company.
However, we will lead in the productivity
of our installed products and their
ecosystems. This will require leadership
of the ‘Industrial Internet,’ making
infrastructure systems more intelligent.”13
According to our research, there is no one
right way to express a vision for digital
transformation. Executives articulated
a vision based on the existing core
capabilities of their organizations, and/or
the specific industry context they faced.
Nevertheless, our research shows that
digirati craft an inspiring vision of the
future in which digital technologies play
a fundamental role.
8. 8
Digital transformation is a tectonic shift,
causing companies to rethink how they
structure themselves and compete in the
market. Leaders can help negotiate this
transition by proactively defining what a
radically different, digital future will look
like. To begin crafting this vision, leaders
must first identify the benefits they want
to gain through digital technologies, and
which strategies will engage customers,
employees and investors.
Creating a vision is never a completely
linear process. However, our research
shows that Digirati companies go
through three distinct steps to formulate
their digital visions:
Define a clear target
Engage the organization
Evolve the vision over time
How can executives frame
a transformative digital vision?
Define a Clear Target:
First, executives need to lay out clearly
the intent of the vision (what needs to
change) as well as the outcome (the
resulting benefits for the company, its
customers and its employees). This
will help employees visualize what the
future of the organization will look like.
Here, leaders should strive to be as
industrialization, the second on creating
a customer-centric organization, and
the third on automation. The original
vision remains a key inspiration behind
improvements in operations and the
customer experience, even as the
company has extended its vision through
successive waves of capability.
Evolve the Vision Over Time:
Organizations in all industries are still
struggling to understand the long-
term impact of digital technologies.
Moreover, the vision of the changed
organization will evolve in concert with
the new possibilities created by technical
advances and improved capabilities.
In 2009 Procter & Gamble started with
a vision to be completely digitized. By
2010, the company evolved its vision
to create a real-time operating and
decision-making environment.
“We are accelerating innovation by using
digital technology to create visibility from
molecule-creation to the store shelf.”15
A company’s digital vision is not the
sole responsibility of its senior leaders.
Nor should that vision remain static
over time. Executives need to provide a
direction that is clear enough to mobilize
their organization, but that also allows
employees to actively participate in its
refinement. In that way, the vision will
evolve in concert with the implementation
of the company’s digital transformation.
Leaders need to keep
the vision specific enough
to give employees a clear
direction, while giving
them the flexibility
to innovate and build
upon it.
specific as possible. For instance, Pages
Jaunes’ CEO clearly stated his intent
to move beyond thick paper directories
while retaining the company’s valuable
role in connecting small to medium
businesses with local customers. He
coupled that intent with a concrete
outcome: the company would earn
75% of its revenues from digital services
within the next 3 to 5 years. This
combination of intent and outcome gives
everyone in the organization a clear set
of guidelines to envision new ways of
working. It also ensures that the focus
of the transformative vision is not on
the technology itself but on different
ways of operating – identifying new
ways for digital technology to improve
performance and customer satisfaction.
Engage the Organization:
After articulating the intent and outcome
of a digital vision, the next step is to
engage the organization in achieving that
outcome. While they have the important
task of sketching out a clear picture of the
future, executives should let the broader
organization fill in the details. Leaders
need to keep the vision specific enough
to give employees a clear direction, while
giving them the flexibility to innovate and
build upon it.
Asian Paints, India’s largest paint
company, formulated a vision that
combined operational efficiency with
developing new ways to serve its
customers.14
This vision did not define
every step of the transformation. It
provided a clear mandate for change
while enabling people throughout the
company to refine the details over
time. The company embarked on its
digital transformation several years ago
and has been through three waves of
transformation - each building on top
of the other. The first wave focused on
9. 9
An inspiring digital vision is the
cornerstone of successful digital
transformation. Though many executives
appear to be aware of its impact on their
business, few have incorporated digital
into a compelling strategic vision of the
future. These visions do not focus simply
Conclusion
on implementing new technologies.
Instead, they illustrate how organizations
can enhance the experience of their
customers, streamline their operations
or transform their business models. This
is no small task, and it should not be left
to senior leaders alone. Crafting a vision
for digital transformation is a journey.
Executives plant the seed at the top,
but then they must engage people at all
levels in the company to make the vision
live and grow.
Research Methodology
This research is part of a three-year collaboration between the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini Consulting aimed
at investigating the ways in which large traditional companies around the world are managing – and benefiting from – digital
transformation. In Phase 1, we spoke to over 150 senior executives from large enterprises around the globe. For further details
and insights from this research, please refer to Digital Transformation: A Road-Map for Billion-Dollar Organizations.16
This led to
our insights about the importance and characteristics of transformative digital vision. In Phase 2, we extended our research to
benchmark digital practices around the globe. We gathered surveys from 469 senior executives in 391 large companies around
the world. For further details on the insights from this phase, please refer to The Digital Advantage: How digital leaders outperform
their peers in every industry.17
To gauge awareness of the digital phenomenon, we analyzed organizations in the Forbes Global 100 list. Using the 2012 list, we
measured digital awareness as the number of times that an organization used the word ‘digital’ in its annual report in the period
2009-2011 in the context of industry trends, company initiatives or the CEO/Chairman’s letters to shareholders.
10. 10
1 Angela Ahrendts video uploaded by SalesForce.com, August 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpjMWNF9JqY
2 Company website - http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/aviationservices/integrated-services/digital-airline.page
3 Company website - http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/aviationservices/integrated-services/digital-airline.page
4 P&G CEO Robert McDonald in Annual Report 2011, Page 5
5 Capgemini Consulting – MIT Center for Digital Business Research, 2012
6 Venture Beat, “How Starbucks is turning itself into a tech company,” June 2012
7 CNN, “Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts: High tech’s fashion model,” June 2012
8 Capgemini Consulting Digital Leadership Series, An interview with Marc Menesguen, Managing Director, Strategic Marketing
for L’Oreal http://ebooks.capgemini-consulting.com/Marc-Menesguen-Interview/index.html
9 Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez in Annual Report 2012, Page 14
10 Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Ian Narev in Annual Report 2012, Page 5
11 Capgemini Consulting and MIT Center for Digital Business – “Digital Transformation: A roadmap for billion-dollar
organizations” http://www.capgemini-consulting.com/digital-transformation-a-road-map-for-billion-dollar-organizations
12 Banco Santander CEO Alfredo Saenz in Letter from CEO 2012, Page 17
13 GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt in Annual Report 2011, Page 7
14 Capgemini Consulting Digital Leadership Series, An interview with Manish Choksi, Head of Strategy and Chief Information
Officer of Asian Paints http://ebooks.capgemini-consulting.com/Manish-Choksi-Interview/index.html
15 P&G CEO Robert McDonald in Annual Report 2011, Page 5
16 Capgemini Consulting and MIT Center for Digital Business – “Digital Transformation: A roadmap for billion-dollar
organizations” http://www.capgemini-consulting.com/digital-transformation-a-road-map-for-billion-dollar-organizations
17 Capgemini Consulting and MIT Center for Digital Business –“The Digital Advantage: How digital leaders outperform their
peers in every industry” http://www.capgemini-consulting.com/ebook/The-Digital-Advantage/index.html
References