Sometimes life is like a surreal dream. No one can miss the fact that change is the new normal and the rules are being rewritten. Is this just change? Or is it something more?
Change is what happened when you replaced your vinyl with shiny new CDs. Transformation is what happened when you started carrying all of your music on your phone.
The technological revolution has been the driver of this transformation but it also brings about great opportunity for us if we recognize and adopt and adapt to a changing and transformative marketplace. What we are experiencing is a once-in-a-lifetime shift.
This technological revolution has changed how we communicate, which transforms how we do business. It has moved Global Collaboration to new levels. Anyone can find anything, anytime, anywhere.
If your primary value proposition is that of being a resource to find product? You are An Endangered Species!
If your value proposition is to be the lowest price provider? You are Nearly extinct! The race to the bottom is a zero sum game that cannot be won.
We have seen QR Codes and Microsoft Tags turn every smart phone into a scanner with incredible and seemingly endless applications. (Shameless plug for my newest presentation: 30 Ways to Use QR Codes.) These can be printed on promotional products bringing a high touch balance to a high tech world.
Still to come and on the horizon are a brave new world of applications that we never even dreamed were possible. How about Augmented Reality? (Go to YouTube and do a search, it will blow you away!) With augmented reality, a simple code held in front of your web cam will create three dimensional samples, models, characters, stories and more. In the not-so distant future, you will be showing 3-D spec samples to your clients.
Want to attend an industry meeting in Las Vegas but need to also be at a client’s meeting in New York? Not a problem. Already, Cisco Systems uses telepresence so that their executives can be two places at the same time. (Doubt it? Go to YouTube and search “Telepresence.”) “Beam Me Up Scotty!” is now a reality with virtual presence and holographs.
Just when you were getting used to chaotic change, transformation takes place. These are things that are changing the rules of marketing and the rules of business. Be ready to write your own!
(This is part two in a multipart series on the The New Rules of Marketing. Read part one here. Watch for more in this series in the upcoming weeks ahead.)
