UPDATED 2024 is expected to be the year when drone delivery finally takes flight. What’s different about this year? Well, most regulatory hurdles have been cleared, opening the door for retailers, medical centers, and logistics platforms to start offering drone delivery. During testing, visual spotters were required every mile. Last Fall, the FAA authorized some drone operators to fly BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight). Now, companies such as Zipline, Wing, DroneUp, and Amazon are about to take off. The…
The 11 Digital Trends Shaping CX and Marketing in 2020
Each year, I help kick-off Brand Innovators Mega-Trends event during CES. In the opening keynote, I share the trends (and hopes) I would love brand executives to embrace in the new year. In 2020, the presentation focused on “11 Digital Trends Shaping CX and Marketing.” There are certainly more than 11 trends to follow, but in the context of this conversation, I focused on the convergence of AI, customer empathy, digital distractions and intentions, and the technology that connects the…
Tomorrow’s Products and Services Need to Offer Innovative (Not Just Iterative) Experiences
Napa Valley, what a wonderful place to visit. Some of my favorite wineries are in Napa. Paraduxx, Far Niente, Harlan, Mascot, Nickel and Nickel, Chandon, Domain Carneros, Cuvaison, Schug, just to name a few. Napa is also a wonderful place to work. And, I recently had an opportunity to do so when I was asked share my vision of the future at the Senior Living Innovation Forum. I’m not an expert in senior living care nor am I a master…
To innovate or advance digital transformation, look outside your industry
My good friend and journalist Dan Tynan wrote two exceptional pieces on digital transformation in Adweek, “5 Steps for Digitally Transforming Your Marketing to Be More Responsive to Customer Needs” and “Why Old-School Brands Like Gap Need to Learn New Tricks to Survive in the Digital Age.” If you’re not in marketing, please don’t stop reading yet! This is bigger than marketing. This is about organizational innovation and transformation. Dan and I spent time together talking through what digital transformation…
Wynn Las Vegas Hires Digital Butlers, Places Amazon Echo in 4,748 Guest Rooms
Many hotels offer USAToday for guests. Now guests at the Wynn Las Vegas will simply say, “Alexa, read today’s USAToday headlines.” I believe the future of any brand is directly tied to the experiences they design and deliver consistently through the customer lifecycle. It’s not just any one thing, it’s everything. That’s the definition of customer experience after all. It’s not the technology company’s invest in, nor the touch points they modernize, nor the new policies and processes they introduce…
E-Commerce and Apps Pave the Way To The Future of Retail: Inside Amazon Go, A New Retail Experience
We’re a company of builders. Of pioneers. It’s our job to make bold bets, and we get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers. Here are just some of the innovations pioneered by Amazon, and we’re always looking for the next one. – Amazon Every industry is ripe for disruption. It’s what you do now that defines your future and legacy. One of the most exposed industries to disruption at the moment, among many, is the retail sector. From…
Q&A: The 7 Success Factors of Social Business Strategy
Last year, my Altimeter Group colleague Charlene Li and I published a series of research reports on the state and evolution of social business. In our research, we discovered that the most advanced businesses shared seven success factors in developing, launching, and measuring social business strategies. Our friends at Jossey-Bass asked us to turn it into an ebook and that we did! The Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy During the launch, we were interviewed by the Amazon team…
Content is King! Amazon Invests Millions In Original TV Shows…But Why?
My friend Tim Stenovec (@TimSteno) just published a great story on Amazon’s move to create original programming a la Netflix for The Huffington Post. He was kind enough to include me in his article (thank you Tim). He sent along a few questions as I was boarding my flight from NY to LA. As Tim was on deadline, I needed to send a thoughtful response as soon as I’d have the opportunity to turn my phone back on. The quote…
Expert Review: Tony Hsieh on The End of Business as Usual
What follows is an expert review written by Tony Hsieh, NY Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc. This book [The End of Business as Usual] covers an important concept for businesses everywhere. The future of business isn’t just about the latest technology, it’s about market disruption and how an organization recognizes and adapts to new opportunities. Without adaptation, businesses will fall to “digital Darwinism“, as Brian says. Consumer behavior is changing and, as Brian observes,…
Announcing The End of Business as Usual: The new book is available now!
It’s with great pleasure, and a little bit of nervousness, that I announce the official availability of my new book, The End of Business as Usual. Business, government, music, finance, publishing, everything is changing. We have a unique role in all of this as we are stakeholders in not only defining the need for change, but we are also responsible for leading transformation within our organizations. We are the architects, the mediators, and the sherpas to a new era of…
