Customers today are accidental narcissists. Tomorrow is an entirely new game brands, CX strategists and marketers. Disruption is a gift either given to you or by you. Knowing this, we are still making mistakes in creating meanignful experiences to a new generation of connected, impatient and demanding customers. We get stuck in legacy thinking, playbooks and metrics rather than innovate and disrupt to fully capitalize on new digital opportunities. Following my presentation at Adobe Summit, I had the opportunity to…
Brands of the Future: The Critical Relationship Between BX, CX, UX and EX
Businesses are doubling down on customer experience and rightfully so. The customer has never been more connected, informed and empowered. Any brand hoping to survive and thrive in an era of digital Darwinism has no choice but to #adaptordie. But customer experience in of itself is not enough. Brands must understand what it means to compete at a time when people are not only changing, their priorities around values, aspirations and loyalty are also shifting. Humanity is now the killer…
Digital Transformation is not a Cost-Center, It’s an Investment in Market Leadership
In many progressive cases, digital transformation prioritizes customer experience initiatives. Because it focuses (or should) on customer behavior, preferences and outcomes, digital transformation can, in its own way, making businesses more human. As such, digital transformation is not or should not be about digital. It’s greatest potential is achieved when technology enables human-centered experiences and the change that comes about inside and outside the organization as a result. Successful digital transformation is ongoing and continually seeks out how to use…
You are not a digital marketer…at least not yet
There are no shortage of books to help you become a modern or innovative marketer. At the same time, there is a scarcity of useful, actionable and thought-provoking content to actually help you excel. My good buddies Travis Wright and Chris J. Snook hope to change add value to your marketing ambition with their new book, “Digital Sense: The Common Sense Approach to Effectively Blending Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technology and Customer Experience.” The duo approached me to write the…
The Art of Storytelling in an Era of Connected Audiences
Once upon a time, brands and agencies set out to tell the most engaging, transparent and shareable stories the world had ever seen. Little did they know, the audience would become storytellers in their own right. That signal, that certain spark to break the fourth wall to connect with audiences had since extinguished. The world moved on. Now, everyone was connected and everyone not only had stories to tell and experiences to share, there were devices, platforms and channels to…
The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make in Digital Transformation and Innovation
Jeff Ashcroft is a dear friend of mine. He’s the host of the popular #MMChat on Twitter every week where he hosts some of the most progressive conversational streams on business modernization and innovation. Recently, he invited me to share my the story behind my latest research, “The Digital Change Agent’s Manifesto: How the People Behind Digital Transformation Lead Change From Within.” In a flurry of 140-280 character questions and answers, I set out to help “change agents” understand not only…
The Nexus of Digital, IT and Science Fiction in the Future of Work
I have to tell you, I am absolutely loving the Digital Outliers podcast series and I hope you are too. In this episode, I get to talk with Brenda Cooper who among many things, is the CIO for the city of Kirkland, Washington. She is also a futurist and the author of nine science fiction and fantasy books. Her most recent novels are POST (Espec Books, 2016) and Spear of Light (Pyr, 2016). Her other works include Edge of Dark (Pyr, 2015), The Creative Fire(Pyr, 2012), and The…
Digital Transformation Through a Global Lens
Part 3 in a media tour series for my 2016 keynote at Digital Business World Congress (DES) in Madrid, Spain. This interview is with i9 Magazine, “O mundo digital visto por peritos internacionais.” Digital Transformation Through a Global Lens Digital revolution is happening. What are the buzzwords we must follow? Big Data, machine learning, smart cities, IOT, 4th industrial revolution,….? The digital revolution is has been happening for decades and it will only continue to change how we work, learn, communicate…
Is technology creating a narcissistic society?
Part 2 in a media tour series for my 2016 keynote at Digital Business World Congress (DES) in Madrid, Spain. This interview is with Expansión, “La tecnología está creando una sociedad narcisista.” Technology is creating a narcissistic society We all talk a lot about change, but how can we change ourselves? This question refers to a famous quote by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, “We all talk of change but we don’t talk of changing ourselves.” To change ourselves requires us to first…
Stop Talking About a Customer-Centered Culture and Build It Already
In 2016, I had the opportunity to visit my mother’s birthplace, Madrid, Spain, and keynote the inaugural Digital Business World Congress (DES). I was invited to present on the business implications of experience design and also the state and future of artificial intelligence (AI) and customer experience (CX). Leading up to the event, I was invited to participate in a media tour to promote my arrival in Spain. The topics ranged from digital transformation to CX to disruptive technologies to corporate innovation….
