The ‘Cappuccino Froth’ of Social Media

Note: This blog provides a narrative to the slides used for my recent Pecha Kucha presentation - you can find it on my LinkedIn profile and on Slideshare. I have added some extensions here which the time constraints (20 seconds for each of the 20 slides) prevented on the night!

30% Froth

 I’m told that an ideal cappuccino is typically 30% froth although I’ve never actually measured it. My hypothesis for this conversation is that social media at best represents just 30% of what digital technology can do to improve business performance.

 It’s just the froth on top of the 70% that really makes a difference.

Over the late bank holiday I went on a cycling tour visiting vineyards in Sussex and Kent - it’s a start up business I’m mentoring (see www.winerides.co.uk). So, I thought I’d use a vineyard as an illustrative way of anchoring the three technological, socioeconomic and cultural revolutions to significantly impact these shores.

Note: The pictures are of the CarrTaylor vineyard at Westfield, East Sussex (www.carr-taylor.co.uk).

The Three Revolutions

·         The First Revolution was the Agricultural Revolution which moved food production from small self-reliant cottage industries to communities to fuel a rapidly expanding population.

This had the effect of concentrating power and wealth

in the hands of the landowners.

·         The Second Revolution was the Industrial Revolution fuelled by new materials, new sources of energy and new machines. This moved people en-mass from the countryside to the cities (the attraction and growth of cities is a continuing phenomenon and mega-trend).

This had the effect of concentrating power and wealth

in the hands of the factory owners.

·         Now we have the Third Revolution - the Digital Revolution - fuelled by the Internet.

 (By the way satellite technology is used to determine where the vines are planted to optimise exposure to the sun and is also used to determine when the grapes should be harvested based on their sugar content).

This Third Revolution may well have democratised influence and power but, in my opinion, has done precious little to equalise the distribution of wealth.

The Current State

This democratisation has been facilitated by social media tools such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn et al which I’m sure you’re only too familiar with. The comfortable and reasonably predictable old P’s of marketing Product/Price/Promotion and Place, which informed my approach to marketing, have been ‘Googalised’ so we now have Penguin/Panda & Phantom to deal with - still P’s I notice!

The current state is an increasingly noisy and disruptive world where nothing stands still and where the pace of disruption is arguably accelerated by the behaviour of the business owners of these major ecosystems as well.

So, now we have the connected world - multiple cobwebs of communities that defy simple categorisation. From this comes the notion of ‘Six degrees of Separation’ although I’m sure there must be a more recent figure than this?

And the perpetrators?

Generation Y, the born digital, the digital natives. They don’t think technology, they just do it! These people are allergic to command and control. They’re not starry eyed either. Recent research suggests they don’t have much time for the institutional shibboleths of the NHS or the Welfare State.

The collective granular outcome of all this activity is the so-called ‘firehose of data’ Now, I could have talked about Gartner’s 3 V’s here - Volume/Velocity/Variety - with a suitable slide. But, I liked some IBM language I came across calling it the ‘data of desire’ so I used a visual of a humongous yellow truck.

 Well, boys and their toys!

I Changed my Mind

I used to view acceptance of social media and the digital world as a sort of marmite test - you either love it or you hate it. But, quite frankly that just won’t do, it’s just an easy way out for a lazy mind.

As John Maynard Keynes famously said:

‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’

So, I’ve recognised that Social and Digital are not going to go away. People (the so-called Digital Immigrants) and businesses cannot afford to be disenfranchised in this way if they want to understand and be part of the communities and global marketplace that we are all now in.

There’s a lot of data that supports the view that businesses that embrace digital and social technology grow exponentially. The performance gap is widening and accelerating. Businesses that don’t adopt social media and digital technology will flat line and will end up in the elephant’s graveyard.

Note: you will have recognised that this is not a forensically data based blog!

So, now there’s ample evidence of the voracious appetite of the digital monster. Look at how established industries and businesses have been eviscerated - Jessops, HMV and Clinton Cards to name but a few. Consultants call this process ‘disintermediation’ because they can charge more for it!

Put simply it means cutting out the middleman.

Have you or your clients thought about where they sit in the supply chain of value delivery, whether it’s B2B or B2C and the associated risks of ignoring the digital and social revolution?

A Different Business Mindset

Let’s be absolutely clear. It’s not about technology. Technology is a servant not a master. It’s merely a means to and end and has to meet the needs of the business.

The real challenge is more fundamental. My belief is that at the root of this is the need for a changed mindset.

From	To
Institutional Thinking	Network Thinking
·         Closed (C)	·         Open (O)
·         Selective (S)	·         Random (R)
·         Controlling (C)	·         Supportive (S)

As Thomas Power who is the creator of the LeadORS indicator which measures this state of mind says, this shift presents a real challenge for executives in both large and small organisations. No approach is absolutely right and a blended strategy is often required depending on the industry and context.

Note: If you want to know more about your own profile then visit http://www.leadors.co/

From the Corporate Brand to the Personal Brand

It’s always been true that people buy from people. This perspective has been sharpened by the decline of authority institutions and authority figures - for some real data see http://www.edelman.com and look for their Trust Barometer. It’s fascinating reading.

For example:

65% of people are likely to trust a person like yourself

50% of people are likely to trust a regular employee

The comparative trust figures for a CEO are 33% and Government 29%. 

So, how do you build this personal brand?

WelI, can’t give the game away here but I can direct you to ‘Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me: What Online Social Networking Means for You and Your Business’ authored by Penny Power.

But I can remind you of the old adage - ‘hire for attitude, train for skill’ - its never been more appropriate.

Unlocking Potential

I see my personal core purpose as ‘unlocking potential’ which why in my more energised moments I describe myself as a ‘digital activist’.

Frontier’s vision is to help businesses and people transition in to the Digital Age.

Why?

Because we passionately believe that going ‘Digital’ can unlock:

·         Productivity - faster to market, shortened sales funnel, easier ‘one stop solutions;

·         Revenue - improving margins and sales volumes;

·         Potential - unleashing the full potential of your business assets - people, customers, suppliers and as importantly today social responsibility.

The outcome is a new form of business capital - which includes knowledge, money of course, and communities.

Why should this be of interest?

Well, for example, if you were building your business to exit then digital technology can improve your exit multiples across a number of dimensions - have look at what our business  partners which include Darren Shirlaw have to say - www.shirlawscoaching.co.uk/.

Boiling Frogs

After all of this you may decide you don’t want to do anything,

Well fine.

So I’ll just think of you as a boiling frog - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog if you need to know more.

#Frontier @chrisfarrance www.frontiercoaching.com chrisfarrance@frontiercoaching.com 46

STOP PRESS Frontier is running a ‘Digital Discovery Day’ on the 18th July in Richmond. For more information, please contact Frontier at hello@frontiercoaching.com or call 01959 522082 now!