Mens Et Opera - Reloaded

How can you turn information into actionable knowledge? Enough has been said as to how fast information is stacking up and we all know that this is creating a paradoxical situation. From one end, information is being gathered in spades to enable quick problem-solving. On the other end, information is locked in disparate systems hindering the very reason why information was collected in the first place. I lean on David Aeker for defense. In his  Spanning Silos, Aeker   convincingly pointed out that a silo is a metaphor for "organizational units that contain their own management team and talent and lack of motivation... to work with or even communicate with other units." Hence, the very idea of collaboration and flow of information is challenged resulting in products and solutions that in fact claim to solve the problem but in reality further segregate the knowledge base. A unified approach What we need is a unified paradigm for capturing, storing, organizing, and se...

Today consumer’s behavior is dictating the speed and efficiency with which retailers must meet their needs. Most retailers have been grappling with the so called ‘Omnichannel strategies’ – models to deal with the many critical moments when customers interact with the organization's channels and its offerings. This is how retailers want to play the game. However, I think that in trying to solve a real problem their antidote seems worse than the problem itself. For example, the narrow focus on maximizing satisfaction across all channels has diverted attention from a more important picture: the customer’s end-to-end journey. In other words, the focus is on the touch-point itself and not on the overall experience resulting in a less customer-centric strategies.   And this is the big question: how do you want customers to feel when they are in your store, on your website, reading your flyer, or just on the phone with customer reps? I have already pointed out that customers...

Over the past few years, we have assisted to an increasing shift in customer  behavior . Pervasive internet connectivity – along with the exponential adoption of mobile devices – has enabled shoppers to research and purchase products of all kinds, anytime and anywhere, using a combination of touch points they find most convenient. And it is not a passing fad. Consumers expect rich data and images to make purchase choices; business users need easy access to analytical data to make mission-critical decisions. These increasing demands for information are driving a need for improved product data availability and accuracy. And this is changing the way businesses go to market. A staggering number of bricks and mortar and manufacturers are reforming their models to respond to this challenge. The direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, while not new, is becoming the centre stage to address these challenges. The optimal DTC model will vary depending on specific and contextual busines...