Beyond the Surface – Pointers to the need for Business Reinvention

October 30, 2013

Often when we think of advertising, we think of it in terms of the conventional purpose it serves – to inform and influence a target audience. In the context of branding the discussion does become broader and starts looking at the whole business model, the value proposition, the reputation of the enterprise and its ability to deliver among other things – a more holistic and systemic view. However, we do not often hear of that discussion leading to the topic of business invention.

With the radical and disruptive revolutions all aorund us in the digital world that touch all aspects of how consumers relate to information and thereby a company’s value proposition, it is hardly surprising that the world of advertising is undergoing rapid change too. The Fast Company article – ‘The End of Advertising…’, describes some of the key elements of advertising that will be different in future:

1. From Integrated to Connected

2. From Brand Story to People Story.

3. From 360 to 365

4. From Media disruption to Business Invention.

Each of the first three bullets points to interesting insights into how things have changed in our understanding of how people behave and relate and particularly phenomena that have become significant in the digital universe.

Each understanding when taken in isolation, such as the need for deep connections, the importance of touching people through stories, ubiquity of connections in space and time, creates creative advertising options such as are described under each of those bullets separately.

It is the last bullet about business invention that particularly caught my attention.

“Creativity and innovation are about finding unexpected solutions to obvious problems or finding obvious solutions to unexpected problems. We should use our creativity to provide better businesses and solutions rather than constantly trying to disrupt what people are doing.

Campaigns or products, if they are not worthy of people’s time, will end up polluting the world–literally and metaphorically. As we forge ahead into the post-digital, all-mobile era, 360 Degrees of Integrated Campaigns to tell Brand Stories via Media Disruption may no longer be as effective–and quite frankly, as necessary – as we thought.

Brands should aim to solve real problems by providing Connected Services over 365 Days and by Inventing new Businesses that benefit People, not just the Brand.”

The insights described in the first three bullets become one of the sources for expanding the space for innovative business designs. In the ‘FINDS’ framework for where to look for opportunities, it is the ‘I’ for Insight.

Business Reinvention

There are many sources of potential disruption to business models today. If we only pay attention to one of those in isolation, we might indeed enjoy temporary advantage.

However, the ability to create enduring advantage requires a systemic approach – a need to synthesize the various insights gained from trends, foresight, internal assets, and looking ‘sideways’, to create disruptive business models.