Confessions of an eBiz Junkie

The Organizationally Agnostic Digital Strategy

Moving from the brand side to a consulting role has really helped shape my perspective on how companies develop, align and execute their digital strategies.

As a Marketer, I would focus much of my energy on leveraging digital to generate buzz and drive awareness. Meanwhile, the folks down the hall in Services had their own digital agenda, and were busy building out online artifacts designed to help customers solve problems quickly. 

Of course, we weren't alone. The Sales folks were investing in digital to meet their objectives, as was Channels, and so on. 

Ant's Eye View joins PwC: The Journey Continues

 

I joined Ant's Eye View earlier this year for two simple reasons - I wanted to work with the best in the industry and I wanted to help transform some of the worlds top brands  into highly-engaged, customer centric organizations. Mission accomplished on both counts and it's been a tremendously rewarding journey already.

If there's been a challenge, it's been one of scale. Even with the incredible growth of the company, the demand for our work has been nothing short of staggering. That challenge has now been solved. I'm thrilled to share that we've entered into an agreement to join PwC to help advance their digital and social capabilities.  PwC provides us with a tremendous platform to accelerate our vision and scale to levels that wouldn't have been possible through organic growth. In addition, we now have access to an enormous set of complimentary capabilities that truly round out the transformative nature of our work.

Ant's Eye View CEO and co-founder Sean O'Driscoll shares his perspective on the days news. As you'll see, the Anthills are united in their enthusiasm and excitement.

Update: "The Forrester Wave™: Business Technology Transformation, Q3 2012” provides a good indicator as to why this move makes so much sense.

 

 

Customer Loyalty - An Endangered Species?

For me, making a significant purchase is an emotional decision. I do my research, I check out different brands, I compare products, and ultimately decide to give my hard-earned money to a particular company.

Once I make that decision, I'm entering into a relationship with the brand. I'm giving them my trust.

Based on several recent experiences, I'm left questioning the extent in which companies understand the modern consumer. I'd argue it's the single most important lesson for future success.

The Power of the Narrative

What do you suppose this small corked bottle filled with sand is worth?

It was purchased at a yard sale for 33 cents.

It was later sold for $59.50 on eBay.

How's this possible? The power of the narrative.

We've been telling one another stories since we figured out how to carve pictures into rocks thousands of years ago. Stories can serve as a powerful tool to teach, entertain, or simply activate our imaginations. 

But storytelling isn't restricted to the 'once upon a time' variety. Stories can be used to engage your audience on virtually any topic, and can offer a far more interesting means of sharing your message than the more mundane and traditional means we often use today. 

Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker set out to determine if stories (even fictional stories) could add significant value to an object. The team  purchased a couple hundred small items at yard sales, dollar stores, and the like for $1.25 or less. They then recruited a group of writers to create interesting yet fictional stories about each object.

The objects were then put up for sale on eBay, where they brought in a total of $8,000.00 - a profit of over 2,700 percent per object. 

This project provides a wonderful reminder of the power of the narrative and I simply had to share. Head on over to the  Significant Objects website for much more information on this fascinating topic.