I don’t think you can get much more ubiquitous than the Connected Public Toilets in Geneva’s airport.

Point-of-use feedback can certainly improve efficiency. Rather than wait until a problem is discovered during regular rounds (or worse, after customer complaints), exceptions surface immediately and can be fixed.

More importantly, though, point-of-experience changes the nature of customer feedback. Based on my own experience, service employees naturally receive lots more negative feedback than positive, whether in-person or through after-experience surveys – one is expected to do a job well and few customers will take the time to seek out a destination for meaningful praise.

The “Feedback Now” box removes social and other barriers and makes feedback no harder than a click. A brave manager can use this to change the service delivery mindset, from avoiding complaints to seeking satisfaction. A really brave manager can use this constant insight to empower staff to own a customer experience and be proud of his or her work; there is meaning even in something as mundane as a cleaning a public toilet.

Best,

Ed

First, directed to the automotive industry,  we conducted a Webinar with Automotive News in December, 2012 that outlined how connectivity is way more than a feature, and has significant Corporate Strategy ramifications.

We then wrote a piece in Connected World Magazine that drew on some of these same themes, but expanded to the general product industries.  (You can read this article online if you can’t find the magazine on your newsstand   http://www.connectedworldmag.com/10_2_magazinearticle.aspx?id=MAZ0130429045258740)

We are currently finishing a series of whitepapers that draw on this same topic, and discuss how this strategic shift is being viewed by consumers, and what major brands need to recognize about facing these consumers, pricing the services, and how they may need to adjust corporate structure to better react.  (Stay tuned for more about that in the near future.)

In the meantime, what do you think,  Can connected actually be a big part of a corporate strategy?

No regrets!

Gregg

A few weeks ago, while passing through the airport on my last trip of 2012 , I passed by a Brookstone store.  I was  enticed in by all of the gadgets.   It didn't disappoint.   A bunch of items that I didn't really need, but called out to me, were abundant .  Typically I take it all in and exit empty handed, but not this time.  This time I was sucked in by new LCD projector technology.  HDMI  interfaces, HD quality, at over 72″, all for under $300.  (http://www.brookstone.com/hdmi-pocket-projector?bkiid=SearchResults|CategoryProductList|801143p)   It actually made sense.  It wasn't only cool, but it also was a good business investment for me to be able to carry my own mini projector (about the size of my palm) to most meeting rooms that have antiquated display equipment.  Merry Christmas to me!

 When I brought it home and proudly showed my wife, I realized what I picked up wasn't just a inexpensive projector, but a small glimpse into our future.  Instead of clearing off a wall in my home, I just projected it right onto my kitchen.  The image clearly washed over our cabinets, counter, walls, and appliances.  I was taken a back by how rich the experience was for the music video I was “watching” while making dinner.  (Yes it was some throw back to an 80's tune.).  At that point I was not interested in seeing every detail (like high end audio video equipment showing the newest 3D movie), but rather washing a digital experience into my daily activity.

 It got me thinking that “Augmented Reality” may come in many forms.  The Google glasses project ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4) has certainly made a lot of noise about a form of AR, and a cool vi

sion it is.  Others, li

ke Metaio ( http://www.metaio.com/products/SDK/?gclid=CNeEuuag97QCFYs7MgodPFoAqA)  have been building tools to enable many forms of AR.  Most of those have been experienced through some phone or consumer- oriented device (tablet, laptop, etc.).  Most of these applications of AR are focused on providing context appropriate information that coincides with a location or particular activity.

 But with display technology getting so cheap, couldn't a broader definition of AR emerge?  One that is based in entertainment vs. purposeful information?  One that is as simple as playing videos on non traditional surfaces?  

My close friend, David Livingston (@Liver13) pointed out that Microsoft is already experimenting with this notion.  Surprisingly, it isn't their “Surface” that bring this close to reality either.  It is their real flagship, Xbox,coupled with Kinect that bring this new form of immersive experience to us. Take a look at what their labs are playing with:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=re1EatGRV0w  .  

 Our takeaway is that AR is for real.  It fits into a “connected life” equation, and companies need to think broadly about how it should be defined, and how it fits into their strategies (product, services, aftersales, etc.).  With a broad definition, an “eyes wide open” approach to its application, today is not too soon for your brand to begin thinking about how you will apply AR.

 Keep disrupting…No regrets!

 Gregg

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Well before the holiday we contributed once again to Connected World Magazine.  We called out a few trends we saw emerging in 2013.  Well we are a whole 11 days in….tell us what you think.  Have we gotten it correct so far?

Take a read here.  And come back to this post and let us know what you think:

• Is the “Maker Movement” accelerating to the point that corporations should be paying attention?
• Is it moving well beyond “apps” into many other products?
• Is it just a matter of time before “ultra personalization” touches your business?
• Will external Market Facing and Internal IT leadership alike need to keep their heads up as the customization of “Connected Devices” begin to entrench themselves into work and life?

Regardless if we are spot on, or only directionaly correct, 2013 looks exciting from where we stand.

Keep disrupting.  No Regrets!

Do you see the world connecting around you? As IBM says, the planet is getting “smarter”? Can you see your life becoming one big system vs. that of many independent sub systems?

We believe

yes, and if you do too, then you are starting to live “connected”. It is not an easy life at this stage as the integration is messy, and a lot of the burden is falling on the individual.

As companies are looking to play their role in this connected space, they too are struggling to manage this transition. Most of them have several connected programs running in parallel. Some of them don’t even recognize that their disparate programs are parts of a larger movement. Often they are known as:

• Next generation workplace (Connected Employees)
• Smart Products (Connected Products)
• Social Media (front end of Connected Consumer – See earlier blog here.)
• Retail 2.0 (Connected Retail)
• Next Generation IT (Connected Technologies like big data analytics, Ux standards, etc.)

The reality is all of these separate programs are parts of a firm’s Connected Strategy. Most companies however have different leaders in place for each of these programs, making the need for an eventual integration a certainty.

What is your company doing? Do they have a Chief Connected Officer? Read our thoughts on where you should look for one in the most recent copy of Connected World Magazine, or take a look online here.

Regardless of the state of your connected programs. Keep believing, and keep driving change.

No regrets!

Inside you will see we explore a bit on how innovation has to change in the connected era. The reason….well that is simple, when the environment is altered, the way you innovate inside of it needs to also shift. The world is connecting:

• People to people
• Things to things
• People to things/Things to People

Innovation can and does still happen at any one of those touchpoints. In its micro silo. But the game changing innovation. The systemic changes that really get our attention, and that we at CGS are proud to contribute to, well they happen on the fringe of the well-known silos. That is where real innovation occurs.

Let us know what you think!

No regrets!

Gregg

have been following our posts here, you know we are convinced that we are the cusp of another massive change to the IT industry. We also believe that this change will cascade to other adjacent industries that use/consume/are effected by IT. Like the internet did in the 1990s, the connected world (including the “Internet of things”) is beginning to demand structural changes to realize emerging strategies in this new environment.

The July edition just released and should be on the newsstands soon.

In this article we outlined a major evolution of the consumer that we have been keeping an eye on for sometime. Take a peek at our summary model below that outlines this evolution and how some enterprise functions are also going to need to shift (marketing, product design, etc.)

As you will notice, Social Media, although constantly discussed and used by many around the world is only the front edge of a much larger change: The connected era. Social is definitely helping to keep people connected with one another and product and brand interactions are much closer than they have ever been in the past. In the very near future products will begin to be part of this chain directly and disrupt even some of the recent social media innovations.

Inside corporations, marketing and product design/management functions will have to evolve to respect this new ecosystem and the demands of the ever more connected consumer who will be living inside of it.

If you want to dig deeper, read more in the July issue of Connected World Magazine . If you are more into that magazine print in your hands, head on over to Barnes & Noble. They should be on the shelf any day now.

Of course you can stay close to our ideas here at our blog:CGS Advice where we will continue to explore trends we are recognizing in the market. We would love to hear what you think about our observations in the comments section below.

Keep disrupting. No Regrets.

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to-acquire-hughes-telematics-for-612-million-in-cash.html”>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/verizon-to-acquire-hughes-telematics-for-612-million-in-cash.html)

The telco market is clearly starting to signal that they want to be more than a “dumb pipe” in the “connected world”. With Sprint’s offerings they are beginning to take to market, AT&T’s recent acquisitions to build a stronger services layer, and this news from Verizon I believe the consolidation and packaging process is starting to heat up for a 18 – 24 month sprint. Hold on to your hat folks!

If you add in here how the traditional cable companies (ex. Comcast) are entering into the connected home market with home monitoring and energy services, and how gaming platforms are partnering with cable companies to redefine media, the integration game is going to be hot for a while to come.

It is clearly a race for share of wallet AND share of mind of the emerging “Connected Consumer”. Consumers don’t want a fragmented experience between vehicle, home, work, and traditional mobile/computing. Seemless is the key and these acquisitions start to signal that the telco/carrier market wants to ensure they have the assets to be in the driver’s seat in that race.

Enabling the vision of the “connected world” requires many industries to come together. Partnership, cooperation, integration, and in this case acquisition are going to be key themes of successful strategies for the next few years. Firm’s that have these are core capabilities will have a leg up on the competition. Those that think they can control this rapidly changing market via traditional means will be left out by the emerging Connected Consumer.

Fun times for sure!

No regrets,

Gregg

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system for an in-production vehicle. When you think of how important it is to most people that their $20K+ car’s do not leak, it was not such a small task for a 21 year-old who just a few weeks prior was making sure the keg wasn’t leaking. (Honestly, he was more of a shotgun the beer kind of guy, but that is for a different post.)

Like in most product companies, more senior people were responsible for how these parts would fit together into some form of assembly, and assemblies fit together to create a complete product. Enter a few MBAs with command of finance, marketing, and a lot more, and pretty soon you had an industry with decades worth of experience of how supply chains, legislation, and market forces affect the center of the universe….the product.

This wasn’t a bad system. In fact, it was perfect for product-based industries, and it was refined over decades of experience. Mechanical products built on laws of the physical sciences, eventually sold to consumers who learned and crafted opinions based on observations from that world. The perception based behaviors formed in the world defined by mechanical/physical sciences matched perfectly.

So what’s the rub….why doesn’t the guy just keep on worrying about his seals and the world can go on? Well the pesky consumer is making things interesting. The thing is, the current day consumer is actively redefining where the center of demand sits. With the help of digital tools that are spreading through the consumer and enterprise markets like wildfire, consumers are demanding that EXPERIENCE is the new center of the target. They have started to observe MICRO-CUSTOMIZATION (and RE-Customization) via experiences in consumer electronics born from the computer science world. This new learned behavior is shaping a new bull’s-eye.

What tools could be shaping such a massive shift? Ah, this boring stuff that the IT eggheads have been rambling on about: Cloud Computing, Big Data Analysis, Ubiquitous Networks, yadda yadda. Mash this up with those newfangled marketers going on about: Social Media, Digital Natives, and the likes.

Are our product based firms really facing radical change due to these market shifts? Yes and No.

Yes – consumer expectations are really changing. This consumer change is beginning to drive market shaping forces, most notably recognized by industry collaboration that has never been made before. Communication technology, for instance, is now being embedded in many different products placing communication companies (chip manufacturers, carriers, and service providers) in much different parts of a value chain. Partnerships that used to be only in the IT Department’s datacenter are now being made in the product engineering conference rooms, and in some cases, the boardroom. Or further yet, consumers are expecting that information that was created in one aspect of their life seamlessly is available in other parts.

Well that was the “Yes”, markets are definitely being affected, meaning strategy must be adjusted. The good news for firms is that structural components that need adjusting is are often within a company’s skills sets already. It really just depends on how the firm defines the “system” that is its product. Fifteen years ago, when my friend started as a leader of seals (it would be so much cooler if it was the other kind of Seals…military or the kind at the zoo….), the system that industry cared about was clearly defined as a car. Done. Now the system needs to be a bit more inclusive to include the consumer’s life….how the product nicely fits into his/her digital life. That means the new strategy must focus on the consumer’s EXPERIENCE, and structural enablers of the strategy must span several industries.

So which kind of system do you get excited about?

• Part
• Assembly
• Complete Product
• Industry
• Industry meets Industry

The world needs excitement for every one of those systems, but I’m betting the most change will be at the edges of industries for the next ten years, and beyond. To me, those who clean up the messiness on the fringe where industries begin to meet one another, will find the most reward in the end.

No regrets!

Gregg

find room for the new exciting fun gifts that had found their way into his life.

For him that means making time to use his new gifts (and by default not playing with some of his old things). For mom and dad, this means we need to consolidate, rearrange, and purge some of the old. This is at times an art more than a science, trying to think what are considered staples vs. not needed.

This simple lesson in creating space seems so simple when standing in the basement, looking at a sea of plastic (when did bright yellow and red move from potato chip bags to children’s toys anyway?). It is often more challenging when standing in your office trying to figure how to create space inside of your company. Space for new ideas. Room in the budget for tomorrow’s innovation while standing amongst today’s cash cow products and services. Space in your day (time) to even consider things beyond “running” the business for which you are already responsible.

Presidents, COO, VPs of X are all senior leaders in a company that have learned many career lessons on their way to the top. They have earned their leadership stripes and bring with them experience of industry, job function, and hopefully how to manage people. Many of you reading this are in these position because of the chances you took early in your career, the fresh way you approached the common, or the excellence you drove into a standard job function. When did you decide to stop? (if you did…)

“The only thing that is constant, is change” I am sure you have heard this old adage many times in your career. Every MBA program in the world has some sort of course stressing the importance of managing change, how to balance portfolios, and how to govern such change. They also have interesting courses on entrepreneurship capturing thoughts on how to survive in the market. So often the combination of these two are missed though: Innovation inside of established corporations….Enterprise Innovation.

It is strange, how hard it is for our corporate leaders to manage the repeatability of significant change (Innovation). It is true that the most earth shattering ideas come from moments of unscripted creative experience, but that should not give the license to leaders to just hope that good ideas will come to. As dedicated leaders beholden to our shareholders, it is our duty to ensure survival of our corporations, and innovating beyond today’s normal has to be treated as a part of the fabric of our environment.

If your firm, department, or team does not have a dedicated approach to innovation, then I believe it is your duty to Create Space for it. Derive an approach to manage down the “current” in order to find a place for the future. A good place to start would be to assess your current portfolio (of products, of projects, of “things”) and determine which ones can be purged, leaving room for innovation.

If it seems daunting, go into your office, close the door and imagine each of the items on your portfolio as a big red/yellow plastic child’s toy. I bet you will be able to find at least 5% of them to “donate” in hopes of some shiny innovation.

Happy cleaning!

No regrets,

Gregg