Two weeks ago I was interviewed by CMO by Adobe on what characterises successful brands in today's digitised landscape. In the article I conclude that there are two major aspects companies should think about in order to turn their customers into loyal fans:
Jess Greenwood, strategist at the digital agency R/GA, defines the transformation economy as "the exhange of cash for goods or services that could considerably improve the quality of life of the consumer who buys them for the long term". Furthermore, Greenwood argue that this is a way to make money through happier customers.
Nike is a great example of a brand that truly have embraced the transformation economy. They don't just sell shoes, software and experiences - they are encouraging their existing and potential customers to make a personal transformation. Check out this blog post, Nike's New Strategy Move into The Transformation Economy, for further reading Nike's strategy. Another example of a company that have embraced this approach is the mobile-first investment platform Acorns which turns your spare change into micro investments.
Image from Acorns.
An increasing number of companies are investing in Internet of Things technologies, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence because they want to create seamless experiences for their customers. Those business leaders have realised the importance of removing friction from their customers' lives.
Watch the video above from The Verge about the benefits that the
smart home of the future can bring.
Internet of things technologies for example, enable physical products like smart home devices to function like nodes in an ecosystem of connected services. This means that the value of products will to an increasing extent be defined by their capacity to talk to and collaborate with other devices.
As I've stated in a previous blog post, Internet of Things and the new consumer behaviour paradigm, smart brands such as Nest, Nike, Tesla and Amazon have realised that tomorrow's successful brands will be those that invest in creating long-term customer relationships and seamless experiences, and are genuinely dedicated to transform the lives of their customers.