Reset: theme 9 – seeking competitive advantage through data and innovation
2020 marks the dawn of a new decade. Rachel Bevans of the Healthy Brand Company explores theme nine of ten themes driving brands into the next decade.
As the saying goes “what gets measured, gets managed”. With the amount of data that some organisations “measure” exploding, I can see this shifting to “what gets managed, gets measured”.
That is, organisations will work out what data they need to collect, for what purpose and how to collect it, analyse it and report it so that it is actionable, rather than wasting excess resources collecting data that does not get used and reports that sit in a bottom drawer. Data effectiveness, so to speak.
Taking an ecosystem thinking approach to data will enable the inter-relationships to be identified, using the data to align people, brands and experiences across the organisation and customers’, employees’ and stakeholders’ ecosystems, thus presenting one brand face. Powerful leverage for a cluttered and dispersed market.
Organisations will be seeking competitive advantage in collecting and analysing data for innovation in products, services, experiences and new business opportunities.
With the CDR in July giving individuals greater control over their data to compare offers, it opens up traditional markets for increased competition and innovation. Open Banking has commenced with Energy and Telcos to come next.
Once organisations have worked through the data security and privacy issues and needs of their stakeholders, sharing data for mutual benefit (of the organisations and stakeholders) will fuel partnerships and collaborations, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and the data economy as a whole.
We saw the acquisition of Fitbit by Google in November meet public concerns about how Google will manage this data, with both Fitbit and Google reassuring customers and the regulatory bodies that personal data would not be sold and that Fitbit health and wellness data would not be used for Google ads. We’ll see more of this to come.
Rachel Bevans is strategist, researcher and business director, with over 28 years’ experience helping organisations become brand-driven, customer-centric and employee-engaged. Rachel founded The Healthy Brand Company in 2012 to unite her brand experience, passion for health and wellbeing and curiosity about what motivates people.
