Is digital innovation viable for big business?

The following article was first published on PwC’s Digital Pulse online publication as a friendly head-to-head debate between myself and my colleague Tony Mittelmark on the topic of digital innovation in big business. For the full read including Tony’s opposing argument click here

My take on why big businesses can not successfully innovate:

• ‘Channel 9 on the brink as banks circle’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 September 2012
• ‘Fairfax slashes 1900 jobs, closes presses’, ABC News, 19 June 2012
• ‘Kodak files for bankruptcy’, The Guardian UK, 19 January 2012
• ‘Borders Australia and Angus & Robertson chains collapse’, Smart Company, 17 February 2011

In today’s digital era, disruptive innovation is turning industries upside down as new markets give way to the rise of the ‘lean start up revolution’. But what does this mean for big companies? Are they all doomed, or, is there hope that they can successfully innovate their business models and survive?

Mobile, gaming and online video lead disruption of entertainment and media industry

Key takeaways

• The digital revolution has created disruptive new models of consumption and distribution.
• The rise of the mobile internet is fuelling a demand for media and entertainment that can be consumed on-the-go.
• Consumers are seeking out online video experiences that are rich, interactive and highly personalised.

Unlocking the Four ‘Baskets’ of Value from the Digital Economy

Capturing value from the digital economy can be difficult to navigate and a somewhat overwhelming journey for many organisations — the rapid rate of innovation creating a wide spread of opportunities across each industry.

These opportunities are fuelled by the digital mega trends disrupting every organisation covering social media, cloud computing, channel integration, real-time analytics and smartphone penetration resulting in an unparalleled shift in consumer behaviour.

To help steer the ship through this digital maze, PwC suggest focusing your business strategy on the ‘four baskets’ of digital value.  These will ensure your organisation invests in the opportunities that matter most and deliver long term success.

The ‘four baskets’ of digital value include:

Top 10 take aways from iStrategy

I spent the early part of last week attending the iStrategy Global Digital Conference in Sydney, Australia (sponsored by PwC’s Digital Change consulting practise). The event lasted two days with an array of speakers across multiple industries and locations.

My personal highlights included Andy Lark (CMOO – Chief Marketing and Online Officer, Commbank), James Miner (SVP, Digital media – ESPN) and Nic Cola (CEO, Fairfax Media), who all provided invaluable insights into their businesses with a strong understanding of the changing landscape of the digital consumer and the impacts this has on businesses.

As a summary I have pulled together my top 10 take aways from the conference:

What is Digital Commerce?

The term Digital Commerce has grown in recognition throughout the industry over the last few years as the breadth of digital channels has increased and global technology companies, such as Google, Apple and Facebook, have taken the term mainstream and established core teams to manage their organisations Digital Commerce activities.

Top 5 Online Retailing insights from ASOS!

Originally established in the UK, ASOS has taken the retail world by storm leveraging the reduced barriers to entry and the ease of global expansion provided by the online channel.

Highly regarded as one of the great global online retailing success stories over the last five years, ASOS’s International Director, Jon Kamaluddin, provided key insights into their success in his Keynote Presentation at the Online Retailer Conference in Sydney today, so for those of you who were unable to attend or wanted to recap here are the key messages.

Digital Commerce 2.0 – Latest trends daily!

I have created a public online newspaper (through paper.li) titled Digital Commerce 2.0.

Why do some ideas fail when others succeed?

Ideas are the power behind innovation, they come fast and hard, usually uncontrollable and if they are not harnessed correctly they will fade away quicker than they were born. But when is an idea a good one and why do some fail when others succeed?

The search for time..

First point of discussion for 2011 is time itself, specifically the search for it. Time has a relentless ability to disappear and no matter how hard you plan to manage it you will always lose the battle with the clock and find yourself searching for more time in the day.

The value and cost of ‘using time’ is obvious – it’s your life, you only get one shot at it and you certainly don’t plan to waste it. The opportunity for digital technology to find more of it for the average consumer has been spoken about for decades. But are we succeeding at being more efficient? Or are we merely adding more ‘time wasting’ steps into our lives?

Let’s review the realities of our digital life.

Social Pollution in the digital world – how to control the noise?

Social Pollution is creeping through every facet of my digital life, it is overwhelmingly loud and somewhat never ending. It makes it difficult to concentrate, impossible to unwind and yet there seems no way to control it. I blame you all (and myself)! And I am assuming most of you know exactly what I am talking about?