Today we will carry on our discussion to next trait of ‘Organization of Future’ i.e. ‘Innovative beyond customer imagination’.
Telecom Companies are keen on serving well informed & technology savvy customers. CEOs believe that Global Prosperity will be good for business. Their investment plans reflects these priorities. Telecom CEOs are planning to invest substantial amount of their investments to serving these tech savvy & well informed customer than any other industry. Let’s see how they will be doing it.
More importantly, they are primarily focusing on their traditional areas of business. Ninety six percent respondents will be interested in developing new products & services in line to their business goals while sixty percent of intend to invest in new business opportunities and 62 {af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} intend to target new customer segments. Number of respondents who are intending to invest in creation of new channels (49{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}) or entering into new markets (32{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}) will be smaller. This simply shows that where Telecom business is heading, CEOs are more interested in creation of new products & services than just empowering customers.
Implications:
As focus is shifting from just connectivity to consumer experience, CEOs need to look just beyond creation of new products & services and enabling consumers to do more, more easily & enjoyably.
There are three ways in which CEOs can do it:
1. By extending the scope of services they offer
2. By creating more convenient experience (by making services available to consumers at any place & anytime with any device)
3. By empowering users (deliver more personalized contents)
In the existing global economic crisis such enhancements may not generate returns immediately but as reported in study, early movers will gain substantially when economy recovers back.
Case study: (IBM Study Report)
Any telecom company that is interested in offering new services like gaming would do well to look at how Nintendo collaborated with its customers to recapture the high ground. In the early 1990s, the company’s share of the game console market was 61 percent, but by the mid-2000s, it had fallen to 22 percent. To regain its market leader position, Nintendo need to find new ways to delight customers and to bring gaming to new customers.
To do that, Nintendo went straight to the source – gamers themselves. The company established an online community by offering incentives in return for customer information. The company also selected a group of experienced gamers based on the value and frequency of their community contributions. These “Sages” were given exclusive rewards, like previews of new games, in exchange for helping new users and providing community support.
Through this community, Nintendo has gained valuable insights into market needs and preferences. This has influenced everything from game offerings – like an online library of “nostalgic” games that appeal to older gamers – to new product design – for example, the intuitive controls of the popular Nintendo Wii system, which have helped attract new, casual gamers.
By leveraging the loyalty and expertise of its core customer segment, Nintendo has successfully connected with two new ones – women and older men. This collaboration seems to have paid off: Nintendo is once again ahead of its competitors, with 44 percent market share.