TheSocialCMO

Controlling the Ideavirus

Dennis O. Smith wrote in with this question about Unleashing the Ideavirus: “I understand the concept of spreading the idea, but how can you control or direct that growth? ‘Going viral’ is great for fast growth and sharing of your idea, but are there mechanisms to steer it, trim it, shape it, etc.”

The reason that so many people catch a cold every year is that no one is trying to control where it goes. The reason that Wikipedia is so robust is that control is decentralized. The reason that there’s a huge disconnect between corporate marketing and ideas that spread is that the culture of contagious ideas is anethema to the command, control and responsibility mindset of the industrial marketer.

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I spread your idea because…

 

Ideas spread when people choose to spread them. Here are some reasons why:

  1. I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous.
  2. …because I feel smart alerting others to what I discovered.
  3. …because I care about the outcome and want you (the creator of the idea) to succeed.
  4. …because I have no choice. Every time I use your product, I spread the idea (Hotmail, iPad, a tattoo).
  5. …because there’s a financial benefit directly to me (Amazon affiliates, mlm).
  6. …because it’s funny and laughing alone is no fun.

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Plugging into the Future of Humanity: Exploring the Human API

 

I had the opportunity to present at LeWeb in Paris, arguably Europe’s largest conference dedicated to the future of technology. The theme of the conference explored the Internet of Things, where devices and things connect to one another to perform certain tasks and/or track activities to improve what we already do or make possible what we’re trying to do.

The Internet of Things is bigger than we may realize. We are experiencing a shift from a world of inanimate objects and reactive devices to a world where data, intelligence, and computing are distributed, ubiquitous, and networked. My fellow analysts and I at Altimeter Group refer to the Internet of Things (IoT) as the Sentient World. It’s the idea that inanimate objects gain the ability to perceive things, perform tasks, adapt, or help you adapt over time. And, it’s the future of the Internet and consumer electronics.

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Emerging Best Practices in OmniCommerce Logistics Strategy

Every week I’m interacting with more and more e-commerce professionals who’s day to day job is coming up with the best methods of delivering OmniCommerce solutions for their customers. One thing I can say is there’s alot of angst and confusion out there, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of the best practices, opinions and trends that seem to be emerging.

Those of you who know me are aware of my work in coining and developing the ‘Matrix Commerce’ concept, however I’m sure you’ll have noted today that I’m using term OmniCommerce. This is simply a reflection of blunt reality, before any firm can even think of accomplishing a full Matrix Commerce implementation, they and their organizations have to master and implement the basics of OmniCommerce logistics. Think of how mountain climbers get to the summit of Mount Everest, the first step in that trek is to get to Base Camp and when it comes to implementing Matrix Commerce in your organization, the first step or Base Camp is to effectively implement OmniCommerce.

Simply put OmniCommerce is allowing your customers to effectively access, research and purchase your products in any manner they choose PC, mobile, tablet, kiosk, virtual store, in-store; and then deliver them, or have them available for pick up, when and where your customer would like. To do this you need to ensure that at ALL locations where stock is held or displayed for retail sale ACCURATE and TIMELY inventory information. Without this you don’t have a hope of delivering even a basic level of satisfactory omnicommerce customer experience.

As this post is about the logistics strategies to support Omnicommerce I will not deal with the front end ordering or online technology, but rather the logistics surrounding where product will be stocked, picked and shipped from for either delivery or pick up by your customers.

The major models being utilized to date are:

National Fulfillment Centre

Regional Fulfillment Centres

Ship From Distibution Centre

Ship From All Stores

Regional Hub Stores

Pick Up Centres and/or Lockerboxes

Direct From Drop Ship From Vendors

Each of the above will be briefly explained and then we’ll touch on some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each approach. And of course it is important to note that the above are not mutually exclusive and many retailers will utilize a combination of approaches to support their online clients.

National Fulfillment Centre

To date this has been the most widely used model

Regional Fulfillment Centres

As customer’s continue to demand more rapid delivery service levels we are seeing an increase in

Ship From Distibution Centre

Although not optimal some have chosen to utilize their existing distribution centres to service e-commerce business.

Ship From All Stores

Some retailers rather than introduce a fulfillment centre or ship from their distribution centres have decided to ship their online orders directly from the closest store to the end customer.

Regional Hub Stores

Recently we have seen the emergence of Hub Stores (The Gap) (article link)

Pick Up Centres and/or Lockerboxes

One variant on traditional online delivery models is the introduction and use of Pick Up Centres or lockerboxes

Drop Ship From Vendors

As many online sellers seek to expand their assortment and cover more product categories in their online offerings they shift to an “endless aisle” model where products are listed on their site and kept in inventory at the original vendor’s warehouse. As soon as a product is sold on the website, the order is passed along to the vendor who then Drop Ships the product to the end consumer.

Blueberry pancakes and battleships

The typical industrial-era organization is like a battleship. Hundreds or thousands of people onboard, and most of them are essential–but most of them aren’t actually directly responsible for the work that we hired the battleship to do. Without the fuel people, the navigation team, the folks in the med corps and on and on, it doesn’t work.

The battleship can go far, with impact, and change the course of history. While it has exactly one captain, it’s the synchronized work of more than a million people (when you think about all the machinists and support folks back home) and it works. It does what we ask it to do.

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E-Commerce Success Depends on Power of Two

Customer demands for more rapid and cost effective e-commerce delivery seem to be increasing on a daily basis. In fact not a week goes by now without my speaking with retailers and etailers that since the dawn of e-commerce have successfully serviced Canada from one fulfillment operation for the country and are currently rethinking this model.

In most cases their national fulfillment operations are either positioned in Toronto or Montreal, as well as some in Vancouver, which up until now have been totally acceptable solutions. However, it definitely appears the days are numbered for a single e-commerce fulfillment operation being a viable customer delivery experience solution for all of Canada.

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The Dim Light at the End of the Funnel


Over the years, businesses have developed sales, marketing and service strategies around the funnel. Awareness, interest, desire, action, to this day, describes the likely steps a customer may take in making a decision. Over the years, it was assumed that the liner path would also continue through a transaction to a state of loyalty and ultimately advocacy. The process of customer engagement to this day is designed to shepherd people along this delicate path. For at any moment, consumer attention, interest, and resulting action could fall astray without superintendence.

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Q&A: Why the Future of Business is Shared Experiences

Jeff Ashcroft (@JeffAshcroft) along with @TheSocialCMO host the popular #MMchat (Marketer Monday) every week at 8 p.m. eastern on Twitter. It’s a rapid fire exchange not only between the organizer and the guest but also everyone following along #MMchat. It certainly makes for exciting dialog in real-time and also later when the full transcript is published. I recently joined them to discuss the future of business and why now is the time to become the hero in your hero’s journey. I’ve recreated our exchange (each in 140 characters or less) for you here…

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Only You Can Make Zero Unemployment Real

A dozen generations ago, there was no unemployment, largely because there were no real jobs to speak of. Before the industrial revolution, the thought that you’d leave your home and go to an office or a factory was, of course, bizarre.

What happens now that the industrial age is ending? As the final days of the industrial age roll around, we are seeing the core assets of the economy replaced by something new. Actually, it’s something old, something handmade, but this time, on a huge scale.

The industrial age was about scarcity. Everything that built our culture, improved our productivity, and defined our lives involved the chasing of scarce items.

On the other hand, the connection economy, our economy, the economy of the foreseeable future, embraces abundance. No, we don’t have an endless supply of the resources we used to trade and covet. No, we certainly don’t have a surplus of time, either. But we do have an abundance of choice, an abundance of connection, and an abundance of access to knowledge.

We know more people, have access to more resources, and can leverage our skills more quickly and at a higher level than ever before.

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Twitter Set to Institute New Hashtag Controls

Due to the confusion and number of complaints Twitter receives surrounding the misuse of hashtags and people using the same hashtag for different uses they are preparing to set new controls.

Effective May 1st Twitter will be introducing a new registration system for hashtags so that the first to register a hashtag with a specific meaning will be official for use going forward.

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