A. What are the macro trends that affect my industry?
Mapping out demand-side and supply-side developments should not be something you do once a year during a workshop, but a continuous exercise integrated in your daily business practice. That’s why we don’t only give you an overview of relevant industry trends but we also show you and your team how to regularly keep an eye on them.
B. What is the role of customers in driving innovation in the industry?
As we give you an overview of the customer-driven changes taking place in your industry, we challenge you to rethink your relationship with customers and to consider ways to involve them in the design and delivery of your value proposition.
In general, we see a strong customer pull. Customer’s daily digital experiences lead to higher expectations which in turn drive innovation. In both B2B and B2C the main driver of value is no longer cost, choice or convenience but the customer experience defined as the combination of all interaction points with the company. Successful customer experiences enable both digital and physical interaction, provide a seamless experience across channels and enable personalized interactions anytime and anywhere.
C. What is the role of technology in driving innovation in the industry?
As we give you an overview of the technologies available to your industry, we help you look beyond their immediate application and understand how they influence the power dynamics within the industry.
Most industries experience a strong technology push. Next to technologies that apply to specific industries, such as virtual assistants in retail, there are technological developments that are truly game changing: blockchain leads to decentralization and transparency, the Internet of Things creates connectivity, 3D printing enables the mass customization of products and artificial intelligence enables the mass customization of services. Forerunners understand these underlying principles and apply them to disrupt their industries.
D. Who do I look up to?
As we inspire you with examples of top performers from your industry and beyond, we challenge you to look beyond their accomplishments and see what truly sets them apart from the rest.
Whilst their peers think in terms of traditional supply chains, most forerunners think in terms of ecosystems. They no longer focus on what to sell but on which problems to solve in order to create value. As problems such as soaring healthcare costs and rapid urbanization become more complex, they transcend industry boundaries. Forerunners understand that they can no longer rely on their own resources, but must tap into the resources of others in order to realize value. In such an ecosystem, monetization is no longer based on selling products or services but on facilitating interactions between stakeholders.
E. Who am I up against?
As we identify key competitors and substitutes, we encourage you to look beyond industry borders in order to anticipate and act upon competitive challenges and unique collaboration opportunities.
Complex problems transcend industry boundaries and, in order to solve them, you want to share in the benefits of an ecosystem. A good place to start is to keep an eye on what tech companies are doing and to jump in on the action by partnering up. Tech companies, both start-ups and titans such as Cisco, IBM and Apple are shaping ecosystems across every industry as they use technology to design and deliver more efficient and effective solutions. Often, they use big data they have gathered as a starting point for defining customer expectations. Once they know what customers want and how they want it, they move in with a minimum viable concept and start experimenting. This agile approach gives them a competitive edge over incumbents who often have sunk costs in hard assets.
