This is a great article by McKinsey, in summary it talks about this notion in business that IT drives transformation.  Or that system replacement, drives transformation.  It doesn't. 

I used to work for a very large US software company and the discussions where are "transforming to cloud" or if we talked about "transformation", for example Finance Transformation and Supply Chain Transformation was my thing.  But it would mean "dropping" a large chunk of software into the business.

I remember the open mouths when I suggested they should do procurement with a pad and pen, they were a small business and didn't need the "procurement system" the Corporation wanted to sell them.

Great Article But ....

So great article but ... they make no mention of social.

If you go and look at McKinsey's twitter, here, you will see they have 162,500 followers, but little engagement. 

You will also see their Twitter stream says "buy our stuff, because we are great".

IBM are pretty similar, they have more engagement, I would guess they are IBM employees, but again, "but my stuff, because we are great". 

KPMG have 399,500 followers, but little engagement.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is slightly different, they have more engagement, because they are sharing "insight" but it's still very corporate.  More suit and shirt and tie, than t-shirt and jeans.

What Am I Saying Here

They are all missing that social media has changed the world.  It's changed society and it's changed the way we do business.

Check out this research, by Hootsuite and We are social and created by Simon Kemp.

In the conclusion he states

"With more than half of the world’s total population now using social media, now is an ideal time to rethink how we use these powerful platforms. In particular, I’d recommend thinking of social media as a layer that runs through everything that people do – both online and in the physical world – rather than being a series of distinct ‘destinations’ and standalone activities."

This is what all the above companies are missing.

1.  We are all social now

Simon in the research states 

"Social media users have grown by more than 10 percent over the past year, taking the global total to 3.96 billion by the start of July 2020. 

This means that – for the first time – more than half of the world’s population now uses social media, with more people using social media than not.

Let me repeat the quote from above

"I’d recommend thinking of social media as a layer that runs through everything that people do – both online and in the physical world – rather than being a series of distinct ‘destinations’ and standalone activities."

2. Business is Now Social

Many people think that social is about talking about the company or saying "we are hiring" or that Linkedin is an online CV and is there to get you your next job.

Wrong!

Social is now an intrinsic part of business and the way we work.

Social is for Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Human Resources (HR), Procurement, Supply Chain, etc etc. 

3. But The Psychology Of Business (Buying and Selling) Has Changed

There was a time, when the buyer was not very sophisticated, where you could put your "brand" in front of them and say "buy my product, because it's great".

Like in the 1930s.  Advertising was a way that buyer was educated about toothpaste, margarine or washing powder.

Now we have mobile phones and access to an infinite amount of data about products and services.

4. I Now Buy Differently

If you show me an advert about your product, if you cold call me about your product or email me about your product, first a few things happen.

First you will have to filter through all the legislation that is designed to stop this onslaught, such as the 2018 European GDPR regulations.

The second is the technology filter you have to get through, ad-blockers, spam blockers in email, even my mobile phone (iOS13) stopps cold callers.

Then if you get through and say "hey, buy my product because I am great".  What do I as the buyer do?

I go online and check you out.

I start jumping to conclusions about what you are like as a business.  Do you have a sustainability position? Are you a business that innovates? What are your beliefs? what is your culture?

Social media is totally transparent, so I can see what you post, what your employees post, what your CEO posts.

It often makes me smile that company with some sort of super duper artificial intelligence (AI) product cold calls me.  Really? Cold calling is 1980s technology and this is 2020!

I will also look for your competitors and make a purchase decision.

Because you are investing in advertising , cold calling and email, I bet you don't have a presence on social.  Where your buyers are and where I make my decisions.

In 2020 if you use advertising, cold calling or email marketing you are driving sales to your competitors! 

The "antipatterns" that are Derailing Technology Transformations

Totally get this article, but companies are making a fundamental mistake if they are missing social.

Ask Bernard Looney the CEO of BP .... his Linkedin profile is here ..... go on ask him.

One of my team did and Bernard responded, you can too. 

So What About DLA Ignite?

I'm Tim Hughes, I'm the CEO of DLA Ignite and you to can contact me on social, my Linkedin is here and my Twitter is here.

We are are a global organization that provides business transformation with social.  Not as a "random act of social" which you get when people use social tactically, but using social end-to-end across the business.  Stripping out cost and increasing efficiency.

We have social selling programs that increase revenue by 30% and reduce sales cycles by 40%.  But we also have Social Marketing, Social Human Resources (HR), Social Customer Service, Social Procurement and Social Supply Chain.

DLA Ignite have a team of experts who are based geographically around the world.  This means you don't get a "US View of the world" driven from the top down. But an implementation based locally, understanding local sensitivities and language.  We also have cross industry skills.  We also have a number of partner organisations that are fully trained our programs.  All backed by the DLA Ignite proven methodology.

We are the only company in the world that does this.

You can contact me here and our website here