“We can’t live in a cuddle puddle.”
Rishad Tobaccowala shared his insights and observations with marketing professionals in the Chicago area earlier this week at an Adobe and Shift Paradigm sponsored event. Among the topics Rishad covered were staying relevant, key shifts for marketers, and harnessing opportunity.
Liz Ross, CEO of Shift Paradigm, joined Tobaccowala for a Q&A session centered on AI, Tech Manifesto, and clans and connections.
Here are the 5 Key Take-Aways to help future-proof your business:
Use value to define relevance. To stay relevant, businesses must focus on value creation. They should ask themselves where their value comes from, whether they have the right suppliers and partners, and whether their ecosystem is still relevant. Businesses should also consider their business model and recognize that the most significant opportunities and threats often come from outside their industry. By asking the right questions and challenging category assumptions, companies can experience growth. Companies that. The Shift: Business leaders need to focus on the value defined by the customer, not the product. Spend time on understanding the future- consider car manufacturers that prioritized software versus hardware or companies that challenged the notion of car ownership for daily transportation needs.
Global market conditions are shifting rapidly, and businesses must understand these changes to remain competitive. Power is moving from the West to the East, from capital to talent, and from large to small companies. We are at a critical time where growth cannot be assumed, especially in the United States. After World War II, more than 50% of global GDP came from the US, but that share has fallen to around 25% in 2023. Meanwhile, China’s share of global GDP has risen from less than 1% to over 18%. Additionally, the majority of net new jobs created since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have come from companies with less than 3,000 employees.The Shift: Changes in regulatory, marketplace, and geographical landscapes require different thinking to capture growth.
Demographics are important to know, and understanding them is essential. The main factors contributing to population growth are birth rates, increased life expectancy, immigration, and declining death rates. Many people assume that the United States drives population growth, but half of the population growth in 2022 is expected to come from sub-Saharan Africa. This is because sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s youngest population, with a median age of 19.7 years. The Shift: Rapid population growth creates challenges and opportunities, especially in developing countries. With the growth rate accelerating outside the US and slowing inside the US, businesses that keep the same addressable market parameters are unlikely to grow their overall market due to population alone. Where will your growth come from?
Changes in employee mindshifts are challenging for companies. A significant portion of Generation Z, who will make up the majority of the workforce in the near future, has a side hustle. Whether for optionality, to make ends meet, or as a passion project, the implication in today’s workplace is significant to leadership, innovation, and retention. The Shift: The mindshift and generational trends of tomorrow’s leaders require companies to think differently about building out leadership teams. Companies need to redefine organizational value through the eyes of employees and customers.
Technological shifts are less about tools and more about connection.
The most powerful connections of recent years have been enabled by technology. The top growth and market cap companies all have a connection as a key driver. The ability to connect transactions (e-commerce), the ability to discover (search), and the ability to connect data (AI) has driven tremendous growth. The ability to connect, along with the improvement of speed to connection, leads to a significant competitive advantage. The Shift: Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Alphabet are doubling down on connection to bring growth by leveraging data through next-best action and correlation analysis.
The Adobe sponsored event concluded with a discussion where Ross and Tobaccowala categorized their interest in technology as rooted in pragmatic enthusiasm. They discussed the importance of empathy in driving behavior, and that today’s consumers are already empowered, so value needs to be more than availability. The session concluded with a conversation about the benefit of connectivity with the caution of echo chambers, which can lead to a polarized world.
For more information on Rishad Tobaccowala and his Four Shifts already underway that will revolutionize every aspect of society and business, click here.
For more information on Shift Paradigm and how we are shifting business growth, click here.
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