In this issue:
- In Our Opinion: 2014 – The Year of Social Enterprise
- BLOG Roundup:
- Thanks and Giving Are Good Branding
- Are You A Successful Entrepreneur CEO?
- Mastering The Consumer-Driven Decision Journey
- Career Opportunities:
- VP, Individual Digital Experience – Global Financial Services
In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White
2014 – The Year of Social Enterprise
We love year-end…it’s a time for reflection on what worked, what didn’t, key accomplishments, new skills developed, as well as disappointments, missed opportunities, and regrets.
It’s also the time of the year when all the major media provide their “Best of 2014” lists…Best Dressed, Best Movies, Best Companies to work for, Person of the Year, Company of the Year, etc.
Not surprising, Inc.’s 2014 “Company of the Year” (AIRBNB) goes beyond the adjectives (audacious, brazen, disruptive, inevitable, unprecedented) used to describe their services. According to Brian Chesky, CEO and Co-Founder, “Airbnb is about so much more than just renting space…it’s about people and experiences. At the end of the day, we are trying to bring the world together.” Airbnb added 10M+ new customers in 2014…doubling their client base…and this rapid scaling digital brand is evidence of the power of social enterprise. On one level, Airbnb is just an innovative global home rental/reservation service. However, on a deeper level, Airbnb is a new, global social community of homeowners looking to monetize their primary or secondary (investment) properties thereby enabling them to pursue additional global travel opportunities. Airbnb is part of a new global “social economy” being enabled by mobile and the forces social media.
Another social enterprise “Company of the Year” is Uber Technologies, Inc. which is rapidly transforming the global taxi and limousine industry. As reported recently by Bloomberg/Business Week, Uber recently raised $1B in capital (in November 2014) at a valuation of $40B (up from a $17B valuation in July 2014). This doubling of company valuation in less than six months truly underscores the rapid effects possible for a social enterprise that has rapidly scaled on a global basis. Uber is another global business where growth is being fueled by the rapid consumer (and business) adoption of mobile technologies…which has been the driving force behind Uber’s quantum leaps in economic growth and wealth creation. Uber’s current $40B valuation makes it 3-4x more valuable than Hertz ($11B valuation) and similar in valuation to Delta Airlines and Kraft Food Group. And some financial analysts are forecasting Uber’s eventual IPO valuation will be in the $80-100B range.
These examples (Airbnb & Uber) of Social Enterprise underscore the assessment by Steve Case (AOL founder) and Peter Diamandis (XPrize CEO) that the future will belong to companies that improve life for billions of people. This is also very much aligned with the new vision being created by Google’s CEO, Larry Page, recently named Fortune’s 2014 “Business Person of the Year.” Google has outgrown its original vision (15 years ago) “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” and the company is now making huge bets in new technologies that could redefine the future in a number of sectors from automotive to healthcare. Page is simply a visionary (think Steve Jobs) who, according to Fortune, “thinks the improbable is a given and the seemingly impossible is likely.”
- Where is your organization in terms of pursuing social enterprise and innovations in various industry sectors which can change the lives of millions of people?
- Who are the “game changers” and innovators that inspire you?
- What are your audacious innovation plans for 2015?
We close by wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season and best wishes for continued success in 2015!
As always, we welcome your comments and input.
Lola and Jeff
BLOG Roundup: Did you catch our recent blog posts?
Thanks and Giving Are Good Branding
The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” —William James
With the Thanksgiving holidays upon us, we would like to express our personal “thank you” to all of EC’s connections—clients, friends, our business colleagues, and emerging members of our personal and professional network. We’ve been honored to reinvigorate and clarify career and personal brand directions for those we’ve touched this year, especially with those who have experienced the power of our Personal Branding Retreat Center.
Are You A Successful Entrepreneur CEO?
Particularly in this era of marketing technology and ad:tech start-ups related to digital/mobile advertising and marketing, a key question is…do these start-up CEOs have the entrepreneurial “chops” to successfully build and scale their businesses?
The reality is the vast majority of these CEOs do not have what it takes. So what are the key differentiators between the CEOs that make it and the ones that don’t?
We came across an interesting Gallup survey in the September 2014 issue of Inc. magazine’s issue on the 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. Gallup polled over 2,700 entrepreneur CEOs (including the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies) on ten crucial personality traits. Fully 16% of the Inc. 500 CEOs ranked as exceptional on these personality traits:
Mastering The Consumer Driven Decision Journey
The recent DMA2014 Strategic Summit at the San Diego Convention Center opened with a keynote from Alec Bokman, Principal at McKinsey Digital, who highlighted the shifting marketing paradigms in a digital-first marketing eco-system.
Bokman told attendees the previous direct marketing funnel is dead…”it’s been announced DOA”…and it has been replaced by a new “consumer-driven decision journey”…with 2/3 of consumer decisions based upon their experiences during the journey. “Today’s brands are having intimate, personal conversations with consumers and geo-targeting and mobile devices are enabling targeted, real-time and relevant offers,” cited Bokman.
Career Opportunities
VP, Individual Digital Experience – Global Financial Services
The VP, Individual Digital Experience is a senior level, cross-business leader accountable for collaboratively defining and designing digital experience for Individual constituent types. Constituent types include investors, participants, policyholders, beneficiaries and other individual consumers. The successful candidate will lead diverse, internal, matrix teams, including third-party consultants, to develop competitive web, social and mobile engagement channels across our Client’s portfolio of businesses and corporate functions, including brand, advertising, thought leadership, market research, communications, information technology and digital solutions, ensuring that the Individual’s critical cross channel needs are addressed throughout their customer life cycle.
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