Are Your Products and Services Irresistible?

A long time ago, well before the Internet of Things (IoT) and in a more na?ve and innocent time…

It was the summer of 1976. What was then known as the Arab Oil Crisis was a few years behind us. Just two years prior an embattled and disgraced Richard Nixon ascended from the South Lawn of the White House in a helicopter, just moments after making history as the first US President ever to resign from office. The US had finally extricated itself from Vietnam. The Country was beginning to heal. And nationalism was soaring across the United States. It was, after all, the Nation’s Bicentennial Year. Never before had the combined colors of red, white and blue been so omnipresent -- showing up in fashion, home decorating and the buntings that garlanded homes all summer long.

It was on one day that summer that my parents packed my sister and I into our old Chevy Impala and made the 16-hour drive down to Orlando Florida for a surprise – and our first – visit to Walt Disney World. It was the trip of a lifetime! It was filled with wonder, excitement, adventure and delight. Times were different then. We went to “the Happiest Place on Earth” entirely blind: there was no internet, no YouTube, no Facebook – really, no practical way to get even a glimpse of what to expect before our actual arrival. Just the mere anticipation of it kept us enthralled throughout the trip down!

I remember boarding the monorail for the first time, standing in the very first car, looking out the windshield and being whisked away silently, seemingly floating 20 feet above the ground. I remember the Magic Kingdom coming into view in the distance, the sun shimmering off the man-made lagoon that preceded it, and watching with anticipation as it got bigger and bigger, until finally it loomed before us and the monorail came to a gentle stop. The doors opened onto a world I could never have imagined and the following few days were filled with magic indeed.

Disney has always been a leader in applying innovative technologies to entertain and educate the masses. What made them successful back in those days was their penchant for effective marketing and ability to stretch the innovative capabilities of their now famous Disney Imagineers – masters of electronic wizardry.

Today it takes more – a lot more – to provide such a wow factor to the general public. We’re jaded: more worldly, more tech-savvy, less patient and need more stimulation to be nudged out of our hyper-sensory-induced stupor. It is no surprise that Disney rose to the challenge of upping their game. The Walt Disney Company, having seen the recent trends in information technology – as long as a decade ago - set out to once again amaze and delight this new generation of thrill-seekers. Indeed, these master marketeers have launched what seems to be a new milestone in not only family entertainment, but in creating markets and “got to have it” demand. This translates, in strictly business terms, into driving higher profits and catalyzing growth.

I won’t go into detail about what they’ve done, as the recent article in Wired Magazine does it far better than I ever could. For a wildly entertaining and informative read, Click Here.

Hopefully you didn’t skip over that link – it’s well worth the read, and frankly the rest of this IT Straight Talk installment won’t make much sense without it.

What Disney has done is nothing short of brilliant. Here is an organization that, by using their trademark creativity, connected the dots between the possibilities that the IoT introduces – and before there was even proof of concept that the technology could work and be economically viable, essentially reinvented their product (perhaps even their very brand).

What do you think of Disney’s new direction? Can you now see how they have ignited a whole new growth curve of products and services to take their business to entire new highs? How these developments can translate into additional merchandizing opportunities, extend the Theme Park experience into living room – indeed, into the very fabric of people’s lives?

I can understand what some of you are thinking. “Interesting stuff, but this is all oriented around consumers – and my business doesn’t touch consumers.” While that may be true, if you haven’t noticed the consumerization of information technology has been driving its application into business for at least five years. Just think about social media and mobile devices. When iPads were released just a few years ago, most people just viewed them as expensive toys. Now they’re being used as inexpensive work tools in the hands of a mobile workforce – in sales, healthcare and even manufacturing.

As my family vacation in 1976 drew to a close, and we boarded our last monorail, we rode the last car; that familiar ache of sadness formed in my gut and a single tear travelled down my whiskerless cheek leaving behind what looked like a snail’s trail. I mourned our departure from this dream-like experience as I watched the Magic Kingdom shrink away as we made our way back into “the real world.” Fortunately, Disney has found a way to make the magic last long after you leave the park. And as all parents know – people are willing to pay for the feeling that magic gives them. We’re just drawn to it.

So now I need to ask you: Having read through and contemplated the Disney story, doe the concept of the IoT mean more to you now? Do you think you can ignite your own creative juices and those of your company? Are you willing to explore how you can enter this brave new world and expand your product reach?

Can you use it to better develop mindshare with customers and improve their experience so they want to do business with you? Can you perhaps use it to identify new partnership relationships? How can you use it to make your products and services irresistible to your customers?

In closing, if you think the opportunities the IoT presents don’t apply to you and your business - think again. You may be mortgaging your future if you don’t take the opportunity to kick back and dream a little.