Planning And Fool Proofing For The Future
Part of my role, as Corporate Plumber, is to come up with forward-thinking programmes that plan for Dixons Carphone’s future. Whether it’s initiatives that accommodate evolving advertising techniques, or programmes that prepare for Brexit – to continue our company’s success, my team and I must create business plans that reflect our ever-changing world. In this blog, I’ll highlight the sorts of things that are set to affect our department’s behind-the-scenes plumbing.
APRIL FOOL’S DAY
From Amazon’s spoof Petlexa video to Iceland’s new line of frozen flowers, April Fools is a prime example of how companies are using alternative ways to talk to and build relationships with customers.
The way I see it, marketing techniques are evolving. Gone are the days when companies created meaningless adverts that they assumed customers would read or believe. Instead, brands are having to become much savvier. Companies know that, in order for their marketing efforts to have a real impact, they need to build relationships with customers. Relationships that are both meaningful and memorable.
So, to stand out in a heavily saturated marketplace, brands can no longer just rely on product advertising – they need to first establish a connection with their audience and humour is a great way to do that. Hence the slightly bizarre adverts that are put out around April 1st.
RESPONDING TO CHANGE
It’s not just marketing techniques that are evolving, consumers are also changing the way they buy.
I think we’ll see great change in terms of sales with a shift towards a leasing type of model. Just look at how car sales have shifted over the last 10 years - most are leased now. People can't actually afford to buy a car, so a ￡40,000 car is turned into something you can have for ￡400 a month, for example.
The pace of change is speeding up all the time. But, as a company that follows the customer, our team is keen to keep up – reinventing ourselves as the industry transforms.
PIPELINE PLANS
We can’t respond to industry change immediately, it takes lots of leg work and behind-the-scenes plumbing to implement innovative new programmes. And that’s where my team and I come in. Looking towards the upcoming financial year – beginning in May – it’s up to us to work with the business to decide which programmes to prioritise. Over the next few weeks not only will we be finishing programmes from the previous financial year, but we’ll also be looking at ways to revolutionise and modernise the way we interact with customers. In that sense, half of what we do builds foundations for the future and the other half delivers the here and now.
POST BREXIT
The effects of Brexit are uncertain but we do know that change is inevitable – this is just business today. Not only in a commercial sense, but also in the sense that the UK’s relationship with Europe and the rest of the world will be different. That’s why, to manage the change, companies must be nimble, flexible and open to changing their business models – accommodating the inevitable changes that will occur once we’ve left the EU and whatever happens after that.
PLUMBING INTERNAL LEAKS
This financial year, to our delight, there have been no major internal leaks. Inevitably we’ve had a few small leaks, like any business, but we’ve managed to detect and repair them in the nick of time. One of those minor plumbing issues came from Supply Chain and was caused by the phenomenal growth of our online business. As website demands continue to grow, it puts huge pressure on our Supply Chain department and the team there. When it was set up originally, Supply Chain was much more store-focused so the pipework has struggled to cope with the increased flow of online shoppers.
Responding to leaks, my team and I have worked with the business to do some emergency repairs but we’ve managed to keep it all up-and-running and ready for another “pipe-bursting” year!
Interested in joining a company that plans strategically for the future? Find out more about Project Management jobs at Dixons Carphone.