Starbucks vs LEGO: A Tale of Two Digital Transformations
Sophia Matveeva
CEO | Founder | Board Member | Strategic Advisor | Digital Transformation | Innovation | Technology | Keynote Speaker | Podcaster | Education | Learning Development
"We need an app because everyone has an app" - this is how most companies approach digital transformation.
And this is exactly why 70% of them fail.
This year, Howard Schultz, the legendary founder of Starbucks, criticised the firm’s leadership for going too far with digital.?
Starbucks gets 31% of US orders through their mobile app. By typical digital metrics, this is a huge success.
So what went wrong?
In this week's Tech for Non-Techies podcast, I compare what happened at Starbucks with LEGO's transformation story.?
LEGO nearly went bankrupt in 2003, and today they're a digital powerhouse. To do this, the company didn't start with fancy apps or AI.?
Instead, LEGO’s leadership did something that sounds really boring but turned out to be crucial - they got their house in order first.?
They cut their suppliers from 11,000 to just a few hundred. They simplified their operations. Only after that did they add digital tools.
Different approaches yield different results.
Starbucks is losing loyalty members by the millions, despite their fantastic app.?
LEGO, on the other hand?
Their digital products are so popular, their website can't handle the fan excitement. True story: the company's fan site crashed three times in one weekend when they proposed LEGO Minecraft.
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A great digital product can harm a business if it doesn't fit into its overall strategy.
You can hear the full case studies in this week’s podcast episode: ?Starbucks vs LEGO: A Tale of Two Digital Transformations.
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Sophia
Driving Business Growth I International Brand Director, Export I CMO I Digital Business Transformation I Retail, Omnichannel Consumer Experience, Go To Market, Customer Success I Beauty Industry, Luxury
3 个月Super interesting. Thank you Sophia Matveeva In fact for any FMCG physical company selling physical goods digital will never be a magic wand if there are issues with product quality, business processes effectiveness, cost of goods or customer experience. Digital is just a tool helping to drive physical business and improve the results. You are totally right - investing into digital without investing into physical may kill the business.