#hyper-connected

Article edited & published on Real Business 03/01/2013 http://realbusiness.co.uk/p/16906

There's nothing new under the sun: except the Internet. As we move into 2013 it's beyond dispute that the Internet, the web and now social media have changed our lives and our societies forever. We are hyper-connected - and it changes everything.

Like it or not globalisation has reached a new peak. It's now dawning that the 'masters' of this new 'universe' who wrested the controls away from governments have ditched us in a sea of debt and fully expect the populace to bail out the wreckage. Directed and marshaled by the governments they over-rode. So that they can return to business, and bonuses, as-usual.

As president Obama wrestles on the brink of the 'Fiscal Cliff' that holds at least as much imminent danger for the world economy as the USA's our Eurocrats have grown somehow used to the rolling crisis throughout the Eurozone. Not so much 'under control' as inured to the danger. Used to the procession of stories ranging through suicide to strife and unrest wrought by the minor deity 'Austerity'. Rending of the social fabric and the disintegration of whole communities.

The devastation brought by super-storm Sandy is as nothing to the first truly global financial super-storm - the first stages of which we are living through. But what comes next is up to... who?

Tectonic though these forces are they are not 'forces of nature'. They can be controlled and directed. Truly global disaster can be averted. But not by business-as-usual.

Which is why we must draw a careful distinction. There remains much, barely suppressed, anger with the banks and the bankers. It's palpable. Their status in society has never been so low. Where once a proud parent would have glowed to relate that their offspring was a rising star in Canary Wharf now it comes out as worrying and as something approaching an admission of faulty parenting. Not without reason. It's hard to think of a bigger betrayal of a whole society - no, whole societies - by a cadre within in all of human history.

But this is not the point. The bankers have told us that the time for recriminations is over. It galls me to say it but they're right. Now is the time for action not recriminations  It's time to put our anger to productive use. It's time to sidestep the banks and  - as the CBI have so aptly put it - find a 'new normal'.

The problem now is not what the banks have done - it's what they are doing, and not doing. Put aside the sheer predatory self interest that allows them to think they can return to their desks, rebuild their balance sheets at our expense, (thanks to 'Merlin', 'Funding-for-lending' and all the rest) while drawing their accustomed performance-proof bonuses. Bonuses also, in effect, at our expense. Leave aside also aside the fast rising corp of 'the working poor' in the UK - and the responsibility they bear for this and more, having pillaged the economy.

It's about what happens next. About the fact that they clearly expect that oodles of PR, and perhaps a few tussles with parliamentarians will be enough to right 'perceptions' and so their gravy boat. That we will be sufficiently distracted by bickering about whether the retail-banking ring-fence should be 'electrified' or not to seek real change.

But real change is our only hope. While we continue to wrangle with these discredited captain-sensibles of commerce we waste our energy and our chances.

The answer lies in the future, not the past. The unthinkable has, and is, happening around us and to us. UK PLC is being returned to Victorian times, with it's poverty, greed, waste and squalor. So it's time to think the unthinkable. To make the banks, as we know them, irrelevant. To put those tectonic forces to work.

Banks were created and are licensed to lend by creating credit. To fuel the growth of society and the economy. They played that role, more or less, until this century. They have ceased to play it. They use the banking licenses, handed to them for one purpose, for their own enrichment alone. This badly needs addressing but, again, is not the point.

So who can turn this around? If the banks want business-as-usual and the governments are powerless to resist them who can make change happen?

Screw business as usual

The answer is in the future, not the past. We can. Ask Starbucks. Ask those who were on the staff of The News of The World. Was it government that changed - or in the latter case halted - business-as-usual? No. It was the focused anger of the hyper-connected crowd.

The answer lies in the future. According to NESTA (and I have written about it here too, some months ago) 2013 will unleash a new wave of Internet disruption here, and around the world. It's already happening and clearly measurable, in actual millions and projected billions - with a rate of growth that leaves even previous 'disruptions' in the dust. I call it Alt-Finance. Crowdfunding is at it's core but it goes beyond that.

It offers a new alternative - a new, more democratic, co-operative way to save, lend and invest. With or without a bank. A way to also have more, or less, involvement with the projects and businesses funded. To have a say in what gets funded. A way for the people - the market - to speak clearly and unequivocally. To support and collaborate. To exclude the agenda of the gatekeepers who's own enrichment is their first (and often only) priority.

It's being resisted. Well 'no surprise there then'. Turkeys never vote for Christmas. But Canute always gets wet feet. This is a global phenomenon and will happen around the world anyway. But if we are to avert the worst of what threatens to be a global financial 'nuclear winter' we need to act - to make the most of it, as soon as humanly possible.

It will change our world. It's already forming the future. Now is the time to find out how - and to understand how it will affect you, your family and your business. It's time to learn and to act. To combine your own protection and advancement with that of the rest of society. This is the future.

(C) Copyright Barry E James, Dec, 2012

The title is actually not entirely accurate. I do have a phone, just not a "smart phone". Oops. Double correction. Not a good smartphone, nor even a decent smartphone. I have a small paperweight running android Froyo with the ability to at least place calls. And it's not even good at that.

I used to have an iPhone, but I found out just how much it doesn't like to be under water for extended periods of time. Then, for some strange reason I can't grasp my mind around, I didn't freak out. I didn't panic. I didn't get online and buy a new one.

I can try to explain my calmness by reasoning that most the information on the phone was on the "cloud" in some way or another. All except videos on my phone was backed up by the magical and all-mighty cloud. Albeit, the videos were of my 2 yr. old, so they were dear to me. But not life shattering. Before, people didn't have the opportunity to tape their kid doing absolutely anything anywhere, and we all survived, didn't we?

Now, why I didn't buy a new phone is another thing. I can think the main reason was because the iPhone 5 was about to come out. No use paying for a new phone if the next best thing is coming around the corner. But I needed a phone, so in the meantime I got myself a loaner and am holding ground while my new iphone comes around---  And it's not that it has taken too long. Actually, I ordered it only less than a couple of weeks ago.

In the meantime I've been walking around with this abomination of a phone. Believe me, it's specifically the kind of phones that give Android a bad name. It's just a slow and all-around lousy device. Sure, it's got Facebook, Youtube and all that, but - even with an almost clean slate and no other programs running in the background, it is unbearably slow. This has lead to many frustrations, but also to some interesting changes in my behavior, along with the subsequent observations.

It just so happens that the terribleness of this device has put me off checking into my social networks. Also didn't enjoy reading news and tech articles on it, so gained that time as well. In the end, I was using the phone just to receive and place calls.

That's where things started getting interesting. At a restaurant, I'm really paying attention to the company I'm with, and the food I'm eating, instead of instagramming it, checking into foursquare and tagging facebook friends. At a party, I am engaging with others. I'm interacting with my daughter more and looking at her in 3D with my own eyes, instead of through the screen of a phone, then spending a few minutes to edit, then upload, tag, comment, respond to others' comments, etc.

Now it's not all completely good. Bathroom stops are boring now. And I have nothing to do at bank queues but just stand there and stare. But the fact remains that I feel this period of connection-detox has been very healthy for me.

OUR DIGITAL WORLD

This video does a wicked job of illustrating the digitally-connected world that our hyper-stimulated young generation resides in today.

A note from the video's producer: "One day I got an email, an sms, a phone call, a Facebook message and two tweets all within about 5 seconds of one another. This video is a re-manifestation of my brain's interpretation of that event."

        As the new year begins, brands are beginning to see a new trend in consumers – they want to dish out personal information to receive an incentive for a better shopping experience.  Handing over personal information has never been a willing task for any routine shopper, but as brands continue to communicate with consumers more frequently, the trend is now becoming more and more popular to hand over information, and in return reap the benefits of exclusivity and personalized rewards while visiting favorite stores today.

Brands have been hesitant to connect with customers on a one-to-one level, not knowing when they may be crossing the line of excess communication, but for today’s consumer, “more is more” is the fashion of communication when it comes to staying in tune with a brand. It’s imperative for brands to keep in mind the strategic planning behind communicating with consumers. It’s worth the time to research who their loyal customers are, i.e., demographics, preferred form of communication, contact information, style, and most importantly their location. All of these details are specific keys that tie into the way a brand can personalize a message to one individual shopper. Knowing which store location a shopper routinely goes to is the most important detail in order to send incentives and rewards to the shopper based on their targeted location. For a brand, sending push notifications to a shopper as they enter a store with a discount, a coupon as they are shopping, or a store exit survey as they leave, are all great ways to stay engaged with customers who are frequent shoppers.  The more personalized engagement between a brand and consumer, the more long-term commitment the consumer will have to be a shopper of the brand.

Keeping communication flowing across all strategic channels is also what the hyper-connected consumer today is looking for. Having access at any time to social networks and email, all from your mobile device, makes the shopping experience so much easier today. Consumers who have provided their favorite brands with personal information, have already downloaded the brand’s app on their smartphones, are fans of the brand on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter at a minimum. Now it’s up to the brand to stay connected on a daily basis, and keep the communication bridge constantly flowing. Brands who engage socially with consumers can leverage the conversations they have and use them as stories and focus groups for new store ideas, or contests in-store and online. Many brands are doing only the bare minimum when it comes to making their communication process seamlessly reach their targeted audience, but as today’s consumers continue to spill their information to brands, this gives an ample opportunity for stepping up to the plate and actively pursuing shoppers across all channels via email, social and mobile outlets.