Innovate and Communicate: The Symbiotic Keys to Successful Tech Adoption

“If you build it, they will come”.

Within corporate environments, despite best strategic intentions, digital transformation often fails to be successfully integrated into working practice, due to the many competing demands of time-poor research and insights professionals.

So, argue Scott Litman (Managing Partner, Lucy) and Andy Whitmore (Strategy Director, 438 Marketing), it has never been more instrumental to implement effective audience-adoption and engagement strategies, alongside the development of any technological innovation.

Albeit from very different viewpoints, Scott as a tech and product innovator; and Andy as a brand strategist; the two collaborate as partners on global martech projects for Fortune 1000 brands. Together they offer a unique perspective on tech implementation and audience communications.

Their experience shows that to land with impact, disruptive change needs both a comprehensive and sensitive introduction; plus, compelling, enduring communications to ensure the technology is firmly woven into the fabric of daily operating practices, and the potential realised. Here is a summary of ten tips to keep in mind from their recent whitepaper:

 

1. Know your audience

When defining your tech, it can’t just be about a vision of the tech. Your approach needs to be about a real problem that solves in a material way. Choose and implement your tech to benefit the user which will make a process dramatically better.

To do this start by developing and understanding one user story to focus on solving their problem directly and from this you’ll be able to define the goals you want the tech to solve. It’s crucial to work with tech vendors who partner with you and understand the user, challenge, and goals. They need to know what they are solving too.

 

2. Solve problems. Methodically. One. At. A. Time.

When you understand the capabilities of the vendor, that’s great. But it’s fundamentally better to focus on the problems you and your team are experiencing, determine if they can be solved for, proved with a big gain, and to start there with a pilot program.

It’s crucial not to boil the ocean – even one role/position (for example in research) could have six use cases. Pick one get that right and build from there. What you learn from 1^st benefit future use cases. It’s the same tech but multiple parts/solves.

 

3. Walk before you run

There are three approaches to implementation; the third approach (a hybrid of the initial two speeds of adoption) is recommended for most instances.

This approach focuses on measured advancement and spreading budget across phases. The system learns and becomes smarter as each group of users and data are added which supports a successful user adoption process in the longer term.

 

4. Technology Adoption is About More Than Technology

Technology doesn’t work in vacuum. In fact, for technology to be successful, three waves need to be in play – people, process and content.

Even the world’s greatest tech with poor support/communication/focus from will fail while just ‘ok’ tech with great support of the three will work fine. And among developers blaming tech is common. ‘I tried that social, CMS or whatever. It didn’t work…’ Well, look in mirror did it have the support? If not, it is the wrong root cause.

 

5. Do it on Purpose.

The fact is, successful tech implementation and adoption is PURPOSEFUL. It doesn’t start with WHAT or HOW, but with WHY.

Developing your purpose is not the same as publishing a Corporate announcement.  It needs to identify why the tech exist and why it is going to make a difference to the user and the organization.

 

6. Start Communicating the minute you start coding

Don’t wait to communicate.  In fact, we urge our clients to begin to communicate from the earliest possible opportunity – even though the product may be months from launch.

Signal the intent.  Invite them in.  Share the development journey.

You might find not just that early engagement paves the way for a more impactful launch.

 

7. What’s your story?

Think about it.  How many stories do we all know and fondly remember that have knowingly or unknowingly helped guide us through life?  Stories are the primary way that our ancestors transmitted knowledge and values. They are still our ‘trojan horse’ for educating our kids.  And the most effective technique for message recall.

Every product-brand has a story to tell.

Tell yours. (and live happily ever after…).

 

8. Disrupt and be different

The world today is messy, noisy, congested, and cluttered.

So, to stand any chance of cutting through to users, new tech must get noticed.   And that demands being different.  No REALLY different.

Spend time understanding what else is competing for users’ mind share.

And be different.

How do you know when you’re doing different?  When it scares the hell out of you.

So go on.  Scare yourself a little.

Be Bold.  Be Brave.  Be different.

 

9. Do it again. And again.  And Again.

The key to getting noticed is to bore yourself rigid.  Keep putting the same messages out there again and again.  The same colours, the same brand identity, the same propositions, the same benefits delivered in the same tone of voice.  Mix the channels, sure, but stick at it.  Develop a full communications plan to support implementation from pre-deployment through the early phases of adoption.

 

10. Collaborate. COLLABORATE.

Don’t look for one to do it all.

By choosing partners that are open to developing your organization’s vision – and will work with other vendors to create the big picture – you receive the most value in return.

 

 

For an example of one brand’s ongoing journey with enterprise technology, watch PepsiCo’s quest to democratize knowledge.

 

 

About the Authors

Scott Litman. Co Founder, Lucy

Scott is an entrepreneur with a broad history of building businesses that help clients, Fortune 1000s and large ad agencies, take advantage of cutting-edge digital transformation.

 

Andy Whitmore. Founding Partner & Strategy Director, 438.

Andy is a brand strategist with 25 years of experience and a proud track record working consultatively at the C-Suite level in the positioning and repositioning of brands of worldwide renown.

 

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash