Have you been doing it wrong? Achieving True Digital Transformation in 2020

Digital innovation is an irreversible trend intrinsically tied to business survival. It is, however, easier said than done when it comes to larger enterprises with traditional business mindsets and a complex organizational structure. The clock is ticking; the question is: how to get started? 

Tailored to enterprises starving for change, this digital transformation playbook covers fundamental concepts, values and goals of digital transformation, prior to unfolding a detailed step-by-step action plan.  We also shed light on anticipated challenges and a market overview for 2020 to complete a comprehensive strategy.

1. Introduction: Change for survival

If you ask why an enterprise decides to invest in digital transformation, it is most likely about survival. Some call digital transformation a revolution, one that has been spanning across the globe, impacting businesses big and small in every industry. According to Global Digital IQ Survey 2018 by PwC, 64% of top financial performers say their business faces a serious threat from disruption. Moreover, over half of the tech leaders (54%) believe that their company will fail within four years if they aren’t successful in their digital transformation efforts, as shown in the Wednesday report from Couchbase.

Today, businesses in any industry are at risk. Tomorrow, an industry giant could be taken over by a disruptive innovator. Looking back, the economic landscape has never stopped changing; but “digital” has accelerated the pace tremendously while pushing businesses to compete in a global market space. The only way for them to keep their competitive edge is to act now: to constantly challenge the status quo, improve and transform.

Let’s admit the truth. Digital transformation is costly and complicated. While uncountable businesses announced victory in achieving exponential growth in profitability and efficiency by leading the change years ago, many remain wavering and unsure about transformation. Here’s the good news: sound leadership will turn the investments into competitive advantages, and save your business from going all-in blindly to technology. The key roles of leadership will be discussed throughout the step-by-step guide to help businesses in need to develop a sound digital transformation strategy.

People over digital

If you don’t know where to start, always remember the core objective of digital transformation is to serve people, i.e. to elevate customer experience and empower employees to work more efficiently. Whether the transformation will go well depends on people too – leadership with clear visions and business strategies, whereas technologies are just your tools to fulfill the objectives.

Think of it as a fitness training program. Profitability and efficiency (your transformation motives) can be enhanced through training up employees with customer-centric mindsets and digital skill sets (mindsets and muscles), getting rid of unnecessary processes (body fat) with the help of innovations and technologies (diet and workout plans). Instead of following whatever resources available online, what you really need is a transformation guide tailored to your own needs.

We are about to take you through a holistic transformation from the fundamental concepts to an actionable roadmap, from the latest digital trends to top tips for avoiding potholes and achieving success.

2. The fundamentals

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is a holistic business initiative. If you look it up in Gartner IT Glossary, the definition also includes a similar term: “digitization”. Digitization is the process of changing from analog to digital form, also known as digital enablement, without any different-in-kind changes to the process itself.

Another commonly confused word is “digitalization”, the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business. Digitization and digitalization are operational necessities, but they do not represent a full view of digital transformation.

Digital Transformation, as defined by Gartner, refers to

“ anything from IT modernization, to digital optimization, to the invention of new digital business models.”

As the name hints, digital and IT technology play a big part in the transformation. It often includes a range of digitalization projects, the process of employing digital technologies and information to transform business operations and processes, and ultimately the business models. Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data, blockchain and cloud computing are among the most common technologies used in digital transformations.

Pillars of Digital Transformation

The term “digital” leads to common misconceptions of IT being the focus of change. There are “forward-thinking” and “passionate” businesses out there that welcome any forms of latest digital technologies with open arms and ends up with a large sum of investment going nowhere. Emerging technology, like any other forms of investment, is risky, especially when evolving at an incredible speed.

Rather than adopting whatever technologies are trending, digital transformation is more about shifting thinking, changing products and processes to accommodate the digital environment. A real transformation requires a profound shift from product-focus to customer experience excellence, from functionality upgrades of products and services to operational efficiency.

Yes, it is easier said than done. The next question is where and how to start? Goal-setting is always the first and foremost. Begin with reimagining business goals and encouraging radical alterations to work cultures, norms and values, while technologies and innovations serve as enablers for this holistic change. Look into the step-by-step guide for more actionable tips and pitfalls to avoid.

3. Actual values of Digital Transformation

Elevate Customer Experience

Customer experience (CX) is never the cherry on top but the cake itself, in case you are not fully aware. According to Gartner IT Glossary, CX stands for the customer’s perceptions and related feelings caused by the one-off and cumulative effect of interactions with a supplier’s employees, systems, channels or products. From a report issued by Mckinsey & Company, customer-experience leaders gain rapid insights to build customer loyalty, improve employee satisfaction, and adds up to revenue gains of 5 to 10 percent and cost reduction by 15 to 25 percent within two or three years. The customer-centric redesign process creates exponential values to the business in numerous aspects.

 

Moreover, with rising consumer demand and competitive pressures, whether your enterprise can deliver a positive CX is the key to survival, as it essentially defines your business’s relationship with customers, and hence the long-term sales and revenue. According to a study by IBM, 68 percent of 12,800 C-levels surveyed across 20 industries said that they expect organizations to emphasize CX over their own products in the future.

What comes as a surprise is that while 80% of the enterprises interviewed by Bain and Company believe they deliver “super experiences”, only 8% of their customers agree. This has revealed a significant gap between how well enterprises think they are performing and the cold reality. With customer-centricity being a dominant trend across the globe, there is an urgent need for businesses to re-examine customer experience and take it as a priority.

Maximize operational efficiency

Operational processes occur at all organization levels. Process automation is another common goal in digital transformation to enhance efficiency and productivity in the workplace, with specific goals varying from one industry to another. Common processes range from quality assurance, delivery, employee analytics, help desk support, auditing, cost estimation to marketing research, etc.

Automation boasts a faster, cheaper and easier way to perform repetitive, manual processes, with advantages such as
-Increasing output
-Reducing labour costs
-Improving workflow
-Standardizing product/service quality
-Minimizing errors

These benefits eventually lead to better customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Research suggests that as many as 45% of the activities individuals are paid to perform can be automated by adapting currently demonstrated technologies. Furthermore, automation will offer significant competitive advantages typically between 3 and 10 times the cost.

Is the investment worth the risk?

As the general rule goes, great rewards come from taking risks. Digital transformation involves complex changes in business strategies and operational structure. It is a long-term, large-scale investment with high-level risk coming with it, especially for companies lacking common knowledge on the impact of the transformation on the business. Digital training is crucial for all employees, especially the C-suite and senior management.

McKinsey suggests that the success rate of digital transformation initiatives is less than 30%. Said another way, more than 70% of these initiatives fail. So the question here is how can your company make sure it is getting a positive return on investment from the money and resources dedicated to the project? That’s where leadership and the concept of digital ROI come in.

Companies moving forward on a digital transformation are well advised to take on an enterprise-wide view during the planning and prioritizing process if they hope to fully align investments to their overall digital strategy. It is an integrated approach that requires top-down goal setting and regular measuring of performances and returns. A set of key performance indicators (KPIs) metrics are necessary to keep track on the impact of digital initiatives more accurately and make adjustments to execution or even incremental goals when necessary. A suggested framework for digital KPIs metrics will be discussed further in another section.

4. Defining success in digital competency

Customer Experience Excellence

Customer-centricity focuses on the core issue “What do my customers really want ?” Across every industry, customers are demanding flexible, pleasing user experience (UX), as well as easy and transparent access to information of all kinds. An all-encompassing customer experience begins with understanding of your customers, mapping out customer journey for a personalized experience at multiple touchpoints. Think about your target audience. How can your business cater to their specific needs at the right time, with the right way? The “Five Ws” and the “how” are the simple but extremely useful guiding questions to get to know your customers.

Smart technology investment will offer great help in this aspect. Data analytics provide useful insights for customer preferences, how your products are actually performing, and whether they’re meeting customer expectations. Many enterprises today prefer to leverage AI and machine-learning alongside data to maximize customer experience, as pointed out by Forbes. The next section will feature more examples regarding tech application in the workplace. You may also refer to the market data section for the latest tech trends.

The Disney’s signature “MagicBand” is an example of incredible UX and personalization. MagicBand is an all-in-one smart device giving access to admission and shuttle tickets, hotel keys, fast pass, etc. It also supports e-payments at shops and restaurants in the theme park. Plus, customers can customize their magicband online to fulfill their needs. While customers are happy with the seamless experience, Disney will receive a tremendous amount of customer data in return. For example, when you arrive and leave; where and what you spend, eat and how much. With these data, Disney then uses machine learning algorithms to predict customer activities and manage demands, which offers useful insights for resource allocation such as employees.

From operational efficiency to employee enablement

Process digitalization reap benefits not only for the cost reduction, but to empower employees and increase productivity. The time spent in tasks used to be done manually can now be spent on digital training to fill the knowledge gap. Operational efficiency also means a workplace environment that fosters collaboration and connection between employees, divisions and different levels in the organization. Eventually a business should aim to promote a new work culture of idea sharing and innovation, encouraging senior management as well as employees in the executive level to continuously challenge and change the way we work for better workflow and output.

Empowerment has to be done with control and digital technology plays an important role. With data analytics, operational performance is more transparent for review and optimization, which help businesses ensure that the transformation in business units are actually helping the company achieve a centralized set of strategic goals.

5. Step-by-Step Guide

Congratulations on going through half of the transformation journey! By now you are keenly aware of the underlying motives and values of digital transformation, which set you up for a perfect start to change. From zero to one, here is everything you need to know about planning your next steps and taking actions.

Leadership: the success factor

Leadership is what turns digital investment into digital advantages — improved profitability and efficiency. As Digital transformation is a business-wide project, it has to be top-down led － by C-levels who oversees strategic plans and possesses comprehensive knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the business. Engagement of the C-suite is particularly crucial in the initial goal-setting stage, creating inspiring vision to lay down a solid foundation for the transformation to move forward and evolve.

The principles

To kick off, let’s be crystal clear about the core principles. First, instead of multiple individual projects, our framework of transformation is a long-term, staged approach with a series of incremental goals paving the way to achieving one or more enterprise-wide strategic objectives.

Second, while most digital transformations are found to have undergone similar transformation stages regardless of industries and contexts, every solution should be unique, hinging on individual objectives, pain points, markets, customer priorities, needs of stakeholders and so on.

 

 

Unfold the transformation in four steps:

Step one: Define transformation objectives

Frame the challenges facing the organization and determine the business-wide strategic objectives, followed by a mix of incremental goals with clearly-defined outcome. Set your goals following the S.M.A.R.T principle – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely, with reference to external industry benchmarks. In the next section, we’ll give you examples of typical goals in various focus areas and possible metrics to keep track of your transformation progress.

Tips to success

-The C-levels should consider business-wide priorities while determining strategic goals and an all-encompassing transformation roadmap.

-Senior management in various divisions should get involved in setting of incremental goals to ensure division compatibility and alignment with the core business objectives. These initial meetings are brilliant opportunities to kickstart further cross-functional collaborations during the transformation processes.

-Replacing all old goals with new ones that turn things upside down is not a must. Each business has its own DNA of success, which might remain a competitive edge in today’s market. Consider merging the old and the new goals, values and cultures if it is for the best.

Step two: Acquire the right technology enablers

From vision to action — introduce the right technologies to begin with. Among a myriad of technologies available, data analysis is one of the most common enablers with a widespread applications relating to better customer experience, operational efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Data itself is not valuable until it has been processed into meaningful insights. Make data actionable. Let it talk. While humans can handle small amounts of data, overwhelming amount of data up to thousands, millions or more is where AI and ML come into play – to make sense of data by extracting meaning and patterns from an enormous amount of data in no time.

The insights will be useful in decision-making, including strategic planning, organizational structure, customer experience, operational efficiency, employee enablement and your next step in the transformation. A combination of technologies compatible with your business nature and goals can create exponential growth to your business.

Tips to success

-Process automation is often a good area to start off for quicker, clearer results, which provides incentive for further investment in other aspects in digital transformation. Moreover, manpower freed up can focus on vital manual operations to enhance productivity, while sparing time for digital training to fill in the knowledge gap.

-Governance mechanism is key: coordinate projects and build coherent structures and processes for management. Ensure a balanced portfolio of digital investments and avoid duplication.

Step three: Equip your team from mindset to skill sets

Mobilize your team to execute the initial plan and involve them in solution creation. Once the basic digital investments are in place to get started, share your vision to the whole team. Explain the rationale of initiating digital transformation. From management, front-line executives to close partners, they should work towards the same business-wide goals in order to succeed. In this stage, make sure they are on the same page with the top-level on:

-Urgency of digital transformation
-Purposes, principles, impacts and foreseeable advantages
-Business goals and incremental goals
-Customer-centric mindset
-Understanding of the strong tie between business and technology

Equip the team with the fundamental mindsets and digital skills through digital transformation training, with hands-on workshops and discussions led by professionals in customer experience and digital landscape.

Meanwhile, new digital teams can be formed by enmeshing existing and new talents in design thinking and innovations such as AI and data analytics. Outsourcing is a possible option besides nurturing in-house staff.

Step four: Empower and sustain

With the knowledge gap closing in gradually, the top-level can now involve employees in solution creation. After all, the top-level does not know everything in the operational level and it is completely alright. Encourage staff in each organizational level and division to share their challenges. Invite them to brainstorm solutions together and even initiate new transformation projects. Begin by promoting new cultures in the company to facilitate idea sharing, such as:

-Open and flexible
-Innovative
-Collaborative
-Change-ready
-Real-time
-Customer-centric

Now it comes to the most crucial task to sustain the transformation: measure and monitor. As digital transformation is scaling up with multiple projects taking place across organizational levels and divisions, control is what determines ongoing growth: increase in profitability and efficiency. Measure results periodically to check on progresses. We celebrate achievements to boost staff support; meanwhile, we prioritize investments and projects to based on their performances and make necessary changes.

Tips to success

-Provide incentives to gain employee support. A robust reward system gives staff a sense of purpose and motivation to align and support change. Alongside cash-rewards, consider non-financial rewards such as flexible workdays, additional leave, education, professional development or digital training.

-Utilize technology to encourage cultural and behavioral shift. For example, introduce digital platforms to break geographical and time constraints, engage and connect employees, facilitate idea sharing and transparent performance management.

-Be decisive in letting go unprofitable projects. While there are investments meant to reap long-term results over immediate gains, some projects are hurting the business. The top-level and middle-management are responsible for overseeing the overall performances and terminating loss in a timely manner.

6.Digital Transformation Metrics

For every change we make in life, we naturally aim for rewards to keep us going. Gym lovers always look for inches of body fat loss and muscle gain to prove to themselves the hard work pays off. The same rule applies in a massive-scale project like digital transformation, despite the need for a broader set of metrics to keep track of various aspects of the project.

Traditional business metrics or key performance indicators (KPI) are mainly categorized by functions. Without a uniform objective, divisional goals are often found to be conflicting with each other. For example, back-office division values efficiency and cost reduction while front-office is devoted to providing the best customer service. It is literally impossible to pursue optimized individual outcomes for both sides.

In digital transformation, boundaries between divisions are slowly dissolving, so does the metrics. On the other hand, there will be increasing cross-functional collaborations heading towards the same business objectives, which can be divided into four key areas: customer service, employee enablement, operational efficiency and innovations. This is where you start designing S.M.A.R.T goals and corresponding metrics for each category, with consideration to factors like
-Speed to transform
-Number of errors and the fixing cost
-Quality
-Productivity
-Ease of completing task

Tips to success

-Again, there is no such thing as a set of universal metrics that applies to all. As Gartner suggests, the value of a metric lies in its ability to influence business decision making.

-Refer external industry benchmarks as reference (cost saving, revenues, improved performance of agents, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, new ways of working, new capabilities)

-Regular progress examination and improvement are essential; even the targeted goal should be regularly revisited and revised if necessary. The goals should be able to address a specific, defined audience and can be understood by a non-IT audience.

7.Expected challenges

Culture

Digital transformation, like any other transformation projects, is a challenge to the physical and mental. Infrastructures and systems are the hardware that drives transformation, while cultures and mindsets impact employee’s morale and the way they work. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggested that for companies that neglected culture in digital transformation, only 17% managed to improve performance. On the other hand, 90% companies emphasizing culture management achieved breakthroughs and excellent financial performance; what’s more, 80% sustained the results.

A cultural change starts from the top. Leaders must communicate clearly about what needs to be changed. Encourage employees to engage with customers and partners and promote delegation over control. Promote an innovative culture that is agile, bold and collaborative. Foster cross-divisional collaboration instead of individual work. Again, the transformation is not IT-focused but a business-wide project. Mobilize and unite the whole team to participate and move forward.

*Merging old and new

*Employee resistance one of the biggest hurdles

Costs and resources

Budget is a practical constraint, but not a justifiable reason to walk away. Expect investment in digital transformation to be long-term, complex and expensive. Temporary profit drop within a short time frame is common. Same as fitness, persistence is key. Remain motivated by setting short-term goals for 6-12 months. Hit the small targets, measure regularly with tailored metrics to ensure the transformation is on progress and heading towards the right direction.

Maintainance

Digital service failure is a huge turnoff to customers and it hurts brand reputation, indirectly affecting sales and revenue. On-going maintenance is key. Further development of applications and services to seek upgrades and improve capabilities.

Sound project management and control are crucial. Set clear goals and organized schedule for each project. Before initiating a new project, always ask “why” to give a sense of purpose to the team. Do not invest in fancy, popular digital tools for the sake of becoming digital. Do not start many projects at the same time or it may risk going out of control. Be patient, one thing at a time. Focus on quality, not quantity.

8.Market Overview

Year of action
This is the time for transformation to go “pragmatic”. A pragmatic approach will allow companies to take action, address fundamental challenges and embark on large-scale digital transformation. This section is an overview of major global and Asian trends and staggering progress on innovations, with a particular focus on China and Asia.

Innovations in action

If you are a complete beginner in Artificial Intelligence (AI), we recommend reading “AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order” written by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures. Another easy option is to go to our AI 101 Guide to get a grip of the fundamentals and real-life AI applications.

In simple terms, AI is all about building machines that are capable of thinking and performing tasks like humans. Lee classifies AI into 4 categories based on functions:

-Internet AI
E.g. Youtube’s recommendation engines

-Perception AI
E.g. iflytek’s voice recognition and speech synthesis

-Business AI
E.g. IBM Waston’s big data consulting service

-Autonomous AI
E.g. Tesla’s self-driving vehicles

 

 

Theoretically, AI can be applied to all industries and every aspect of life with boundless purposes and possibilities, e.g. AI-enabled chatbots for marketing, improving disease diagnosis for healthcare, predicting customer needs and preferences for customer service, automation in production processes for manufacturing, etc.

AI and data analytics often goes hand in hand. Working similarly as the human brain, the learning ability of AI is built on massive amounts of data taken in daily, which will then be processed, analysed and stored in memory. Next, the algorithms within will search for patterns and trends for further processing, which will help future decision-making. In this aspect, machines are often found to be better performers than the humans.

Build a data foundation with AI as priority

Forrester predicts that 2019 is the year robotic process automation powered by artificial intelligence will flourish. In Asia, many countries have included AI adoption in their national plan to enhance domestic and regional competitiveness, from China to Japan, Singapore to India, according to MIT Technology Review. Both public and private sectors are expected to participate.

A study by DIA shows has shown an increase in AI adoption rates across Southeast Asia from 8% in 2017 to 14% in 2018, while most companies were still getting the data basics in place. The report stresses the importance of building a strong data foundation, on which other technologies can be further built on in the next stages of transformation.

Competition between East and West

The three big tech giants in China, including Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) are widely believed to have the money and resources to compete with the dominating tech companies for global AI talent. Take salary of a Machine Learning Engineer as an example, according to CB Insights, Baidu USA is offering from $130K to $175K while Google pays around 110K. Furthermore, many of BAT’s AI products — like smart speakers, AI in retail, and autonomous vehicles — are similar to what Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (GAFAM) have been working on.

Although Google had dedicated AI-related research work and had made a few AI-focused startup acquisitions even before it started discussing the tech in earnings calls, Baidu’s head start on earnings calls is indicative of its eagerness to rebrand itself as an AI company, and not just an internet service provider. China’s AI investments in the US accounting for 44 % outweighs GAFAM’s negligible 1% private market footprint in China.

Concerns over data privacy and ethical AI

Concerns have been raised over data privacy, with increasing number of regional compliances dedicated to addressing the issue. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was launched in May 2018, and equivalents in other countries include California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the US and the Privacy Amendment in Australia. There have been calls to regulate other innovations such as blockchain and the usage of IoT, especially among Western Countries.

Ethical AI is another controversial buzz phrase, expressing worries regarding unemployment due to AI and racial bias emerging in facial recognition. In fact, whether or not customers feel secure with the use of technologies affects customer experience. Enterprises should take care of sensitive issues like data protection and AI standards.

9.Conclusion

Whatever transformation you are going through, always seek the true motivations before you start. Work out and get lean to gain confidence. Go digital to gain loyal customers, empowered employees, innovation-driven cultures, efficient operations and cost reduction. The list goes on and on. With clear goals and expected outcomes, find the right enabling technologies. Always keep in mind: transformation covers all aspects of the business, and people is prioritized over technologies.

Leadership is key. Share your vision with your employees to inspire each other. Set clear, purposeful goals and keep them in the loop. Be bold to try, be keen to monitor, be brave to break unhealthy habits and terminate unprofitable investments.

The way to sustain? Build new habits and cultures. Allow the transformation to evolve from top-down to bottom-up, with employees taking initiatives to innovate and change for the better. What’s next? Act now, before it is too late. Challenge your business, before your competitor does that for you.

At NDN Group we provide training and solutions to help companies to embrace the digital world. Speak with our team to learn how we can help, info@ndngroup.com.  

 

The digital world is ever-booming in ways you never thought possible, but only to a certain extent — the following five trends are unstoppable and bound to happen in 2019!

1. Hyper-personalization

Anticipate more cross-industry collaborations that will prompt more personalised marketing. When companies partner up, they have access to more information about you, thus making it possible to market their products in ways that are particularly appropriate for and appealing to you in terms of ethnicity, age, gender and more.

2. Retail evolution

Brick and mortar retail stores may be struggling to keep their doors open, but that does not reflect on how much shoppers want to shop. For instance, Black Friday sales in 2018 saw a 24% year-on-year jump. While online sales are part of the reason, brands are reaching out to potential consumers in more ways than we ever imagined. Take startup Cargo as an example. Cargo provides rideshare drivers with boxes full of merchandises from snacks to phone chargers, which riders can purchase while they’re on-the-go.

3. Data debate rages on

Tension between the public, governments and tech firms will likely intensify in the coming year over how data collected should be used, protected, or made available to whom. While China is known to impose strict rules regarding data localisation, India also mandated in 2018 that all payment data be stored within the country. This is more than just a protectionism tactic. It also provides domestic companies with more leverage to compete with overseas companies.

4. China leading social network trends

China-based tech firms have been leading trends in social networking apps which impact the Western world considerably. For example, Facebook’s Lasso is seen as influenced by Shanghai-based Musical.ly. China is expected to continue taking a stronghold in the social network industry in 2019.

5. Digital gold mine

Digital goods, like in-game purchases, are seen to bring in massive dollars in 2019. Marketing tactics combined with the clout and personalisation that these digital goods bring have made them irresistible to buyers.

For the past decades, banking has long been an industry that has branded themselves on trust and stability, however with the rise of today’s demanding consumer taste, banks are facing a new paradigm centred around the need for convenience, customer experience and choice.

While physical banking will still hold a place for brand presence throughout the territory, consumers prefer to handle their banking online both on their computers and mobile devices.

In fact, Hong Kong has more than 5.53 million smartphone users in 2017 and a predicted 80.69% of Hong Kong’s population will be using a smartphone by 2021. Consumers today are demanding the exact same convenience they are enjoying in their daily lives and the banks that recognize and provide this will enjoy the fruits of today’s digital world.

With the rise of Hong Kong’s Banking Made Easy initiative, there is a commitment in the government to better facilitate virtual banking. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will be issuing virtual banking licenses to applicants in the first quarter of 2019, marking a new era of banking as well as a golden opportunity for established banks to capture.

Why Virtual Banking?

Simply put, virtual banks are financial institutions without any physical branches where all transactions are done online. With the majority of banking today done either through digital transfers or through the use of cards, virtual banking opens up a whole new avenue where more emphasis can be paid to the customer and their needs instead of capital investment into expensive branches and their manpower.

Customers Are Changing & Banking Needs To Be Evolving

When it comes to charting a course for virtual banking success, the first step is to always step into the shoes of the consumers. As consumer demand and taste become more adapted to the fast-paced lifestyle we are used to, much more is expected from our banks, especially the 6 main challenges that affect customer experience today:

1) Onboarding & Opening Of New Accounts – A process that could take hours or even days depending on the traffic in the physical branch.

2) Poor Digital Navigation Systems – While many banks have taken steps to go digital with a website, the interfaces are outdated, causing browsers to have a frustrating time navigating to the product or service they desire.

3) Inconvenient Physical Locations / ATM Networks – Perhaps the biggest frustration faced by consumers today is difficult to locate their desired bank branch in their current location, leading to additional time wasted to travel to one.

4) Unsatisfactory In-Branch Resolution Of Issues – From long wait times to poor customer service, customers are facing inconsistent experience when it comes to physical banking.

5) Poor Omnichannel Experience – While an increasing number of banks have multiple channels to reach their customers such as website, emails and mobile apps, most information and preferences of individual customers are lost the moment they leave the channel.

6) Lack Of Real-Time Messaging – Customers desire to be updated when it comes to their personal banking situations, however many banks today either send updates through physical mail or none at all, leaving many consumers in the dark.

The Key Is Personalising The Customer Experience

One of the key strategies virtual banks have to successfully execute is the customer journey mapping to visualise and understand the customer’s experience as they browse, research and utilise the financial products and services on offer.

In virtual banks, the steps could originate from a varied number of channels and personalising the right channel with the most impactful content will win the loyalty and business of the audience.

Take for example, a prospect that discovers your virtual bank brand over social media page. He will be given a different customer experience (one that is more light-hearted and socially engaging) compared to the subsequent landing page that lays down a more constructive argument to sign-up for the service before receiving an email reminder to activate their new service for use. This personalisation of content and user experience is a key differentiating factor as price and product are no longer the sole considerations for the consumer.

In addition, there will also be a need to provide consumers with a seamless transition and connectivity between the different channels of the virtual bank. For example, a customer that consistently checks his credit card statements and bank balance through his browser will have this remember and when he uses the bank’s app, those two functions will be at the forefront of the app, saving him time in navigating around.

The Need For Agile User Experience (UX)

When a consumer first lands on your website the first impression they get will be determined by the UX of the site. From the navigation menus to the layout of the site and the various call-to-actions and offers, having a UX team that constantly iterates and conducts A/B testing is key to optimizing the user experience and maximising those conversions.

Take for an example, a customer that lands on a savings account enquiry page will likely require a UX that highlights all the necessary information, benefits and scenarios. From interest rate calculators to different projection charts and a clearly laid out feature and benefit showcase, the UX here has to guide and flow the reader through all the way to the call to action. However, the final account application page would require a much simpler UX that guides them to sign-up as soon as possible with minimal confusing information.

To take it a step further, dynamic UX coupled with big data and artificial intelligence would be helpful to help understand the browsing patterns of customers as a whole and individual browsing patterns. These allow for dynamic and on the go UX changes that tackles both individual needs and the website experience as a whole.

Embracing New Technologies From Websites To Apps For Better Customer Engagement

Today, a myriad of touch points will be needed by virtual banks to not only capture the attention of the consumer but to also provide flexibility for them to conduct their banking online. The staple of these touchpoints would be a website where maximum depth of banking services and transactions can take place, from account opening to credit card payments and beyond. This can then be adapted into the mobile and tablet browsing experience, allowing additional touchpoints for the consumer of today.

Another popular and highly effective touchpoint is the mobile app. While websites are fine for computer users, they do pose some UX difficulty when it comes to interacting with them over a mobile browser even if they are optimised for mobile. Mobile apps, however, give virtual banks a flexible and immersive touchpoint for their consumers to interact with, allowing for a combination of both functionality as a transaction portal and a hub for offers and new updates.

At New Digital Noise, we believe in helping virtual banks reach out to customers through the correct utilisation of digital touchpoints. One such project we undertook was helping Prime Credit (a local financial company) develop WeWa Card mobile app for millennials to apply for their credit card by cutting down the application process to only 5 simple steps in comparison to the lengthy forms of a traditional application. Today, this app is called OMYCard Mobile App. It retains most of the functions and user experience we designed.

From chatbots to mobile Apps, virtual banks today will have to utilise the right digital tools to not only cut through the noise and competition but also to provide the best user experience possible to gain the loyalty of the customer.

Utilising Holistic Digital Marketing Campaigns For Brand Awareness & Customer Acquisition

While traditional banks long have a heritage of brand awareness and a clientele that has been passed down from generations, a virtual bank will have to utilise every digital channel possible due to the lack of a physical presence.

The first step is to create and consolidate all the various digital touchpoints a virtual bank has. Most commonly, these will include their website, social media pages such as Facebook and mobile apps. Depending on the goal and demographics of the customers being targeted, holistic digital marketing campaigns will have to be created to focus on lead generation – namely signing up new customers (whether it be to open a savings account or a credit card for daily use).

From search engine marketing to social campaigns, virtual banks will also need to utilise the correct mixture of marketing channels to create buzz and awareness of their brand whether their target audience is doing a search on Google or browsing through Facebook.

One such campaign we have successfully launch is for Blue, a digital insurer partnership by Aviva, Hillhouse Capital and Tencent. We utilised the various digital marketing channels to not only generate awareness but also drive sign-ups. Here are a few examples:

• Google Paid Search Ads – Allowing consumers with buying intent to discover Blue’s offerings and direct hot traffic to the website.
• Facebook Page & Paid Ads – To create social awareness, build and engage an audience over time with content marketing for eventual conversions.
• Cognitive Ad – To understand consumers needs and interests by deploying the latest AI-enabled interactive advertising on websites and WeChat.

Becoming A Leader In Virtual Banking Means Embracing Digital

While becoming a virtual bank brings with it incredible benefits such as the absence of any physical branches and thus a lower threshold of capital investment, the challenge lies in acquiring customers and maintaining their loyalty for the long-term.

By understanding the customers’ unique needs and enhancing their customer experience through the correct adoption of digital marketing and technology, financial institutions today can take advantage of Hong Kong’s push in becoming a virtual banking hub and capture a slice of this very lucrative pie!

1) Blue

Starting from the second half of 2018, we have been assisting Blue, Hong Kong’s first digital life insurer in unfolding its first-ever digital branding campaign. It is a highly integrated campaign, with touchpoints spanning social media, video production, website SEO, media planning that covers display, programmatic and search, HTML5 banner ad as well as innovation such as Cognitive Ad, the latest AI-enabled interactive advertising. This comprehensive marketing strategy gives the brand an opportunity to engage with a broad spectrum of audiences, which in turn generates traffic, leads, and drive new sales.

2) Hang Seng Bank

Launching Hang Seng Credit Card Chat with DORI is another of our highlights in 2018. After a year of development with the client from concept to launch, DORI the AI chatbot went live on 11 January 2018. Short for Dining, Offers, Rewards and Interactive, DORI reshapes customer service by providing customers with a faster, simpler and more convenient service experience powered by artificial intelligence.

3) Hong Kong Broadband Network

In an effort to promote the Broadband Network’s expertise in the telecom sector and ultimately expand its fanbase, our team produced a tongue-in-cheek parody of Men On The Dragon. It is well-received with over 600 likes, 143 shares and 41K views to-date, fast becoming one of the most popular posts on the company’s Facebook page.

4) AJ Hackett

We built presence for the extreme sports pioneer’s Macau Tower centre on Weibo and WeChat. We first lined up local KOLs for endorsements and reviews, then worked on facilitating quick mobile payments like Alipay and WeChat Pay. Apart from improving customer experience with seamless transactions, WeChat Pay users will be prompted to follow the AJ Hackett WeChat account, allowing the brand to strengthen its connection with the customer.

5) Extra Mile

Extra Mile is a community investment project collaboratively run by the Airport Authority Hong Kong and Social Ventures Hong Kong. Making use of user-generated and sticky content, we fostered the project’s digital marketing goals of notifying target audience of programme updates, delivering positive social values, making noise and bringing together different communities.

6) Geo-targeting for Subway

We promoted Everyday Value, a combo launched earlier this year with Geo-targeting. This tool identifies potential customers and classifies them into different segments, allowing us to re-target ads on Google Display Network, Facebook, Line and Weibo accordingly with A/B testing. The campaign ran for three weeks and was a great success.

7) Carlo Rossi Wine

The posh lifestyle approach is quite common among wine brands. Our Shanghai team took a different approach with Carlo Rossi by infusing playfulness and humour into its WeChat content. This tongue-in-cheek execution has helped the brand to stand out from its competition.

8) Prince Jewellery and Watch

Inside the vibrant online social space, each platform/app boasts major differences in terms of culture, usage and user preference. It requires distinct knowledge to fully utilise them as effective promotional tools. Take Facebook, Instagram and Wechat as example, our Hong Kong and Shanghai team work seamlessly together to foster comprehensive marketing solutions for Prince Jewellery and Watch using these platforms. With localised content and format, we are able to help the jewellery brand make an impression to different target audiences.

9) Viral video for Subway

We supported the promotion of Subway’s Beef Pastrami Sandwich by commissioning a video production with Uncle Siu British English Club, which generated some 516,000 video views, 11,000 reactions, 1,500 comments and 3,400 shares to date.

10) BCT

We are thrilled to work with BCT Group this year, a major MPF product provider in Hong Kong that aims at raising brand awareness among young working adults online. We adopted an agile model, in which we identify and reinforce the type of feeds with the best engagement and performance based on Facebook generated figures. We plan as we go and fostered a series of exciting Facebook posts riding on the city’s hottest news and office-related tidbits. By identifying the right content for the right target audience with statistics, we are able to help BCT raise awareness and in turn, drive sales

Customers are well informed and increasingly expecting their relationship with brands to become a two-way street with a focus on value creation and personalisation. For a long time, marketing has always been a one-way push where brands aggressively promote their message to passive listeners. This is no longer the case with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.

Brands can now have personalised two-way conversations with customers and obtain meaningful data on consumer behaviour. We call this interaction with customers through dialogue Conversational Marketing. Cognitive Ad is the platform where these conversations take place and being recorded. Blockchain is where we store the data.

Such personalised two-way dialogue between brands and customers is unprecedented. Through AI, customers can ask questions and get answers immediately. In the past, if customers want to obtain product information, it will take them at least 2 to 3 visits to the retail store and talk to different staff before they can make a purchase decision. This process is likely to span over 2 to 8 days.

Now with Cognitive Ad, brands can have the same conversation, but streamlined to 5 to 15 minutes. If customers like the offers they see on the Cognitive Ad, they can even pay instantly without being redirect to other pages or payment gateway. The entire marketing funnel is shortened and take place in a single contact point.

Let’s say you are an apparel brand. Here is one conversation you can have with your customer.

AI:  Good evening, welcome to Calvin Klein! Would you like to see our new Pre-Fall 2018 collection or sign up to visit the Calvin Klein Experience HK Tour?

User:  Sign up

AI:  Great, may I have your name?

User:  Charlotte Lee

AI:  Thanks, Charlotte. May I have your email or phone number?

User:  clz1j5@gmail.com

AI:  Thanks. When and what time are you planning to visit?

User:  Oct 10 at 2pm

AI:  How many friends will come with you?

User:  1

AI: Lovely, here’s your confirmation number N83HK71. To show our appreciation for your support, we would like to offer you a brand new perfume sample which will launch next month. Which shop would you like to pick up the sample from?

User:  Times Square

AI:  Fantastic, we will see you soon at our Times Square shop. Hope you will enjoy the Calvin Klein Experience HK Tour.

Brands can design different conversations for their business needs. Lead generation, brand engagement, e-commerce, and survey are just some examples. Gone are the days where brands just chase after the number of clicks, views, impressions, which has no context or target customers that are indifferent. With Cognitive Ad, brands can have access to meaningful customer data, create a better customer experience with real-time two-way conversation and drive ROI.

If you want to learn more about Cognitive Ad or blockchain, contact us and we are happy to share more details.

The way in which opposite or contrary forces give rise to each other to create a whole and the interdependence and complementation between those forces. More specifically – the Yin and the Yang. This type of interconnected dualities can be observed naturally in things like fire and water, light and dark. What equivalent do we find in the digital dimension? AI and blockchain technology. The concept of Yin Yang is about duality forming a whole. Neither of the two is an absolute, nor are they static.

When we conceptualize about the Internet of Things evolving into the Internet of Everything we can see clearly how this new whole can be made up of the duality of AI and blockchain technology. To draw a parallel between them, two conditions need to be fulfilled: 1) Blockchain and AI need to oppose one another in some way. 2) They need to complement and give rise to one another. Perhaps it is easier to imagine how the two halves will cooperate so first let’s look at how they oppose each other.

AI is flowing – guessing. Blockchain is solid – recording.

In AI technology the main driving force is educated guesswork. Of course, that phrase is not meant to demean in any way the brilliance of the work – the scale and precision with which this guesswork is performed is unachievable for a human. The AI uses selective data and applies algorithms to work out the most probable version of reality. It either guesses or it doesn’t and it learns. The lesson it learned changes it. These observations keep it constantly adapting and improving.

What about blockchain technology? Well, there is no such thing as guesswork here. It is all about certainty. Blockchain technology applies methods having to do with control and stability. Blockchains validate and record transactions as permanent truth. It relies only on settled methods and nothing can be left to probability. Where AI utilizes guesses, blockchain utilizes facts. This way blockchain fills the trust gap which stands in the way people when authorizing machines to act on their behalf.

How do blockchain and AI cooperate with one another?

One look is enough to see which of the two is the abstract “thinker” and which is the strict and precise ‘thinker”. AI and blockchain can work symbiotically: AI is the researcher and the artist, creating a picture of risks and opportunities. On the other hand, blockchains are the executors and the record-keepers of processes and transactions. AI is responsible for studying the waves of information and abstracting the complex observations. Blockchain technology would provide a means of validation and confidence enabling automated rule-based governance for each transaction.

The Internet of Things is beginning to contour the emerging brand – new, more capable, along with more expansive global information infrastructures. It is presenting us with a rare opportunity to build a set of functions and connections which will act on behalf of humans. This will be invaluable for businesses. It will become an environment for both machines and humans to interact – the Internet of Everything.

In this scenario, artificial intelligence will provide the necessary muscle power to process the enormous volumes of data and make statistical considerations. What is needed to make this a reality is the management of processes and transaction validation; amongst other things blockchain can be the foundation of an online transactional government process – machines would be responsible for providing validation following a set of algorithms. The Internet of Everything would be getting the most out of the flow of big data.

An even brighter parallel can be drawn between Chinese philosophy and digital expansion. Big data is to AI and blockchain as is Qi or Chi to Yin Yang. Qi represents the life energy which nourishes and sustains everything that surrounds us. Qi is observed in its multiple terrestrial forms. In a similar way, big data is the life force feeding the Internet of Everything, as well as AI and blockchain algorithms.

The amount of data that’s being created and stored on a global level is almost inconceivable. Moreover, it just keeps growing. That means there’s even more potential to glean key insights from it. Both Qi and big data are in a state of endless flux, transforming constantly from one aspect into another. Big data affects organizations across practically every industry.

As for the balancing of Qi in the context of digital business, there is still much more work to be done. Currently, the truly new Internet of Everything which is predicted is only now emerging. At the moment, what’s being developed is only the nervous system of the whole thing – the methods for different parts to talk to one another, protocols, storage, processing, communications pathways. Obviously, the full picture of entirely autonomous is yet to become clear.

Cognitive technology is taking the marketing community by storm. While it was dubbed by leading analyst firm Gartner as a disruptive platform “with a shift more impactful than many other technologies in the past 20 years”, marketers at large remain at a loss as to how they can utilise the technology to its full potential.

In partnership with Hotmob and NOIZchain, we introduce Cognitive Ad, a new online banner ad that truly helps marketers reach customers on their terms. The revolutionary ad banner incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot into its layout, which is capable of engaging potential customers and learning their consumption preferences through one-on-one dialogues.

Designed to simulate typed human conversations, this on-ad chatbot asks relevant questions and interacts with potential consumers to understand their consumption concerns and interests. For example, a Cognitive Ad designed for travel agencies may enquire consumers about their desired travel destinations and follow up with questions and responses to introduce their brand and services. With considerable flexibility in the content design of the virtual dialogues, brands can even add sales and e-commerce elements into the dialogue, allowing consumers to make a purchase on the spot, thereby boosting sales.

While the design of the interactive content requires manual efforts, the cognitive element comes into play when the chatbot starts learning consumers’ preferences and habits from their responses automatically. In the future, the ad will be able to cater to advertisements that are specific to the consumers. With increasing engagement, brands will gain customer loyalty through progressively relevant and focused interactions.

The collection of consumer data facilitates a more precise targeting, thereby ensuring a better chance of cross-selling, up-selling and closing the sale. If you are interested to learn more about this product, contact us and we can share more details.