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Mentions of Digital transformation began appearing in academic and IT circles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and quickly evolved into a holistic corporate strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sparked by demand from customers who were eager to purchase but couldn’t engage in traditional shopping experiences due to lockdowns, brands added significantly to their tech stack to deliver innovative solutions in short time frames.
This flood of new technology has not slowed down since, and it seems brand marketers may have overlooked the time-honored statement that “technology enables but strategy wins”.
Technology companies are experts in their platforms, though they’re not necessarily strategists. Many cloud-based tech providers eschew professional services as their investors are more interested in recurring, not project, revenue.
Brands need a strategic approach to guide technology implementation, and that’s where strategic consulting becomes essential. This is where independent loyalty specialists like Baesman come into play, helping brands ensure strategy influences the implementation of technology and not the reverse. It’s time to reestablish strategy as the starting point to drive profitable growth for sustainable periods.
Democratization of Technology is a Dominant Business Trend
The biggest winners in the business world over the past decade share a common trait — they are on a mission to disrupt the status quo, democratize the supply chain or close the gap on a market inefficiency. Today’s landscape is defined by the “democratization of technology”—particularly in Martech, where more tools and platforms have emerged since 2020 than perhaps ever before.
We see this trend clearly in Loyalty Marketing, where the proliferation of new tools and software is unmatched. The range of options available has resulted in a buyer’s market for loyalty technology.
The high availability of easily configurable loyalty technology meets the needs of a market that thrives on quick-to-market solutions. The result is that marketers can move more quickly, but is it leading to the “dumbing down of loyalty”?
