1 - I work with large companies and I work with small companies.
Large companies and small companies, to nobody's surprise, behave differently.
Large companies and small companies, to nobody's surprise, behave differently.
2 - You don't hear a lot of small companies talk about omnichannel strategy, and for good reason. Those companies aren't buried in complexity.
3 - Large companies are buried in complexity. Some of it is necessary, some of it is political, and some of it is about control.
4 - So when a small company wants to do something that probably won't work, there's not a lot of complexity to work around, is there?
5 - But what happens when a large company wants to do something that probably won't work?
Complexity?
You need to get "a budget" and who is gonna give you cheddar to do what you want to do?
Or who is going to give you product/merchandise?
Who in marketing will help you?
Complexity?
You need to get "a budget" and who is gonna give you cheddar to do what you want to do?
Or who is going to give you product/merchandise?
Who in marketing will help you?
6 - "Omnichannel" is one of those words that can be thought of as "code" for "you aren't going to do anything that may not work".
What do I mean by that?
What do I mean by that?
7 - For me, the birth of the omnichannel movement happened in the late 1990s, when online folks worked "separate" from the rest of the brand. One VP called 'em "cowboys" in meetings I was in ... they worked without rules or oversight.
8 - So when the whole house of cards fell in 2000, somebody wanted to "control" the online folks.
The online folks were integrated into the rest of the business. Their autonomy dissipated. They were part of the system, and, they were "low priority".
The online folks were integrated into the rest of the business. Their autonomy dissipated. They were part of the system, and, they were "low priority".
9 - The themes behind this 2000 - 2001 transition permeate the omnichannel movement in large companies. There is a strong sense of "control" ... all channels will execute the same message in the same way. No cowboys. No freedom. No creativity. Plenty of complexity.
10 - Back in 1995 - 2000, the online folks hand-picked parts of the assortment that they loved, driving the online channel away a bit from the legacy brand. I know this because I lived it.
11 - The omnichannel movement solved this problem ... same merchandise at the same price in all channels, paired with the same discount/promo strategy. Control. But this also yields considerable complexity, which vendors exploit.
12 - Smaller companies, however, aren't as "tangled", are they? As a result, they grow faster, they experiment, they fail, and they succeed. They bump around, but they grow.
13 - What needs to change in the next few years is a relaxing of the omnichannel agenda ... employees need freedom to try stuff, to fail, to not be ROI'd to death, to experiment within one channel without regard for another channel.
14 - And when the employee succeeds, other employees are taught the secrets of success while the employee enjoying success shares in the success (paid via a bonus).
15 - Success isn't a coordinated marketing campaign across channels.
Success is selling something. We need to reward success, real success, profitable success. In both small and large companies.
Success is selling something. We need to reward success, real success, profitable success. In both small and large companies.
16 - A relaxing of the omnichannel agenda pushes us in this direction.
Will it happen?
Maybe.
Will it happen?
Maybe.
